w  rd 2 the woss

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan Dies at age 94

March 14th 2016  - Arnav Gill

Yesterday in the early hours of afternoon America and the world were shocked to hear the news that the former first lady Nancy Reagan had passed away at the age of 94.

 

 

Born in the early 1920’s in New York City, she went on to have the most interesting of careers; shining as a Hollywood actress in the 1940’s and 50’s, and going on to marry former President Ronald Reagan in 1954. She was often credited as being one of the most influential of First Ladies. She championed drug prevention through her “Just Say No” campaign, and is said to have had great influence over her husband’s decisions, both personnel and diplomatic. Such influence is hard to ignore given the events of her husband’s presidency including; the end of the cold war, the war on drugs, and America’s uneasy relationship with Iran.

 

 

Although much loved, she was criticized by many who saw a number of her actions as First Lady as controversial. She was often seen sporting million dollar dresses and  buying thousand dollar tea sets she used to replace existing ones in the White House. People criticized such excessive uses of money, given the state of unemployment at that time in American history.

Although careening into controversy during her earlier life, she raised a lot of money for charity in her later life. In 2004 following her husband’s death from Alzheimer’s, she raised millions of dollars for research into the disease, and challenged many Republicans on the need for stem cell research.

 

 

The former First Lady was remembered by many politicians and others around the world. Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney tweeted saying, “with the passing of Nancy Reagan, God and Ronnie have finally welcomed a choice soul home.” Together President Obama and First Lady Michelle made a statement saying, “Nancy Reagan once wrote that nothing could prepare you for living in the White House. She was right, of course. But we had a head start, because we were fortunate to benefit from her proud example, and her warm and generous advice. Our former first lady redefined the role in her time here."

 

 

Over the next week the world will talk, listen, and remember a First Lady, who changed the very image of that most interesting of positions. It was once that the world watched most carefully the actions of the President, but with the legacy of Nancy Reagan, the role of First Lady became equally as important and influential.