Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III is remembering the late former First Lady Nancy Reagan as “gracious,” and “supportive” and a woman whose twin goals were to help her husband and reflect the very best of the United States.
Mrs. Reagan died Sunday from congestive heart failure at age 94. She lived nearly 12 years after former President Reagan died in 2004 and lived longer than all but one of her predecessors.
Meese, who served as counselor to the president and later as attorney general, was also chief of staff to Reagan for much of Reagan’s time as governor in California. He first joined the Reagan team in 1967, just as Reagan’s term in Sacramento was beginning.
“It wasn’t long after that that I met Nancy and did a lot of traveling in which she was part of the group. I’ve been at the house in California many times and of course were very close in the White House as well,” said Meese.
He says Nancy was very much the same in private as she was in public.
“She was a very gracious person. She was a great hostess. She was always looking out for the people that were around the president and for the president himself,” said Meese.
He says their legendary affection for one another was always obvious.
“They were very much in love with each other and she was certainly a great source of strength and support throughout his entire political career, and I’m sure before that,” said Meese.
Even amidst the daily rigors of the presidency, President Reagan’s mind was never far from the woman he loved.
“They did everything possible together. They were together every minute of the time that they could be. Ronald Reagan’s idea of a good evening was to come home to Nancy, to have dinner together. Then he would work a little bit in the evening. It was just the idea of being with her that was so important to him,” said Meese.
When it came to politics, Meese says Nancy Reagan believed fervently in her husband but also in his ideas.
“She was staunch in her belief in him and I think, in a sense, reflected his own views. She was interested in supporting him and similar views to him on most topics,” said Meese, while noting they sometimes disagreed on the right path to achieving various goals. “I would say they were very much on the same wavelength on virtually everything.”
During the White House years, Mrs. Reagan drew some headlines for friction with various staff members, most famously Donald Regan, who served as chief of staff for much of Reagan’s second term.
Meese says in all his years with Reagan in California and Washington, he never had a problem with the first lady.
“I always had a great relationship with her, both in the governor’s office and the White House and in the presidency when I was at [the Justice Department,” said Meese.
However, he says she did take interest in day-to-day activities with her husband’s best interests in mind.
“Nancy Reagan did not interfere with policy. I’ve never had a situation where that was true. What she was interested in was making sure that the governor, and then later on the president, got enough rest, that the travel arrangements were able to afford him the chance to be at his best,” said Meese, who says Mrs. Reagan did take greater interest in presidential security following the 1981 assassination attempt that nearly claimed Reagan’s life.
As for her own work, Nancy Reagan’s years in Washington were most closely tied to her efforts to convince Americans, and especially children, to stay away from drugs through the “Just Say No” campaign.
“That’s an illustration of how much she cared, not only about the president but also about the people of the country and about the direction in which our nation was going. That’s why when Ronald Reagan took on the effort against drugs in the 1980’s, which was one of our most serious domestic problems, she wholeheartedly assisted in that with her ‘Just Say No’ program,” said Meese.
Mocked by some as overly simplistic, Meese says the effort clearly worked.
“It really made an impact. The President and Nancy and those of us who were involved really had tremendous success in reducing drug abuse in the United States by over 50 percent in a ten year period from 1982-1992,” said Meese.
Meese says Nancy Reagan also shined on the international stage, by connecting with world leaders and their spouses as well as the people of those nations.
“Her desire was to be the best possible helpmate, but also the best possible example of the United States in whatever she did,” said Meese.
Mrs. Reagan perhaps attracted the most admiration for her faithful care of President Reagan, following his 1994 diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. For ten years she cared for him privately and publicly championed greater research into the disease.
“What it showed us was a continuation of what a tremendous person, how much she loved her husband and the fact that she totally devoted every minute of her life to taking care of the president during that period of time. Also, she was very instrumental in making sure the president’s legacy was followed,” said Meese, referring to her active work at the Reagan Library and in ensuring their beloved ranch was sold to a conservative group.
Nearly 40 years after first signing on with then-Gov. Reagan, Meese refelected on what Ronald and Nancy Reagan meant in his life.
“Obviously we miss them both, but I think the nice thing about it is to have recollections of how much they both did for our country and also great memories of the opportunity to have been with them,” said Meese.
