Former first lady Nancy Reagan, wife of the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, has died at 94 from congestive heart failure.
Reagan was best known for her “Just Say No” campaign in the 1980s that was launched to combat drug abuse. Like her husband, Reagan was an actress and appeared in several films and Broadway productions before her role in the White House. CBS discusses some of the ways Reagan ruffled the political feathers during her tenure:
While known for her positive causes, Nancy Reagan also drew criticism for some of her actions as first lady. After deciding to renovate and redecorate the White House during her husband’s first term, the first lady was castigated for spending lavishly during a recession. “I didn’t want to redo the White House in my own image, but I did want to restore it,” Reagan wrote in her 1989 memoir, “My Turn.” Reagan also used her memoir to address the even harsher scrutiny she received for turning to astrology to at times adjust her husband’s schedule, following the 1981 assassination attempt on the president. “Astrology was simply one of the ways I coped with the fear I felt after my husband almost died,” she wrote. Nancy Reagan’s use of astrology in the White House was revealed by Mr. Reagan’s chief of staff Donald Regan, after he was replaced.
After Ronald Reagan’s death in 2004, the former first lady continued to host Republican debates and attend to her many causes.