Nancy Reagan dies aged 94

The former US first lady Nancy Reagan died in California yesterday at the age of 94. 

Her assistant, Allison Borio, said Ms Reagan died at her home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, of congestive heart failure.

Her marriage to Ronald Reagan lasted 52 years until his death in 2004.

A former actress, she was Mr Reagan’s closest adviser and fierce protector on his journey from actor to governor of California to president of the United States.

She rushed to his side after he was shot in 1981 by a would-be assassin, and later endured his nearly decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s.

In recent years she broke with fellow Republicans in backing stem cell research as a way to possibly find a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Mrs Reagan’s best-known project as first lady was the Just Say No campaign to help children and teenagers stay off drugs.

When she swept into the White House in 1981, the former Hollywood actress partial to designer gowns and pricey china was widely dismissed as a pre-feminist throwback, concerned only with fashion, decorating, and entertaining. By the time she moved out eight years later, she was fending off accusations that she was a behind-the-scenes ‘dragon lady’ wielding unchecked power over the Reagan administration — and doing it based on astrology to boot.

All along she maintained that her only mission was to back her “Ronnie” and strengthen his presidency.

Mrs Reagan carried that charge through the rest of her days. She served as a full-time caretaker as Alzheimer’s melted away her husband’s memory.

After his death in June 2004 she dedicated herself to tending his legacy, especially at his presidential library in California, where he had served as governor.

She also championed Alzheimer’s patients, raising millions of dollars for research and breaking with fellow conservative Republicans to advocate for stem-cell studies. Her dignity and perseverance in these post-White House roles helped smooth over the public’s fickle perceptions of the former first lady.

The Reagans’ mutual devotion over 52 years of marriage was obvious. They were forever holding hands.

She watched his political speeches with a look of such steady adoration it was dubbed “the gaze”. He called her ‘Mommy’ and penned a lifetime of gushing love notes. She saved these letters, published them as a book, and found them a comfort when he could no longer remember her.

In announcing his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 1994, Reagan wrote: “I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience.”

Ten years later, as his body lay in state in the US Capitol, his widow caressed and gently kissed the flag-draped casket.

As the newly arrived first lady, Mrs Reagan raised more than $800,000 (€725,000) from private donors to redo the White House family quarters and to buy a $200,000 set of china bordered in red, her signature colour.

She was criticised for financing these pet projects with donations from millionaires who might seek influence with the government.

However, her admirers credited Mrs Reagan with restoring grace and elegance to the White House after the austerity of the Carter years.