So, all of you, thank you for your support and to the kids for just saying no. Thank you. [ applause ] my hope is that the women of the future will feel truly free to follow whatever paths their talents and their Natures Point to. I think they thought that the white house was so glamorous and your role was so what you did was so glamorous, your life was so glamorous, and all they saw were the parties and the meeting people and, you know and ive got to tell you, i never worked harder in my life. Nancy reagan served as longtime political partner, fiercest protector, and ultimately as the caretaker for president Ronald Reagan. An involved first lady, she was active in key staff decisions and policymaking and in campaigning. She made drug use her signature white house issue with her just say no campaign. Good evening, and welcome to cspan series first ladies influence and image. Tonight, were going to tell you the story of anne frances robbins, known to us all as nancy reagan, the wife of our 40th president. Let me introduce our two guests wholl be with us for the next 90 minutes. Judy woodruff is comanaging editor and coanchor of pbss newshour. In her earlier years, she covered the Reagan White House for nbc and later on coproduced a documentary about the first lady. Thanks for being with us. Its great to be here. Carl cannon is the Washington Bureau chief for realclearpolitics. Hes a californian who has been covering National Politics since 1984, and he cowrote a book about the reagan presidency with his father, lou cannon, the reagan biographer. Carl, nice to see you. Thank you. To both of you, were going to start this program just a little bit differently. We looked at hundreds of hours of video about the reagan presidency in the cspan library and decided to start with a closing chapter. This is footage from the reagan funeral, when mrs. Reagan said goodbye to her husband of many years, and we thought that it symbolized this partnership that you both covered so much. Lets watch and well talk a little bit more about their relationship. Its hard to believe it was nearly 10 years ago, carl cannon, but as we look at that, as weve been working our way through this series of first ladies biographies, especially in the 20th century, many of the first ladies were Political Partners with their husbands. Was this a particularly special Political Partnership between the two of them . Oh, it was, from the very beginning, from the sacramento days, from the hollywood days. But the partnership that we see on display there, as nancy pats the coffin, its like its heartbreaking. Its like she lost him twice. And as she pats that coffin, you imagine her patting his shoulder every night for 10 years. She said goodbye to him, goodnight, and every night, it was like losing him again. And i think judy can talk to this, too but its like i think nancy got a rough start in this town, she got a rough start in sacramento, but she won everyone over in the 10 years that he had alzheimers and she took care of him. And i think i was just going to say, carl put it very well, she called it, i think, the longest goodbye. Maybe they werent, you know, her words, but people around them called it the longest goodbye, because it was 2000 it was 1994 when Ronald Reagan wrote that letter and announcing to the world that he had alzheimers. And of course, no one knew then what it meant. I mean, that was at a time when people knew of alzheimers, but it wasnt nearly as familiar to us as it is today. And there was no way of knowing how long he would live. He would leave another 10 years, but out of public view. But she was with him. They were in their home in bel air, in los angeles, and their closeness was with them right up until the end. And you see that in that video. Susan, the christening of the uss Ronald Reagan happened in 2001. My father and i were both there. And nancy came out to newport, and it was a cold, blustery day in april, and there were parties afterwards. And we said, are you staying . And she said, no, i have to get back. Ronnie needs me. He doesnt like it. He gets agitated when im not in the house. I mean, im sure she had help, but she really was his caretaker. So from not just those last 10 difficult years for the two of them, but lets have you both talk a little bit about what the partnership meant in terms of National Politics. What did each one of them bring to the table politically to make this a successful quest for the white house, ultimately . Well, we could talk for a long time about that, because it was a remarkable partnership. It was a strong marriage. They loved each other deeply. But it was also very much a working partnership, in that once it was clear that Ronald Reagan, i think, was interested in politics and it all started with that ge being the spokesman for ge, traveling around the country. And i believe he was hired by ge, i want to say 1955, 54, 55, somewhere in there. And from that moment on and once he the friends they made in los angeles decided Ronald Reagan would be a great candidate for governor, and then, of course, he went on to be elected governor in 1966. She was the person who people ive talked to called her the personnel director, because she made sure that the people around her husband were people who always had his best interests at heart. That was one of the principal things she brought to the relationship, always having his back. Carl, before you answer, i actually want to show a brief clip from role of a lifetime, the pbs documentary you were involved with, and shes talking about what she brings to this partnership, in terms of looking out for her husband. Lets watch. I see the first lady as another means to keep a president from being isolated. I talk to people, they tell me things, and if something is about to become a problem, im not above calling a staff person and asking about it. Im a woman who loves her husband, and i make no apologies for looking out for his personal and political welfare. So, to you, for your thoughts on this partnership. Well, judy said that she was the personnel director. Stu spencer called her that. And stu is the political consultant who ran reagans First Campaign for governor in 1966. And in september of 1980, when things go start to hit a rocky road, and the campaigns in a little bit of trouble, its nancy who says, wheres stu . Wheres stu spencer . And stu they call deaver called him. And mike deaver was only back in the campaign because nancy had helped bring him back. And stuart spencer, when he worked for Ronald Reagan at the 1980 convention, he asked one person it was okay, gerry ford, who hed been his client. When he was going to come back to the Reagan Campaign fulltime, there was one person he asked deaver about is it okay, and thats nancy. Hows nancy with this . Nancy was well, its her idea, and stuart was on. So it goes way back. Well have lots of time in our program to talk more about the white house here, so were going to go back in time to learn a bit more about Nancy Reagans biography. Before we do that, let me tell you about how you can be involved. If youve been watching this series, you know that your questions really make it so much more interesting for us so we can take the conversation in the direction of your interest. Theres lots of ways to be involved. You can go to facebook and find cspans page. Theres already a discussion underway. You can also tweet us firstladies. And finally, you can use the good oldfashioned telephone. Our phone lines will be open, 2025853880, if you live in the eastern or central time zones. If you live in the western time zones, california and beyond, 2025853881. And well get to calls in probably about 10 minutes or so, but you can get in line so we can get to your comments. Well, lets go back to where she was born, 1921 in new york city, but her early days were not easy ones for her family. Can you tell us the story . Well, it was not, i would say, the smoothest childhood. Her mother was an actress, edith luckett. Her father, kenneth robbins, had been a salesman. She was born in new york city. The marriage between edith and kenneth did not last very long. Nancy was, i think, around 2 when they divorced. Her mother really wanted her acting career, and she wanted a safe life for nancy, so she had nancy live from the time she was 2 until she was 8, when mrs. Luckett remarried with her aunt, with nancys aunt, her mothers sister in bethesda, maryland, right outside of washington. So nancy lived in a well, i guess what was then a suburban neighborhood of the woman who was described as very different from her mother. Her mother was very outgoing, somebody who was the life of the party, was in the middle of every conversation. Her aunt was much more quiet. I think the rules were fairly strict. But it was a tough time. I mean, nancy herself, she talked in the interview we did for the documentary about how she missed her mother and she would be thrilled when her mother came to visit. So it was rocky for a few years. Life changed for nancy when her mother married a chicago physician. Loyal davis. And then things picked up. There was money. He was successful. She went to boarding school. She went to Smith College. He was the doting parent she had lacked. And she said most through her life, thats the man she called her father, and it gave her an idea of what a family could be. And from that moment forward, she had she kind of had an idea of what she wanted to be and what she wanted out of life, and she wanted to build a family, you know, that was the family she didnt have, and its something that she and reagan had in common. And she went to hollywood after smith. She went to the theater, and then she moved out to hollywood, but she was typecast. And she was typecast in the phrase garry wills said, as the steady woman, and thats what she was. So Stanford Brown on twitter wants to know about relationships between first ladies by asking, did nancy reagan and barbara bush know each other as students at Smith College . You know, i dont know the answer to that. I dont id have to ask. Carl, do you know . Well, they they were four years apart, so i think nancy was just leaving as barbara bush was just coming in yeah, and barbara bush didnt graduate. She was only there a year or two. So i dont think so, but thats actually a good question. But we know nancy reagan went to new york to try her hand at acting yes. Right out of smith. And then she was in new york for a few years before she moved to hollywood. She had a contract with mgm, and talks about a rival from rons studio, from warner brothers. Thats right. Also on twitter, one of our viewers whose tweet is not coming up nicely for me, Sheldon Cooper is asking about her stepfather and his influence on her politics. Dr. Davis was very active in conservative politics. Did that influence nancy reagan . He was a republican, and i think it did influence her. But she you know, when she married Ronald Reagan, at their first date, you know, reagan is discussing politics already, and hes talking about communism, he doesnt like communism. This is 1949. So she would have been conditioned by loyal davis to be receptive to ronnies message, as she called him. How did the two of them meet . Its an interesting story, susan. This was hollywood in the late 40s when there was, of course, the communist scare. It was after the end of world war ii. And there was you heard about the blacklist, where people were named for being somehow associated with the communist party. There was a nancy davis, which was her name at the time. Nancy davis showed up on a, quote, unquote, blacklist as someone in the Hollywood Community who had had something to do with the communist party. And she knew that that was not she, and she wanted to get her name off, and she told her good friend and i believe he was a producer, mervyn leroy, she said, how can i get this done . And he said, well, i know Ronald Reagan, whos the president of the Screen Actors Guild, and i think i can talk to him. And she tells the story, she said as soon as i heard that, i knew who Ronald Reagan was, and i was very interested. And she said, i told him, well, absolutely, call him up, and id be glad to meet with him. And so mervyn leroy called Ronald Reagan. He said hed be glad to talk to her about this. And one thing led to another. There was a meeting, and then it became a dinner. And she really tells a funny story about how, you know, they both agreed to go to dinner but insisted they had it had to be an early evening, because they both had an early call. Which neither of them actually which neither one of them actually did, but so its an old hollywood ruse. If the date doesnt work out, you can end it in a civil way by saying you have to get up early. But they didnt end it early, and a good thing, because they didnt have anywhere to be the next morning. But that was 1949. Right. And when did they marry . 1952. So they had a threeyear courtship before she married. Courtship. We have visited the Reagan Library. Youll be seeing some video of some of the people we met there that tell the story of nancy and Ronald Reagan. And this first piece, this first package is on the two of them and their early relationship and the love letters they shared. Lets watch. Nancy reagan was asked if it was love at first sight, and she always says, well, it might not have been, but it was pretty darn close. And shes a very sentimental woman. And over the years, she kept mementos of this relationship, you know, from letters to wedding bouquets, and all of these artifacts are on display in the museum and document how important they were to each other. One of the other interesting things that we have in here, which is very symbolic of their intense relationship, is a letter that president reagan wrote to his wife in 1953, when he was in new york and he was staying at the Sherry Netherland hotel, and he wrote a very charming letter to her. He wrote it as if she had actually joined him at dinner. And you can see how creative he was. The final page of the Sherry Netherland letter is very touching, so lets go take a look at that page along with some of our other artifacts in this collection. So this is that fourth page of the Sherry Netherland letter. And its where president reagan expresses his heartfelt feelings to his wife. This was written in 1953 about a yearandahalf after they were married. And he says, i suppose some people would find it unusual that you and i can so easily span 3,000 miles, but in truth, it comes very naturally. Man cant live without a heart, and you are my heart, by far the nicest thing about me and so very necessary. There would be no life without you, nor would i want any. I love you. Signed, the eastern half of us. Recently, mrs. Reagan has given us this little box full of some treasured keepsakes of hers. So we were pleased to receive them because there are some interesting stories inside here. Back in 1950, when nancy reagan received her own dressing room when she was under contract with mgm, to celebrate that moment, Ronald Reagan went to a jeweler in Beverly Hills and had a special key made for her, a key for that dressing room, and that has an image of a thespian on the front and the back. She thought that was such a nice idea that two years later, after they were married and they got their first home, she had keys made for their first home. And theres a little house on the top, and theyre both engraved with their initials, mrs. Reagans initials and mr. Reagans initials. But on his key, right above his initials, in her handwriting engraved, it says, our first. What were their early married years like . Well, susan, as we said, they married in 1952. And actually, their daughter, patti, was born in 1952. And she pretty much gave up her movie career. She had been getting some roles fairly steadily. And his career was actually the one that was stalling out at that point, and then the ge offer came along. But it became she became the homemaker. She essentially gave up she did do a few Television Roles i think over that first decade of their marriage. But mainly she devoted herself to being his wife, the mother of patti, who was their daughter who was born in 1952, and then i think about six years later, ron, jr. , was born. But her family was her life. And she devoted all her time to that. And theres a great little story i dont know if youre going to show it later where once he went to work for ge, ge had this allelectric house built for them, which had every imaginable special feature in it, you know, automatic drape closures, and you push a button, the kinds of things that we wouldnt think much of today, but back then it was a big deal. But she devoted herself to that. And then eventually, you know, as he came closer to thinking about politics, she became, i think much closer, i think, to the wives of some of the men who would be influential in that regard. And Ronald Reagan, as a divorced dad, brought two children to the marriage, maureen and michael reagan. By the time the family came on to the national stage, first in the Governors Mansion in california and then, of course, in the white house years, the family relationship became a great interest to the public. And there were suggestions that there were tensions between the kids. In fact, one of our viewers refers to this. Why did she have a strained relationship with the reagan kids . And what is the relationship like with her kids and stepson now . We have another clip from a documentary, and it actually talks about the reagan partnership and its effect on the children. So lets listen to ron reagan talking about life inside the reagan household from his perspective, and then well come back to you, carl. We were conscious, i think, growing up all of us, i know i was that there were really two sets of