Reagan was born in New York in 1921 and moved to California in the 1940s, where she became an actress before meeting her husband, Ronald Reagan. They married in 1952, and had two children. Reagan became First Lady of California in 1967 with her husband's gubernatorial victory, during which she promoted the Foster Grandparents Program, and assisted former Prisoners of War from Vietnam. Upon Ronald Reagan's ascension to the presidency in 1981, Nancy Reagan became the First Lady. Mrs. Reagan experienced a great deal of criticism early in her husband's first term, mainly dealing with her decision to replenish the aging White House China. She took on a championing role in recreational drug prevention causes by founding the "Just Say No" anti-drug association, it being considered her major initiative as First Lady. Reagan was found to have consulted an astrologer to assist in planning President Reagan's schedule after the 1981 assassination attempt, which generated more controversy.

The Reagans retired to their Bel Air, Los Angeles, California home in 1989, where they lived together until President Reagan's death on June 5, 2004. Mrs. Reagan was shown quite frequently during the funeral services across the country. As of 2007, Nancy Reagan has continued to stay active in politics particularly relating to stem-cell research.

Born Anne Frances Robbins in Flushing, New York to Kenneth Seymour Robbins and his actress wife, Edith Luckett (1888-1987). While her parents divorced in 1928, they were separated for some time before then. Nancy was raised by her aunt and uncle for part of her childhood, as her mother traveled the country to pursue acting jobs. In 1929, her mother married Dr. Loyal Davis, a neurosurgeon. Dr. Davis adopted Nancy, and she grew up in Chicago. Nancy's godmother was Russian-born silent film star Alla Nazimova, who was a friend of her mother's from the theater world. She received her formal education at Girls' Latin School and at Smith College in Massachusetts, where she majored in theater.

Soon after graduation she became a professional actress using the stage name Nancy Davis, and toured with a road company, before landing a role in the Broadway theatre stage musical Lute Song starring Mary Martin. It was her only Broadway show, but she continued performing in smaller theaters. One performance drew an offer from Hollywood.

She eventually signed on as a contract player at MGM Studios. Davis appeared in 11 feature films, beginning in 1949, when she appeared in minor roles in two feature films: The Doctor and the Girl starring Glenn Ford and East Side, West Side starring Barbara Stanwyck. She played a psychiatrist in the film noir Shadow on the Wall (1950) with Ann Sothern and Zachary Scott. Her first co-starring lead role (opposite James Whitmore who got first billing) was in the religious drama The Next Voice You Hear ... (1950). She then starred in the 1953 science fiction film Donovan's Brain. In her last movie, Hellcats of the Navy (1957), she shared the screen for the only time with her husband. After her final film, she appeared in television dramas such as Wagon Train until 1962, after which she retired as an actress.

Critics have praised her performance in The Next Voice You Hear ..., where she plays a 1950s housewife who hears the voice of God from her radio. Nancy's favorite screen role was that of her performance in East Side West Side. She also served on the Screen Actors Guild Board for nearly 10 years.

Nancy met Ronald Reagan in 1951, while he was president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Another actress by the same name had appeared on the Hollywood blacklist, and Nancy had concern about possible confusion with the other actress. So, Nancy Davis was put in contact with Reagan to help maintain her employment as a SAG actress in Hollywood, and for help in getting her name off this list. On March 4, 1952, they were married in a simple ceremony in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles in the Little Brown Church. Ronald Reagan's best man was William Holden.

Their first child, Patricia Ann Reagan (better known as Patti Davis, her professional name), was born on October 21, 1952. Their son, Ronald Prescott Reagan, was born on May 20, 1958. Nancy Reagan is also stepmother to Michael Reagan and the late Maureen Reagan, the children of her husband's first marriage to actress Jane Wyman.

From the very start of their marriage, Ronald and Nancy Reagan were "soul mates." He often called her "Mommy"; she called him "Ronnie". This deep relationship was evident throughout their married life. While President and First Lady, the Reagans frequently displayed their affection for each other in public, and in private.Mrs. Reagan was known for the focused and attentive look she fastened upon her husband during his speeches and appearances, nicknamed "the Gaze." Even when the President was debilitated by Alzheimer's Disease, Nancy Reagan reaffirmed this affection, stating: "We were very much in love, and still are." President Reagan's death in June of 2004 ended what Charlton Heston called "the greatest love affair in the history of the American Presidency."

Mrs. Reagan was First Lady of California during her husband's two terms as governor. She first attracted controversy early in 1967, when she moved her family out of the California Governor's Mansion in Sacramento, after fire officials had described it as a "firetrap," and into a wealthy suburb. This move was perceived by many as snobbery, but Mrs. Reagan defended her actions as being for the good of her family.

As California's First Lady, Reagan visited veterans, the elderly, and the handicapped, and worked in conjunction with a number of charitable groups. She began her involvement with the Foster Grandparent Program, which she would continue and expand after arriving in Washington.[10] The Reagans also held dinners for former POWs and Vietnam War veterans while Governor and First Lady.

As First Lady, Mrs. Reagan stated that it was one of her objectives to create a home in the White House. Rather than use government funds to redecorate as well as renovate the floors, she sought private funds to complete the work.[11]

Mrs. Reagan drew controversy early on by announcing the purchase of 4,370 pieces of new scarlet, cream and gold State China Service for the White House] costing $210,399.[12] Although the China was paid for by private donations, as well as the private Knapp Foundation, it was ordered at a time when the nation was undergoing an economic recession.[13] The new China, a White House renovation, Mrs. Reagan's attending the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, her conservative fashions much emulated by many women of the time, and her acceptance of new, free clothing from luxury designers gave her a feeling of being "out of touch" with the American people, and the derogatory nickname "Queen Nancy" was created.[11]

Reagan attempted to deflect this criticism in 1982 at the Gridiron Dinner when she self-deprecatingly donned a baglady costume and sang "Second-Hand Rose".[14]

Main article: Reagan Assassination Attempt

Mrs. Reagan describes in her memoirs that the assassination attempt on her husband, on March 30, 1981, was the worst day of her life. Describing the moment she arrived at George Washington University Hospital, she recalls having seen "emergency rooms before, but I had never seen one like this – with my husband in it." Mrs. Reagan arrived at the hospital with a jar of jelley beans, not long after being alerted of a shooting. She was escorted upstairs into a waiting room, and when she was able to see President Reagan he said to her, "Honey, I forgot to duck" (borrowing defeated boxer Jack Dempsey's line to his wife). When Senator Strom Thurmond entered the hospital room claiming he was the President's "close friend," Mrs. Reagan had him thrown out of the room.[15] While President Reagan was in the hospital recuperating, Mrs. Reagan slept with one of his shirts to be comforted by the scent.[16] Upon his subsequent release from the hospital on April 12, Nancy personally escorted President Reagan back to the White House.

Nancy Reagan launched the "Just Say No" Drug Awareness Campaign in 1982, it being considered her primary project and major initiative as First Lady.[11] While visiting a school in Oakland, California, Mrs. Reagan asked the students what they should do if they were offered drugs, and was answered with shouts of "Just say no." The phrase soon proliferated through the popular culture of the 1980s, was eventually adopted as the name of club organizations, and formed in schools in which young people pledged not to try and experiment with drugs.[11] Reagan traveled over 250,000 miles throughout the United States, and several nations, to visit drug prevention programs and rehabilitation centers, appeared on television talk shows and taped public service announcements, and wrote guest articles.[11]

In 1985, Mrs. Reagan expanded the campaign to an international level by inviting First Ladies of different nations to the White House for a conference on drug abuse. On October 27, 1986, President Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill into law, which granted $1.7 billion dollars to fight the crisis, and ensured a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses.[17] Although the bill was criticized by some, Mrs. Reagan said that she considered it a personal victory.[11] In 1988, she became the first First Lady invited to address the United Nations General Assembly, speaking on international drug interdiction and trafficking laws.

There are hundreds of "Just Say No" clinics still in operation around the country, aimed at helping and rehabilitating children and teens with drug problems.[18] In 1983, Reagan, along with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and philanthropists Barbara and Marvin Davis, appeared as herself in an episode of the prime time soap opera Dynasty to underscore support for the anti-drug campaign.[19] In addition, Reagan appeared as herself in an episode of a popular 1980s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and she appeared in her first ever rock music video, Stop the Madness in 1985, also to promote "Just Say No."

Since President Reagan's assassination attempt in 1981, Mrs. Reagan took on a role as being her husband's unofficial "protector".[20] She made it her concern to know her husband's schedule: what events he would be attending, when, where, with whom, etc.[11] Eventually, this "protection" led to the consultation of an astrologer, Joan Quigley, who gave insight on which days were "good", "neutral", or "days that should be avoided", which influenced the White House time schedule of her husband. Days were color-coded according to the astrologer's advice to discern precisely what days and at what times would be optimum for safety and success.[11] The White House Chief of Staff, Donald Regan, grew frustrated with this regimen and it created friction between him and the First Lady. A now-infamous incident was that while the two were talking on the telephone, Regan became so angry that he hung up on the First Lady. When the President heard of this treatment, he demanded – and eventually received – Regan's 1987 resignation. In his 1988 memoirs, Regan released the fact that Mrs. Reagan consulted an astrologer, resulting in embarrassment for Nancy.

It was Nancy Reagan who conjured the notion that Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and her husband, Ronald Reagan, form a personal relationship with each other, then talk and discuss world and nuclear affairs during the Cold War.[11] In 1985, 1987, and 1988, while discussions between the Soviet Leader and the President took place, Mrs. Reagan met with Gorbachev's wife, Raisa. The two women usually had tea, and discussed differences between the USSR and the United States. Their relationship was anything but the friendly, diplomatic one between their husbands, however. Nancy found Raisa too hard to converse with and somewhat shrewd.[11] Visiting the United States for the first time in 1987, Raisa irked Mrs. Reagan with lectures on subjects ranging from architecture to socialism, reportedly prompting the American President's wife to quip, "Who does that dame think she is?"[21]

After leaving the White House on January 20, 1989, the Reagans returned to California, where they purchased a second home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, dividing their time evenly between that home and the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California.[22]

In late 1989, Mrs. Reagan established the Nancy Reagan Foundation, which aimed to continue to educate people about the serious dangers of substance abuse.[23] The Foundation teamed with the BEST Foundation For A Drug-Free Tomorrow in 1994, and developed the Nancy Reagan Afterschool Program. Since then, Mrs. Reagan has continued to travel around the nation, speaking out against the abuse of drugs and alcohol. After President Reagan revealed that he had Alzheimer's Disease in 1994, Mrs. Reagan became actively involved with the National Alzheimer’s Association and its affiliate, the Ronald & Nancy Reagan Research Institute in Chicago, Illinois.[22]

Reagan published her memoirs in late 1989. Titled My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan, she gives her account of her life while in the White House. In the book, she speaks openly about the influence she had within the Reagan administration, and talks about the myths and controversies that surrounded her and her husband. [24] It was Mrs. Reagan's second autobiography, the first being Nancy. In 1991, controversial author Kitty Kelley wrote an unauthorized, and largely uncited, biography about Mrs. Reagan, repeating rumors of supposed sexual relations and a poor relationship with her children. National Review observes that Kelley's unsupported claims are most likely untrue. [25][26]

Nancy Reagan currently resides in her Bel Air home, where she lived with her husband until his death on June 5, 2004.[27] Mrs. Reagan was seen around the world during the state funeral for her husband. Always with her military escort, Mrs. Reagan traveled from her home, to the Reagan Library, and to Washington, D.C., before returning to the Reagan Library in California, for the interment. At that ceremony, she broke down, and cried for the first time in public, and mouthed "I love you" to the casket, before leaving. [28]

Mrs. Reagan has continued to be active in politics, particularly relating to stem cell research. In 2004, she urged President George W. Bush to support embryonic stem cell research, in the hopes that such research would lead to a cure for Alzheimer's disease.[29] She has not been notably successful in changing the President's opinion, but did support his campaign for a second term. [30]

Since 1994, when her husband disclosed that he suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, Mrs. Reagan has presented the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to one notable person, from anywhere in the world, who "embodied President Reagan's lifelong belief that one man or woman truly can make a difference." On February 6, 2007, Mrs. Reagan presented the award to Former President George H.W. Bush. Other notable recipients include Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, and Rudy Guiliani.[31]

Nancy Reagan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush on July 9, 2002. The awards ceremony took place in the East Room of the White House.[32] President Ronald Reagan received his own Presidential Medal of Freedom in January of 1993. Earlier that year, Nancy Reagan and her husband were jointly awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on May 16, at the Capitol Building, being only the third President and First Lady to receive it. Mrs. Reagan was on hand to receive the medal on behalf of herself and her husband.[33]

Reagan was briefly hospitalized in 2005 after she slipped and fell in her hotel room in London, while visiting Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charles.[34]

Mrs. Reagan was among those who attended the National Funeral Service for Gerald Ford in the Washington National Cathedral on January 2, 2007, having attended her husband's funeral in 2004 at the same cathedral. On May 3, 2007, Nancy Reagan hosted and attended the first 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. While she did not participate in any of the discussions, she sat in the front row, next to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Fred Ryan, Chairman of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, and listened as the men vying to become the nation's 44th president claimed to be the rightful successors to her husband, the 40th.[35]