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Nancy Reagan’s Surprising Feminist Gift to Hillary Clinton

5 minute read
Ideas
Troy is a professor of history at McGill University and the author of The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s.

For decades, Nancy Reagan, who died Sunday at 94, was the woman feminists most loved to hate. She was too wifely, too fashion conscious, too conservative, too much a 1950s’ traditionalist in the edgier, post-sixties, 1980s. Critics delighted in the mini-scandals surrounding her expensive White House china, her borrowed designer gowns and her family spats. But Nancy Reagan’s eight years as First Lady from 1981 to 1989 ended with a surprising turnaround. Nancy Reagan emerged as a feminist pioneer who helped Americans get used to having strong women in the White House, thus blazing the trail for Hillary Clinton’s subsequent White House runs.

As the wife of Ronald Reagan, the Hollywood actor turned conservative culture warrior, Nancy Reagan was destined to be disliked by women journalists when she and “Ronnie” moved into the California governor’s mansion in 1967. Nancy Reagan, a former actress, appeared to be playing the part of the perfect wife—just as feminism was trashing America’s marital script.

Joan Didion’s takedown of “Pretty Nancy” in 1968 set the template for decades of Nancy-bashing. Didion’s caricature of Mrs. Reagan’s beatific smile, “the smile of a woman who seems to be playing out some middle-class American woman’s daydream, circa 1948” would spawn contempt for Nancy’s “gaze,” her Stepford Wife stare when Ronald Reagan spoke. Barbara Bush needlepointed passive-aggressively as George H.W. Bush politicked; Nancy Reagan broadcast her wifely devotion to her husband—and his career.

In fairness, Nancy Reagan was sincere. “My life began with Ronnie,” she said unapologetically, further alienating radical feminists. And, she explained, “If Ronnie were a shoe salesman, I’d be out selling shoes.” Ronald Reagan was equally dazzled by the woman he called “Mommy”—so much so that his two kids from his first marriage, and their two kids often felt neglected.

Gradually, as Ronald Reagan surprised his critics by serving two successful gubernatorial terms, then two successful presidential terms, Nancy Reagan’s stature improved, too. She frequently was the lightening rod, attracting controversy from her more affable, less prickly husband. And White House aides feared her because she was more willing to fire staffers than her pushover husband.

Beyond her effective “just say no” to drugs campaign, and their effective tone-setting during the peace and prosperity 1980s, Nancy Reagan’s most significant move as First Lady came in 1987, when Ronald Reagan fired Donald Regan. “I thought I was Chief of Staff to the President, not his wife,” Regan bristled, blaming the First Lady. The first wave of criticism was vicious—and sexist. Jokes continued about “the leader of the free world—and her husband”; even staffers called Mrs. Reagan “Evita,” the “Missus,” the “Hairdo with Anxiety,” and, mocking their still lovestruck boss after 35-years of marriage, “Mommy” or “Mommy Dearest.”

Relive the Romance of Nancy and Ronald Reagan in Pictures

Nancy Reagan, left, brings out a birthday cake for a surprise birthday party in honor of her husband President Ronald Reagan in the Press Room on Feb. 4, 1983.
Nancy Reagan, left, brings out a birthday cake for a surprise birthday party in honor of her husband President Ronald Reagan in the Press Room on Feb. 4, 1983. Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan smile during their honeymoon dinner at the Stork Club in New York in 1952.
Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan smile during their honeymoon dinner at the Stork Club in New York in 1952. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Then governor-elect of California Ronald Reagan is photographer with his wife, Nancy, and children Ronald Jr., 8, and Patricia, 13, outside the Executive Mansion in Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 1, 1967.
Then governor-elect of California Ronald Reagan is photographer with his wife, Nancy, and children Ronald Jr., 8, and Patricia, 13, outside the Executive Mansion in Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 1, 1967. Walt Zeboski—AP
The Reagans pose in their swimming pool in Pacific Palisades, Calif. circa 1970s.
The Reagans pose in their swimming pool in Pacific Palisades, Calif. circa 1970s.Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
President Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy Reagan sit together in their screening room, circa the 1980s.
President Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy Reagan sit together in their screening room, circa the 1980s. Fotosearch/Getty Images
Then-Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan campaigns in New Hampshire with his wife Nancy on Feb. 16, 1980.
Then-Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan campaigns in New Hampshire with his wife Nancy on Feb. 16, 1980.Ira Wyman—Sygma/Corbis
President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan share a moment alone in the Oval Office on Sept. 16, 1981.
President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan share a moment alone in the Oval Office on Sept. 16, 1981.Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
President Ronald Reagan kisses First Lady Nancy Reagan in Washington, in an undated photo.
President Ronald Reagan kisses First Lady Nancy Reagan in Washington, in an undated photo.Ronald Reagan Presidental Library/Getty Images
President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan arrival via Marine One from Camp David on the South Lawn on Sept. 12, 1982 in Washington.
President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan arrival via Marine One from Camp David on the South Lawn on Sept. 12, 1982 in Washington. Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
President Ronald Reagan dances with First Lady Nancy Reagan at the State Dinner for President Bendjedid of Algeria on April 17, 1985.
President Ronald Reagan dances with First Lady Nancy Reagan at the State Dinner for President Bendjedid of Algeria on April 17, 1985. Ronald Reagan Presidental Library/Getty Images
The Reagans pose on the White House South Lawn on Oct. 5, 1988 in Washington.
The Reagans pose on the White House South Lawn on Oct. 5, 1988 in Washington.Ronald Reagan Presidental Library/Getty Images
President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan go horseback riding at Rancho Del Cielo on Nov. 24, 1981.
President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan go horseback riding at Rancho Del Cielo on Nov. 24, 1981.Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
President Ronald Reagan presents First Lady Nancy Reagan with an early Christmas present of a King Charles Spaniel named Rex, at their suite in a New York hotel on Dec. 6, 1985.
President Ronald Reagan presents First Lady Nancy Reagan with an early Christmas present of a King Charles Spaniel named Rex, at their suite in a New York hotel on Dec. 6, 1985. Pete Souza—Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images
President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan walk along a beach at Kahala at the Hemmeter residence in Honolulu on April 27, 1986.
President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan walk along a beach at Kahala at the Hemmeter residence in Honolulu on April 27, 1986. Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
President Ronald Reagan plays golf as wife Nancy Reagan watches at Sunnylands Annenberg Estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Dec. 31, 1988.
President Ronald Reagan plays golf as wife Nancy Reagan watches at Sunnylands Annenberg Estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Dec. 31, 1988.Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
First Lady Nancy Reagan and her husband President Ronald Reagan appear during a luncheon in New Orleans on Aug. 15, 1988.
First Lady Nancy Reagan and her husband President Ronald Reagan appear during a luncheon in New Orleans on Aug. 15, 1988. Mike Sargent—AFP/Getty Images
The Reagans look out the Blue Room windows awaiting an honorary dinner on Feb. 22, 1987.
The Reagans look out the Blue Room windows awaiting an honorary dinner on Feb. 22, 1987. Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library

“Who is in charge?” Democrat Bill Richardson asked in the House of Representatives. “A constituent of mine asked, ‘How can the President deal with Soviets if he cannot settle a dispute between his wife and the chief of staff?” New York Times’ conservative writer William Safire wrote that “President Reagan is being weakened and made to appear wimpish and helpless by the political interference of his wife.”

Suddenly, as often happens in modern America, the forces most hostile to Nancy became her allies. Anti-Reagan feminists began defending their longtime foe. At a time when feminism was on the defensive, this unlikely heroine gave women something to cheer about. Joan Didion herself suggested that critics were uncomfortable with a powerful woman in the White House. The anti-Reagan New York Times editorial board distanced itself from the normally pro-Reagan Safire by editorializing: “Spousal advice is part of any marital relationship.”

Continuing the cultural dosey doe, Nancy Reagan called the attack on her an attack on women. When the talk show host Phil Donahue convened a panel of experts who condemned the First Lady, Nancy Reagan harrumphed that none of the panelists was a woman.

Nancy Reagan’s White House tenure, though rocky, was pioneering. As First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton often ran into similar hostility when she was perceived as too “Lady Macbeth-like.” But, eventually, both Mrs. Reagan and Mrs. Clinton left the White House with great popularity—and historic roles in revolutionizing American attitudes toward women and power.

It’s highly unlikely that a passionate Republican like Nancy Reagan would have endorsed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Nevertheless, Hillary Clinton should thank her predecessor as one of many pioneers who has made this historic campaign possible and broadened the range of women’s public roles.

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