Reagan was born in New York City. After her parents separated, she lived in Maryland with an aunt and uncle for six years. When her mother remarried in 1929, she moved to Chicago and later was adopted by her mother's second husband. As Nancy Davis, she was a Hollywood actress in the 1940s and 1950s.
Biography
Early life and education
Anne Frances Robbins was born on July 6, 1921, at Sloane Hospital for Women in Uptown Manhattan.[1][2][3][4] She was the only child of Kenneth Seymour Robbins and Edith Prescott Luckett.
Robbins lived her first two years in Flushing, Queens, a neighborhood of New York City, in a two-story house on Roosevelt Avenue between 149th and 150th Streets.[5] Her parents separated soon after her birth and were divorced in 1928.[1][6][7]
After their separation, her mother traveled the country to pursue acting jobs and Robbins was raised in Bethesda, Maryland, for six years by her aunt and uncle, and later she attended Sidwell Friends School from kindergarten through second grade.[1][8]
At the time of the adoption, her name was legally changed to Nancy Davis.[9] She attended the Girls' Latin School of Chicago from 1929, until she graduated in 1939, and later attended Smith College in Massachusetts, where she majored in English and drama, and later graduated in 1943.[10][11]
Acting career
Davis, c. 1949–50
In 1940, Davis appeared as a National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis volunteer in a memorable short subject film shown in movie theaters to raise donations for the crusade against polio.[12]
Davis held jobs in Chicago as a sales clerk in Marshall Field's department store and as a nurse's aide.[13] With the help of her mother's colleagues in theatre, including ZaSu Pitts, Walter Huston, and Spencer Tracy,[14] she pursued a professional career as an actress.
After her final movie, Crash Landing (1958), Davis appeared for a brief time as a guest star in television dramas, such as the Zane Grey Theatre episode "The Long Shadow" (1961), until she retired as an actress in 1962.[20] During her career, Davis served for nearly ten years on the board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild.[26]
Marriage and family
On November 15, 1949, she met Ronald Reagan,[27] who was then president of the Screen Actors Guild. The two began dating and their relationship was the subject of many gossip columns.[27] The got married on March 4, 1952, at the Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.[28]
Their first child, Patti Davis, was born on October 21, 1952. Their second children, Ron Reagan, was born on May 20, 1958. Reagan also became stepmother to Maureen Reagan and Michael Reagan from her husband's children from his marriage.
California First Lady, 1967–1975
Reagan as the first lady of California
Reagan became the first lady of California when her husband became the 33rd governor on January 3, 1967. As first lady, Reagan visited veterans, the elderly, and the disabled, and worked with a number of charities. She became involved with the Foster Grandparents Program,[29] helping to popularize it in the United States and Australia.[30]
She later expanded her work with the organization after arriving in Washington,[29] and wrote about her experiences in her 1982 book To Love a Child.[31] The Reagans held dinners for former prisoners of war and Vietnam War veterans while governor and first lady.[32]
Reagan and her husband waving from the limousine during the Inaugural Parade.
Reagan became the first lady of the United States when her husband was sworn in as the 40th president on January 20, 1981. As first lady, she launched the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign in 1982, which was her primary project and major initiative as first lady.[35] Her campaign focused on drug education and informing the youth of the danger of drug abuse.[35]
Reagan gives a speech at a "Just Say No" to drugs rally in Los Angeles, 1987
Reagan became actively involved by traveling more than 250,000 miles (400,000 km) throughout the United States and several nations, visiting drug abuse prevention programs and drug rehabilitation centers.[36]
In 1985, Reagan expanded the campaign to an international level by inviting the first ladies of other countries to the White House for a conference on drug abuse.[36] On October 27, 1986, President Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill into law, which granted $1.7 billion in funding to fight the drug crisis and ensured a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses.[37] In 1988, she became the first active first lady invited to address the United Nations General Assembly, where she spoke on international drug and trafficking laws.[36]
After her husband survived an assassination attempt, Reagan hired an astrologer named Joan Quigley to make sure he would be safe in the future.[38] Quigley would review and even help organize the president's schedule.[38]
Fashion
Reagan's interest in fashion was another one of her trademarks. Reagan's sense of style was favorably compared to that of a previous first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy.[39]
Reagan's wardrobe consisted of dresses, gowns, and suits made by luxury designers, including James Galanos, Bill Blass, and Oscar de la Renta. Her white, hand-beaded, one shoulder Galanos 1981 inaugural gown was estimated to cost $10,000,[40] while the overall price of her inaugural wardrobe was said to cost $25,000.[41] Her wardrobe included red so often that the fire-engine shade became known as "Reagan red".[42] She employed two private hairdressers, who would style her hair on a regular basis in the White House.[43]
In 1989, Reagan was honored at the annual gala awards dinner of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, during which she received the council's lifetime achievement award.[44]
Life after the White House
Reagan's official White House portrait in the Vermeil Room
Upon leaving the White House, the couple returned to California. After leaving Washington, Reagan made numerous public appearances, many on behalf of her husband. She continued to reside at the Bel Air home, where she lived with her husband until he died on June 5, 2004.[45]
In late 1989, the former first lady established the Nancy Reagan Foundation, which was to continue to educate people about the dangers of substance abuse.[46]
The Foundation teamed with the BEST Foundation For A Drug-Free Tomorrow in 1994, and developed the Nancy Reagan Afterschool Program. She continued to travel around the United States, speaking out against drug and alcohol abuse.
Reagan received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from Pepperdine University in 1983.[50] She received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Eureka College in 2009.[51]
↑Cite error: The named reference Nancy Reagan: Her Life & Times was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
↑When Nancy Davis signed with MGM, she gave her birth date as July 6, 1923, shaving two years off her age, a common practice in Hollywood (see Cannon, Governor Reagan, p. 75). This caused subsequent confusion as some sources would continue to use the incorrect birth year.
↑Cite error: The named reference President Bush Honors Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
↑Cite error: The named reference Congressional Gold Medal History was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
↑Cite error: The named reference honorednyt2 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
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