Images: Nancy Reagan dies at the age of 94
Former first lady Nancy Reagan died Sunday at her home in Bel-Air, California, of congestive heart failure, assistant Allison Borio told The Associated Press,
The wife of President Ronald Reagan, she was 94 at the time of her passing.
She met Ronald Reagan in 1950, when he was president of the Screen Actors Guild and two years later they were married on March 4, 1952. They had two children: a daughter named Patti born in October of 1952 and a son, Ron, born in 1958.
During her years in the White House, Reagan was best known for her anti-drug campaign, "Just Say No," to help kids and teens stay off drugs.
As Ronald Reagan developed Alsheimer's disease, Mrs. Reagan served as a full-time caretaker until his death in June 2004.
She became an advocate for Alzheimer's patients, raising millions of dollars for research and pushing conservative Republicans to support stem cell studies.
In this Feb. 6, 2007 file photo, former first lady Nancy Reagan arrives at the 2007 Ronald Reagan Freedom Award gala dinner in Beverly Hills, Calif. Reagan spokeswoman Joanne Drake says the 87-year-old former first lady fell at her home and decided Monday, Oct. 13, 2008, to get checked out at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where doctors determined she had a fractured pelvis.
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This December 1986, file photo shows first lady Nancy Reagan holding the Reagans' pet Rex, a King Charles spaniel, as she and President Reagan walk on the White House South Lawn. The former first lady has died at 94, The Associated Press confirmed Sunday, March 6, 2016.
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President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan after his speech at the 1988 Republican Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, where George Bush was nominated to run as the Republican candidate for President.
Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
Former first lady Nancy Reagan, left, is escorted from a reception by Acting Secretary of the Navy Hansford T. Johnson after meeting crew members of the soon-to-be-commissioned aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, at the Bel-Air Hotel in Los Angeles Saturday, May 17, 2003. In a brief ceremony Mrs. Reagan was honored with the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award, for providing a "strong and dignified figure of American resolve and commitment" after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and for her sponsorship of the USS Ronald Reagan. Mrs. Reagan and Vice President Dick Cheney will participate in the ship's commissioning July 12 in Virginia.
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In this May 14, 1984, file photo, Michael Jackson, center, stands with President Ronald Reagan, left, and first lady Nancy Reagan on the south lawn of the White House prior to receiving an award from the president for his contribution to the drunken driving awareness program. The former first lady has died at 94, The Associated Press confirmed Sunday, March 6, 2016.
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In this March 16, 1983, file photo, first lady Nancy Reagan, left, gets a laugh with Ray Charles, center, and Willie Nelson, right, and other entertainers at a salute to country music at Constitution Hall in Washington. The former first lady has died at 94, The Associated Press confirmed Sunday, March 6, 2016.
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In this June 5, 2014, file photo, former first lady Nancy Reagan visits the grave site of her husband, President Ronald Reagan, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in Simi Valley, Calif. The former first lady has died at 94, The Associated Press confirmed Sunday, March 6, 2016.
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In this July 5, 2012, file photo, former first lady Nancy Reagan, center, Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Robert Iger, right, and Frederick J. Ryan Jr., chairman of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, celebrate the opening of the D23 Presents Treasures of Walt Disney Archives exhibit at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. The former first lady has died at 94, The Associated Press confirmed Sunday, March 6, 2016.
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First Lady Nancy Reagan sits in an airplane leaving Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1982 with staff members, including Ed Murnane, who served in the Reagan administration and traveled frequently with the Reagans. Mrs. Reagan had just finished a speech at the University of Arkansas, Murnane said.
Courtesy of Ed Murnane
In this July 18, 1985, file photo, President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, wave from windows of his hospital room at the Navy Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The former first lady has died at 94, The Associated Press confirmed Sunday, March 6, 2016.
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In this Jan. 20, 1981, file photo, President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan wave to onlookers at the Capitol building as they stand at the podium in Washington following the swearing in ceremony. The former first lady has died at 94, The Associated Press confirmed Sunday, March 6, 2016.
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Republican presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy chat with Jennie Petk, 8 and her brother Eddie, 6, after autographing a photo on a flight into Los Angeles International Airport Friday, June 21,1980, from Chicago. The children's father Edward Petk, of Plainfield, Illinois, is a Reagan delegate. Jeannie sent up a note to first class saying "I know you are tired and hope this letter will make you happy. I love you, God bless you, Jeannie Petka." Reagan then invited the children to visit.
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In this Oct. 21, 2005, file photo, President George W. Bush looks at former first lady Nancy Reagan during dedication ceremonies for the retired Air Force One Boeing 707 aircraft at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, Calif. The former first lady has died at 94, The Associated Press confirmed Sunday, March 6, 2016.
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President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, along with U.S. Sen. Charles Percy (R-Ill.) in center, greet singer Frankie Avalon, right, during a Republican rally in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Ill., Sunday, Nov. 4, 1984. Avalon performed at the rally which is the last campaign appearance of President Reagan before Tuesday? s election.
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Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, are flanked by Herb and Jean Stade at their Oak Brook home at night on Monday, August 18, 1980. The Reagans attended a $1,000-a-couple "Western-Style" fundraiser for the DuPage County GOP organization.
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Former First Lady Nancy Reagan stands with House Minority Leader John Boehner, center of Ohio, and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, during a ceremony to unveil a statue of President Ronald Reagan, Wednesday, June 3, 2009, in the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington.
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In this Feb. 6, 1981, file photo, President Ronald Reagan, left, cuts-in on a dance between Frank Sinatra and his wife, first lady Nancy Reagan, at a party in the East Room of the White House in Washington. The roomy space at the end of the White House's first floor is the most important all-purpose room in America. And has been for more than two centuries.
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California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, left, and Nancy Reagan share a laugh at a ceremonial bill signing for Senate Bill 944 by California Senator George Runner and Assembly Bill 1911 by California Assembly Republican Leader Martin Garrick honoring President Ronald Reagan for his life's accomplishments and contributions to California on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
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Los Angeles police officers salute as a hearse leaves the home of Nancy Reagan in the Bel-Air district of Los Angeles Sunday, March 6, 2016. Nancy Reagan, the helpmate, backstage adviser and fierce protector of Ronald Reagan in his journey from actor to president, and finally during his 10-year battle with Alzheimer's disease, died Sunday morning. She was 94.
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Flowers sit atop the sign at the entrance to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Sunday, March 6, 2016, in Simi Valley, Calif. Former first lady Nancy Reagan died Sunday at her home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles of congestive heart failure, assistant Allison Borio told The Associated Press. She was 94.
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Republican presidential hopefuls meet first lady Nancy Reagan before a Republican presidential debate in Simi Valley, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. From left are former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
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This June 6, 1984 file photo shows President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan walking past the graves at Normandy American Cemetary in Normandy. The American president and first lady are attending the 40th anniversary of the allied invasion of 1944. President Barack Obama is the fourth sitting president to attend a D-Day anniversary observance in Normandy and the only president to visit the site of the allied invasion twice during his presidency for an anniversary commemoration. It wasn't always a presidential tradition. Ronald Reagan was the first, delivering an evocative and emotional remembrance on the 40th anniversary in 1984. Joining him were surviving members of an Army Rangers team that had scaled cliffs at Pointe du Hoc to silence German guns protecting the Normandy beaches.
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This Jan. 10, 1989 file photo shows fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, left, and journalist Barbara Walters, right, posing with first lady Nancy Reagan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The first lady was awarded the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to fashion. The award was presented by Walters during a ceremony at the museum. Sure, living in the White House has its perks. But a clothing allowance is not one of them. First ladies feel all sorts of pressure to project a fashionable look, and over the decades they've tried a range of cash-saving strategies to pull it off without going broke. Seven frugal do's _ and don'ts _ that first ladies have tried over the years: Mrs. Reagan was criticized by some for wearing borrowed designer clothes, sometimes without returning them or reporting them as gifts.
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The Reverend Billy Graham, center, talks with President Ronald Reagan, left, and first lady Nancy Reagan at the White House July 18, 1981.
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Illinois Governor James Thompson, shakes hands with President Ronald Reagan on the stage at Eureka College on Monday, Feb. 7, 1984 after the President gave a foreign policy speech at the campus in Eureka, Ill. The President's wife, Nancy Reagan looks on at left. The speech occasion was the 129th anniversary of Eureka College and the 73rd birthday of the president.
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In this Feb. 14, 1984 file photo, first lady Nancy Reagan sits with a fourth and fifth grade class at Island Park Elementary School on Mercer Island, Wash. where she participated in a drug education class. At left is Amy Clarfeld, 10, and Andrew Cary, 10, is at right. During a visit with schoolchildren in Oakland, Calif., Reagan later recalled, "A little girl raised her hand and said, 'Mrs. Reagan, what do you do if somebody offers you drugs?' And I said, 'Well, you just say no.' And there it was born."
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In this March 23, 1996 file photo, William Windom, left, shows a swagger stick to "Murder She Wrote" star Angela Lansbury, center, and former first lady Nancy Reagan prior to Lansbury being presented the Caritas Award by Mrs. Reagan in Beverly Hills, Calif. Windom, who won an Emmy Award for his turn in the TV comedy series "My World And Welcome To It," died Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 of congestive heart failure at his home in Woodacre, north of San Francisco. He was 88.
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President Ronald Reagan takes the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Warren Burger in a private White House ceremony for a second term in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Jan. 20, 1985. First Lady Nancy Reagan holds the bible.
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President Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy react after Mrs. Reagan sat down after speaking and forgot to introduce the President at the Capital Center in Landover, Md., Monday, Jan. 21, 1985, during an event held for those who would have participated in the inaugural parade, which was canceled because of bad weather.
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First Lady Nancy Reagan looks on as President Ronald Reagan is sworn in during ceremonies in the Rotunda beneath the Capitol Dome in Washington Monday, January 21, 1985. Reagan, forced indoors by a record inaugural freeze, reenacted his oath taking and sounded a second term dedication to his conservative principles.
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In this Oct. 30, 1986 file photo, talk show host Joan Rivers, right, talks with guest, first lady Nancy Reagan, during her appearance on "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers," on Fox TV. The role of female talk-show hosts in late-night TV network history, all 50-plus years of it, can be summed up in two words: Joan Rivers. It takes just another two _ Arsenio Hall _ to do the same for minorities. There's no indication that's going to change in the latest round of musical chairs involving "Tonight" and "Late Night."
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Former first lady Nancy Reagan, left, is escorted by former President George W. Bush following the funeral for former first lady Betty Ford at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church Tuesday, July 12, 2011, in Palm Desert, Calif.
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