Existing comment:
"With the exaggerated ups and downs of life at the White House, I found out what is really important to me -- I learned how to serve."
-- Nancy Reagan
Eight Years in the White House:
After eight years, Nancy Reagan was a popular first lady when she left Washington. But few other first ladies endured the highs and lows that marked her time in the White House.
Her public duties brought joys and sorrows -- helping children around the world and consoling the families of servicemen killed overseas. But Nancy Reagan also faced the attempted assassination of her husband, his two surgeries for cancer, her own breast cancer, and the deaths of both her parents.
[Personal note: I have an issue with the first statement. Mamie Eisenhower had to endure nuclear war risks and her husband's heart attack. Jackie Kennedy had to endure JFK's assassination. Pat Nixon had to endure the whole impeachment thing. Lady Bird Johnson and Rosslyn Carter might have had relatively few ups and lows but I'd argue that Nancy's troubles were almost the norm, not the exception, for the 6 presidencies ending with Reagan's.] |