Nancy Reagan has passed away at the age of 94. She had her faults, and she had her critics. But in terms of grace and elegance, she was far above and beyond the First Ladies who have followed her. She represented an America that, despite its problems, still had a sense of dignity. Hers was an era when the White House hosted Old Hollywood Royalty like Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, and Douglas Fairbanks; people who knew better than to jump on the bed in the Lincoln bedroom.
She treated the position of First Lady as a responsibility, not a stepping stone to further political ambitions, or a vehicle for meeting celebrities and taking lavish taxpayer-funded vacations with her entourage. (The Reagans “vacationed” by returning home to their ranch in California.) And although she was active in the management of the Reagan White House, discreetly and behind the scenes, she never used her unelected position to try and take over the health care system or dictate the composition of lunch programs nationwide. And she knew better than to clap her arms around the Queen of England like she was an old school chum. The same people who give Michelle Obama a pass for her multimillion-dollar, taxpayer-funded vacations thought it was outrageous scandal when Nancy Reagan sought private funds to replace the White House china.
But even if subsequent First Ladies had managed to maintain her standards of propriety and decorum, Nancy Reagan would have been no less remarkable. She dedicated her life to her husband and her work. She asked children to say “no” to drugs and really that is the only thing that will work. She survived breast cancer and became an advocate for women stricken with the horrible disease. She remained by her husband’s side as he succumbed to Alzheimers, speaking rarely and remaining very private. She never sought to make herself into something she wasn’t. She had no political ambitions, never got caught in a scandal and quietly lived the rest of her life in dignity.
The class she displayed unfailingly only makes the contrast with her successors more striking. It’s lamentable that standards of behavior in America have declined so severely since Nancy Reagan was in the White House. Her passing is not just an occasion to remember her life, but to mourn the passing of an era when politicians and celebrities knew better than to behave like People of Walmart in the White House.
Of course, the asinine progressive left does not see it that way.
May I add a word that I am quite certain will be vigorously attacked, a reason I have avoided every website and blog that perceives current events through either a liberal or conservative lens? In her memoirs, Mrs. Reagan quite vigorously takes rightful pride for the factual incidents mentioned in the three paragraphs you include. All of this was done by her strictly through her overriding mission – as a partner to her husband in every aspect of his life. Yet she many, many times – and once to me, personally as her speechwriter – spoke of how each First Lady has different strengths and thus uses the global forum given presidential spouses in unique ways. She often used the political activism of Eleanor Roosevelt in counterpoint to the public remoteness of Bess Truman to illustrate this. She spoke of her respect for all First Ladies and their choices, regardless of partisanship. It is my belief that one strengthens not just the memory but the legacy of this patient and wise person not by using her death as a reason to criticize the choices of others but rather to focus on what were very real political accomplishments. After all, in vetting and encouraging the removal of those she believed were working against the vision of her husband, she facilitated a necessary process to the purity and intent of the Reagan legacy, She never apologized for assuming a political role. Each First Lady becomes political, whether it is by involving themselves in policy issues important to them or protecting the President from those working against his vision. Perhaps it is difficult for the general public, and especially for the sharply partisan on either end of the spectrum to entirely grasp the uncertainty in moving forward with their own agenda and the conscientiousness required of every single First Lady to conduct themselves in a way that is most suited to their natural talents and inclinations. In the quarter century since she left the White House, Mrs. Reagan voiced her personal opinion on several controversial public issues without ever compromising her husband’s legacy. Importantly, she never criticized any of her successors,regardless of political affiliation and no matter how differently they chose to serve. Certain that my remarks will provoke criticism, I apologize for bowing out by not choosing to respond to any. I do appreciate greatly, however, your website choosing to link to a story on my own website. Thank you very much. Cheers, Carl Anthony
Oh for crying out loud. Why do conservatives insist in living in a false history? Mrs Reagan was a fine woman and an excellent first lady – in fact if one looks at Mrs Reagan and Mrs Obama its easy to see many similarities. Mrs Reagan devoted herself to keeping kids off drugs. Mrs Obama dedicated herself to fighting childhood obesity.
Reagans spent lots of times on vacations:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/if-youre-upset-about-obam_b_5712511.html
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2011/08/19/flashback-facing-95-unemployment-reagan-set-off/183774
She used her Hollywood connections to get major designers to renovate the white house bought and paid for by political cronies.
She used her influence to choose diplomats.
She wore dresses “donated” to her worth 10s of thousands of dollars.
Stop trying to rewrite history. Mrs Reagan was a fine woman and her accomplishments stand on her own. There is no need for conservatives to try and create a false history just because you are blinded by hate for the current President.
heh anyone else amused when miky lectures us on being ‘blinded by hate’?
“Waaaaah! Stop living in a false history!” he said as he posted such credible sources as Media Matters and Huffington Post.
So then all renovations to the White House should be paid for via the US Treasury, financed by loans (with interest) from China?
Thank you for your eloquence Carl Anthony. Much appreciated.
littlelettermikey, the fascist intones:
It is always thus with venomous DemonizingRats.
I have a quibble with the headline. I think both Barbara and Laura Bush show class, and did while they were First Ladies.
Thank you for your comments, Carl Anthony. Yesterday C-SPAN re-showed an interview/showing off of the Reagan Library that they did in 1999 that displayed Mrs. Reagan in a similar vein–thoughtful, aware, and not saying less than good things in public. Perhaps the most telling comment of hers is that there is no preparation possible for being First Lady of the United States. She said that she had thought that being First Lady of California would have prepared her, but it hadn’t.
May she enjoy being re-united with her Ronnie, and may God bless them and comfort their family.
Nancy Reagan was, for me, the quintessential First Lady; so much so that Michelle Obama invited her to the White House for lunch to talk about being a First Lady. Barbara Bush did some fine things, like promoting the young to read books. However, I never appreciated her public dig on Nancy’s fondness for designer dresses with a remark made to a womens group, “how do you like my $300. dress of the rack,” or something similar thereof.
There should be no competition between Nancy Reagan and the woman who succeeded her as First Lady. Both were fine examples of style and class.
The difference, was in lifestyles and upbringing. Nancy Davis, though no stranger to hard times, eventually found herself in the Hollywood lifestyle and all that entailed. Barbara Bush, meanwhile, was the stay-at-home mother to six kids (not all calm and demure, if the stories are accurate) while her husband worked long hours in the oil patch, attempting to momentarily escape the burden of being his father’s son and make his own way in the world. Having to do the latter gives one a perspective that makes a world of designer duds and dinners at Chasen’s seem like unnecessary overkill.
This may be the only time I compliment the current President and his wife, so I’m going to take advantage of the fact. They published a nice statement on Mrs. Reagan’s passing. True, it still talked about them (mostly Mrs. O), but it struck a good tone overall.
(And now back to my usual ideological perspective and Hawaii school rivalry. [The President and I went to arch-rival schools.])