On the telepromptu while youre reading words. I hope were rolling. And mine on the teleprompter, while you are reading the words. [laughter] i hope we are rolling. Am i . [laugters] its just fine with me. It appears to an observer that after 33 years of marriage, you two are still absolutely nuts about each other. Mrs. Reagan, how do you plead . Guilty. Mister president , how good a politician is mrs. Reagan . Absolutely sensational. Dont you think so . Took the words right out of my mouth. [laughter] mrs. Reagan, some people have suggested that you have been the driving force in your husbands career. You want to the presidency more than he did. I know. I read that, too. Not true. I thought i married an actor. [laughter] actually, he was asked to run for office soon after we got married, and it turned it down, by the democrats whenhe was still ad democrat. And then, when the governorship came along, i went along with it, but that wasnt something that i had carved out for our future, and certainly the presidency wasnt something that i said, youve got to do this. No. That isnt true. I think that people get mixed up, as far as im concerned, in terms of my pushing him, that they dont understand that if he had decided to go into the shoe business, id be out pushing shoes you know, whatever. Arent you glad he didnt . Yes, that was my next point. My next point was, that actually, as this all turned out, he has given me the most fascinating, interesting, wonderful, frustrating at times, frightening at times, but a life i never, ever, thought i would have. That was nancy reagan from a 1985 camp david interview conducted by then nbc news chief white house correspondent, chris wallace. That press and the public never tire about speculating how political this former hollywood actress was and how much influence she had on the 40th president. It wasnt until she left the white house that she felt fully freed to address all those questions in her memoir. Her effort, as she said, to let nancy be nancy. But, she left plenty of clues along the way. Her public image in particular was a source of continuing frustration to her. You will hear, in her own voice, how she experienced her white house years, featuring footage from cspan video library. First, nancy reagan on how she tried to counter negative publicity, part of an interview with journalist hedrick smith. She is talking about her 1982 surprise performance for the Gridiron Club, known for its political parodies. This is nancy reagan in her own words. Secondhand clothes, secondhand clothes. They are all the rage. At the spring fashion shows. Even my new trench coat with for a caller ronnie bought for ten cents on the dollar. Secondhand gowns, old hand me downs, that china is the only thing thats new. Even though they tell me i am no longer queen, did ronnie have to buy me that new showing machine . Secondhand clothes, secondhand clothes. I sure hope ed miso is. I guess i came around to thinking, well, all right. We will try. I mean, it cant be worse than it was. So, she said, originally, they had thought that i would make fun of the press. And i said, no. No, no. I am not going to do that. The only the only way we couldnt do this, is if i make fun of myself. I make fun of myself. Then, maybe i have a 50 50 chance here. As you well know, that first year it was not nobody was really crazy about me. I dont think i wouldve been crazy about me reading what i did about me. Press was rough. Press was rough. I really dont know why because it started before i ever got here. They didnt know me. I never did quite figure out why. I didnt know until i read it in your book that they were having meetings about me in the west wing that i was a liability and everything like that. I guess, maybe i was, i was pretty neat gunshy. It wouldve been rough. Your inclination is to run and hide in a closet and lock yourself in. You tend to pull back. I do, anyway, when its that rough. Which is the wrong thing to do, you shouldnt do that. But i do. You are watching American History tv and listening to nancy reagan in her own words. The same year of her 1982 Gridiron Club appearance, the first lady spoke to the National Federation appearance for a drug free youth. Antidrug policies were her signature issue in the white house. During the question and answer period, a young boy started to address her. Lets watch. And actor billy is going to be topper davis, that will be a question to dr. Carleton. Hello, mrs. Reagan. Just as a kid, id just like to thank you. [applause] thank you. I really have a whole bunch of questions, but i am going to try to hold it to just one. Oh, go ahead. [laughter] well, like the squeaky wheels, the druggies seem to get most of your attention. What would you recommend for parents and teachers, for us kids, for us many kids, who are responsible and drug free . Yes. I know, its true. You are absolutely right. Bad news seems to get more attention than good news. As a matter of fact, bill, can i tell this story . Bill was bill was on a morning show with a couple of his children, and, who had drug problems, but he has another child who has had no drug problems at all. And the two children that hadnt had drug problems were on the program with him. And it was pretty exciting for them to be on this big show. But the other one i said, dad, you know, i havent done anything. Ive never smoked pot. Ive never taken anything, and i dont get to go on national television, and that doesnt seem fair. So, they asked me if i would go on the program, and i said, yes, i will go on, if i can take his other child on. [applause] im not through. Ive got more. I had a letter from a girl about your age, i think. I made this statement that i thought probably, most young kids had tried pot at one time or another. And she misunderstood. Anyway, there was a misunderstanding. She thought that i said all young people. And she wrote me, indignantly, and said, mrs. Reagan, i want you to know that i have never tried drugs. Ive never been on drugs. My friends have never been on drugs. And we have no intention of going on drugs, and its dumb. And i wish you wouldnt say that anymore. I was very happy to get her letter. I thought that was wonderful, and i wrote her, and told her that i hadnt really said what she thought i had said. But, you know, it is a terrible problem, isnt it . The whole, not just with drugs, but with everything today. We seem to be playing up the negative rather than the positive. You have so many positive things that we can talk about, and so many positive things that people do. At the white house, my husband gives awards to people, to young people, two elderly people, too Little People who have done really marvelous things, wonderful things that we never hear anything about. But, we hear always about the ones who have done the bad things, the terrible things. We are dragged down by that, i think. Oh i would like to see is a little balance. You know . Fine to talk about the things that are going on that are wrong, and shouldnt be going on, but for heavens sakes, lets give a little pat on the back to the people who are out there doing these great things every single day. Because, they are out there, and we never hear about them. I agree with you. Its wrong. [applause] late in that reagans second term, the first lady went to the United Nations, where she delivered a blunt warning about the dangers of drug use in the United States and throughout the world. This is nancy reagan in her own words at the United Nations. It gives me pleasure, on behalf of the Third Committee to welcome among us today the representative of the United States of america, mrs. Nancy reagan, first lady of the United States. And i invite her to make her statements. Thank you, mister chairman. I am delighted to be here as a member of the u. S. Delegation to speak before the Third Committee of the United NationsGeneral Assembly on a matter of urgent importance to all of us. The Third Committee is now considering agenda items on youth, families, and crime prevention. I want to talk to you about the illegal use of drugs and the direct impacts its having on families and children. I come before the United Nations today as a wife and a mother, and one who has had a unique opportunity to see the impact of the drug problem, not only in the United States, but in many areas of the world. I worked on this problem with many distinguished people represented on this committee. Ive had the opportunity to travel to many parts of the world, and have seen the problem firsthand. Ive also been privileged to work on two occasions with mrs. Perez de cuellar. In 1985, she joined me and 29 other first ladies from around the world, and we gathered at the United Nations to discuss the drug issue. Our message was this. As mothers, we are concerned. As first ladies, we are committed. And as citizens of the world, we pledge to do all that is possible to stop this scourge. Last year, perez de cuellar and i prepared a videotape message for the First International conference on a drug abuse and trafficking. The conference was held at the initiative of the secretary general. 138 countries join together in declaring and stopping drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking as a universal priority. I am deeply heartened that the United Nations is near completion on a new anti Drug Trafficking convention that will affirm whatever mother, every parent knows, that drug traffickers are International Criminals who deserve no rest or sanctuary. The International Efforts against drugs are of vital importance and must be expanded. I would add, that even though i have some things to say about illegal drug consumption in the United States, i also intend to speak very plainly about the countries that supply this demand. However, let me say at outset that its the United States alone, which bears responsibility for its own drug problem. Im not blaming other nations for americas drug problem. While most of the Illegal Drugs are imported, the drug users are homegrown. To find americas drug problem, weve had to look no further than our own communities, our neighbors, our sons and daughters. To get serious about stopping Illegal Drugs, there can be no substitute for focusing on that user, and that means confronting all of those citizens who use drugs. Now frankly, its far easier for the United States to focus on cocoa fields grown by 3000 campesinos in peru, than to shut down the dealer that can be found on the Street Corner of our cities. Its also easier to make strong speeches about foreign drug lords or drug smugglers, and it to arrest a pair of wall Street Investment bankers buying cocaine on their lunch break. Yes, we need to break the back of the drug cartels. We need to interdict coca fields and narcotics and transit, but we will not get anywhere if we place a greater burden of action on foreign governments than on americas own mayors, judges, and legislators. You, see the Cocaine Cartel doesnt begin in medellin, it begins in new york, miami, los angeles, every American City where crack is bought and sold. It is the drug user who makes the cartel possible, who provides the market, who funds the enterprise. And the drug user is on accomplice to every a criminal act, every murder, every terrorist attack carried out by the narcotics syndicate. If we lack the will to fully mobilize the forces of law in our country to arrest and punish drug users, if we cant, if we cannot stem the american demand for drugs, then there will be little hope for preventing foreign drug producers from fulfilling that demand. But if we can control that demand, and curtail the drug consumption in our own country, then our efforts can succeed and the International Drug narcotics rings can and will be defeated. Now let me state clearly, notwithstanding a few voices on the fringes, i dont believe the American People will ever allow the legalization of drugs in our country. The consensus again drugs in the United States has never been stronger. We clearly understand the drugs rest may remain illegal in every step of the chain. If its illegal to grow coca in peru, to process it and do cocaine in columbia, to ship it through the caribbean, then it must be illegal to buy, or use cocaine in the United States. And that is the way that it must and will remain. Youre watching American History tv, were listening to nancy reagan in her own words. Early in Ronald Reagans presidency, he was shot in an assassination attempt as he left Washington Hotel speech. Nancy reagan would later say that the trauma of that day never left her. She talked with cspans bryan lam about rushing to her husband side. We went downstairs, we kept saying im going to the hospital, and he said its not necessary, he hasnt been hurt its not necessary. And i said, george, you either get the car or im gonna walk. And we got to the hospital, mike deaver met me at the hospital, and said, he has been shot. And there were police all around, and a lot of noise, and they put me in a little small room, there was one desk and one share, that was it. My kept wanting to see ronnie, and they kept saying, hes all right but you cant see him. And i kept saying, if hes all right why cant i see him. Finally they let me see him, he was lying there with that thing on his face to help him breathe. He lifted up, and he said honey, i forgot to duck. The first lady was as guarded about the president s political wellbeing as she was about his physical safety. In that same interview she talked about her political antenna. I think i just had little antennas that went up [laughs] and told me when someone had their own agenda and not ronnies. And then i tell him, he didnt always agree with me, but i tell him, usually worked out. Whats the first thing you noticed when somebody had their own agenda . You just know, you just you cant say, you just know, if you have those antennas [laughs] youre watching American History tv and listening to nancy reagan in her own words. In 1994, the former first lady sat down with historian carl anthony before an audience of hundreds at washingtons mayflower hotel. She revealed that she had no interest in politics as a young woman, explained why she left her hollywood career behind. She talked about the tumult surrounding her cancer surgery when she lost her mother and prepared for the arrival of the soviet power couple, mikhail and raisa gorbachev. Join me in a round of applause for nancy reagan. [applause] want some water . Thank you. Well, here we are carl. [laughs] i sent a few friends. I was thinking, something nobody i know as ever asked you, ive never seen it written or published anywhere, or on television. Your mother was a very strong democrat, and your father a republican. Yes. Well yes. My mother was a strong democrat, my father really wasnt too interested in politics, he leaned more toward republicans. When you were younger what were your politics was it something that you are interested in . I didnt know one thing about it. Not a thing. And when we got married, i didnt know anything about it, everything i learned, i learned during our courtship and after we were married. [laughs] obviously. Were you first a democrat . I was nothing. [laughs] i dont say that with pride. Because that was wrong, and you know, young people in those days werent as involved politically, and you should be, but truth was i wasnt. If your husband had not continued in politics after the governorship years, do you think you would have gone back to your film career . Oh, i doubt it, i doubt it. Made a conscious decision and ronnie never asked me to do this, id seen too many marriages in hollywood fail, with people both in the business. You know, when you are a woman in this business, in that business, everything is done for you on the set and everybody is telling you every minute how deer and darling you are, how wonderful you are. And its just, i mean its pretty heady, and when you come home you expect the same thing. [laughs] and when it isnt given to you, then its going to be trouble, and i didnt want that to happen. So, i made the choice no, i enjoyed it, i loved it when i was doing it. Just to touch on one or two of the events and issues of the reagan years. Barbara bush has recently said that she was prochoice, while her husband wasnt. Was that similar situation for you and president reagan, agreeing to disagree but not in public . Why did i know this was going to come up. [laughter] i just knew it was going to come up. Well, i dont know where you put me really, im against abortion, i dont believe in abortion. On the other hand i believe in a womans choice. So, it puts me somewhere in the middle but i dont know what you call that. Thats the best way i can answer it. [laughs]. Also during the period the United States and the soviet Union Gorbachev first came to power after chernenko and andropov, and i dont know everybody kept dying on us [laughter] you felt very strongly about the opportunity there for friendship between your husband and gorbachev, im wondering if you could , you had in a sense of personal influence may have resulted in a political effect . Well, it seemed to me so silly, to have these two huge countries here and not have them talking to each other, trying to get together as they say, everybody kept dying on us on the other side. So, we needed to wait for somebody to live long enough that we could talk. But, yes, i did feel strongly about that. One l