"So let me close with Ronnie's words, not mine..."
Here's the text of Nancy's beautiful speech at the 1996 GOP convention:
But Ronnie's spirit, his optimism, his never failing belief in the strength and goodness of America is still very strong.... I can tell you with certainty that he still sees the shining city on the hill, a place of full of hope and promise for us all.
As you all know, I am not the speechmaker in the family, so let me close with Ronnie's words, not mine. In that last speech four years ago, he said, "Whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will report that I appeal to your best hopes not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts, and may all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never, never lose your natural, god-given optimism."
Ronnie's optimism, like America's, still shines very brightly. May God bless him, and from both of us, God bless America.
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R.I.P.
The mid-90s is hard on old people, apparently.
RIP Nancy
A friend of mine from Australia was visiting a few years ago and, while he was in west LA, Reagan went into the barbershop across to street to get a haircut. My friend was entranced.
We will not see their like again.
Nancy was a big help to her beloved Ronnie. Now reunited in heaven.
Say No to Drugs!
Looking back on it, she was treated terribly by the press. It was a disgrace.
Looking back on it, she was treated terribly by the press.
Aren't all Republican first ladies? And children?...and hell any Republican?
It was a disgrace.
Yes it was, and it still is.
So (apologies) what are the chances Melania will ever be able to give a similar speech about Donnie?
The Trumpification of the Republican party prob took a toll on her health.
Admire her total devotion to her husband, especially the final years when Reagan had Alzheimer's. Speaking from personal experience.
She was his rock/anchor!
Death leaves a heartache
no one can heal;
Love leaves a memory no
one can steal.
Theirs was not a marriage of political convenience or opportunism but of mutual admiration. Adoration.
I couldn't remember when Ronnie died, so I had to google his name, and I found this quote:
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
Sheer genius!
RIP. Hopefully, they will have a private funeral so we won't have to hear/see her awful kids.
She wasn't the last of the women who would stand by their man to the last. Thank God some of those women still exist, and they're not all about glomming on to other women and forming some kind of strange rugby scrum. Rachel Platten is singing Nancy's song: http://www.bing.com/search?q=rachel+platten+stand+by+you&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IE10TR
I'm pretty sure she never spoke with disrespect about the current president, and vice versa.
First paragraph in the NY Times:
Nancy Reagan, the stylish and influential wife of the 40th president of the United States who unabashedly put Ronald Reagan at the center of her life but who became a political figure in her own right, died on Sunday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 94.
That was too difficult to write for the Washington Post. Their first paragraph:
Nancy Reagan had an undeniable knack for inviting controversy. There were her extravagant spending habits at a time of double-digit unemployment, a chaotic relationship with her children and stepchildren that could rival a soap opera plot, and the jaw-dropping news that she had insisted the White House abide by an astrologer when planning the president’s schedule.
It does not improve; I gave up on it.
"That was too difficult to write for the Washington Post. Their first paragraph: "
Nancy was hated by the DC elites. They trashed her for redoing the White House that was left a mess by Carter. All the new china was donated but they still trashed her.
The Clintons backed a truck up to steal furniture and Michelle takes her mother to China and spends few million but not a word.
Jane Wyman would have been a hell of a First Lady too. These young women who made their way through the studio industry back in the day are as tough as reptile eggs.
I'm pretty sure she never spoke with disrespect about the current president, and vice versa.
I'm pretty sure you're half right.
When a reporter asked Obama if he had spoken with any ex-presidents since his election on Tuesday, he responded that he had spoken to all former presidents "that are living."
"I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances," he said.
How soon we forget Jane Wyman. As McCullough points out she would have made an excellent First Lady, but we should also praise her for her restraint. She could have made a ton of money and become Hollywood's darling if she had written some kind of tell all book about Reagan's failings and why she was forced to divorce him. So far as I know, she maintained a discreet and tactful silence about her years with him......Life is lived forward and understood backward. At one time Jane Wyman was a major Hollywood star and Reagan was an after thought. Now she's the footnote to the great romance of Ronnie and Nancy.......If they ever made a sympathetic biopic (fat chance), someone like Jane Wyman could act the role of Nancy Reagan with much greater impact and presence than a Hollywood lightweight like Nancy Davis. Also for the part of Ronald Reagan, I would choose someone like Charlton Heston who could deliver that "tear down this wall" line with so much more gravitas.
"I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances," he said.
And he immediately apologized. And she later accepted a couple invitations by Obama to the White House.
Thank goodness Reagan never did or said anything stupid he later had to apologize for.
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Breaking ... We never elect a politician because we think they are a saint otherwise no one would ever get elected.
And speaking of graciousness/civility/cordiality let's talk about the Rep debates. !@#$%^&*
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And Ritmo ... nevermind!
Let me take this opportunity to bid good riddance to a superstitious woman who ruined many lives with her gratuitous "Just Say No."
Thank goodness Reagan never did or said anything stupid he later had to apologize for.
Arms for Hostages was stupid and he did apologize.
I am getting sentimental in my old age - had to hold back tears when I heard of her passing.
She was a classy lady whose companionship with Ronnie undoubtedly brought great comfort and joy to his life. He was the best POTUS in my lifetime. She was the best First Lady.
I could care less about the DC Elites. They have been destroying the country for a long time. In their minds every Republican is either stupid or venal. Not that I am psychodynamically oriented, but is sure sounds like projection to me.
Thank you, Meade.
She was an exemplary person, woman, wife, mother, and First Lady, who was optimistic about men, women, children, babies, and humanity's potential. R.I.P.
MSNBC has been talking non-stop, positively, about Nancy Reagan's life since her passing, whereas CNN and FN not so much. MSNBC has always been very good re: biographies & celebrity profiles.
And Jimbino, if you didn't know I was being sarcastic. And arms for hostages wasn't really Reagan's fault as he was out-of-the-loop er kept in the dark. But of course as C-in-C had to accept full responsibility.
Would it be an overstatement, to suggest that Trump is to Reagan, what Nixon was to Eisenhower?
I tend to think that would be giving both Trump AND Reagan too much credence. Although the comparison of Trump to Nixon was deliberately underhanded.
Jimbino if not for our Communist Party a/k/a the Democratic Party the arms for hostages wasn't a bad idea at all. Sell semi-defective weapons to the Iranians (and not giving them $150 billion like you know who) so they could keep busy killing (but not winning or losing) Iraqi Arab National Socialists ( who later invaded Kuwait and nearly invaded Saudi Arabia) and keep the Iraqis from winning or losing (thus keeping Saddam down and not so dangerous and thus preventing the Kuwait invasion and the threat to Saudi Arabia and the causus belli for Bin Laden) all the while using the profits from the arms sales to fund the killing of Communists in Central America was a rather good idea. In other words aiding and abetting two scorpions in killing each other and keeping a third enemy down but the Democrats had to muck things up for us.
Lovely.
RIP dear Nancy.
Her words (Reagan's words) solidify that Trump is the opposite of Ronald Reagan.
"A woman is like a bag of tea. You never know how strong they are until you find them in hot water."
One of my favorite quotes.
@jimbino:
I'll say this about you...you never miss a chance to be an asshole.
This was a beautiful tribute to our gracious former First Lady and to Reagan's immortal national leadership.
Thanks, Althouse.
I remember poor Nancy being ridiculed for the astrology stuff. Sure astrology is bullshit, but is it really that much goofier than only other superstition?
"First paragraph in the NY Times:
'Nancy Reagan, the stylish and influential wife of the 40th president of the United States who unabashedly put Ronald Reagan at the center of her life but who became a political figure in her own right, died on Sunday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 94.'"
"That was too difficult to write for the Washington Post. Their first paragraph:
'Nancy Reagan had an undeniable knack for inviting controversy. There were her extravagant spending habits at a time of double-digit unemployment, a chaotic relationship with her children and stepchildren that could rival a soap opera plot, and the jaw-dropping news that she had insisted the White House abide by an astrologer when planning the president’s schedule.'
"It does not improve; I gave up on it."
What's to improve on? The Post's one paragraph sums it up!
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