Former First Lady Nancy Reagan has passed away at the age of 94.
She died of congestive heart failure at her Bel Air home, the Reagan library said.
Photo Getty Images
Nancy Reagan’s 52-year marriage to ex-President Ronald Reagan was once described as the US presidency’s greatest love affair.
From 1981-89 Nancy Reagan was one of the most influential first ladies in US history; initially criticized for an expensive renovation of the White House, but later becoming a much-loved figure.
Nancy Reagan will be buried next to her husband, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, the library said in a statement.
President Barack Obama said Nancy Reagan “redefined the role” of First Lady.
John Hinckley Jr.’s lawyer has told a court his client should be permanently released from his mental health facility.
John Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan, who survived, and three others outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington in 1981.
He was found not guilty by reason of insanity but was sent for treatment to a Washington hospital.
Currently, John Hinckley Jr. spends 17 days per month at his mother’s home in the nearby state of Virginia.
John Hinckley’s lawyer, Barry Levine, told a federal court on April 22 that the would-be assassin is “clinically ready” to leave St Elizabeth’s Hospital permanently because he has been in “full and stable remission” for more than two decades.
The lawyer is asking a judge to grant his client “convalescent leave”, which would allow him to live outside the hospital with regular visits to mental health professionals.
Prosecutor Colleen Kennedy disagreed and said more restrictions and conditions are necessary to keep John Hinckley Jr. and others safe.
His mother is 89 years old and lives near Williamsburg, Virginia.
While living with her, John Hinckley is allowed to live a normal life that includes unsupervised shopping and dining out, and occasional contact with the US Secret Service.
Ronald Reagan was just 69 days into his presidency when the attempt was made on his life.
The former president suffered a punctured lung, but survived after being rushed to a nearby hospital.
Three others were wounded, including White House aide James Brady who was shot in the head and suffered brain damage and partial paralysis.
A Secret Service agent and a police officer suffered lesser wounds.
A gun control law passed in 1993 was nicknamed The Brady Bill and the White House press briefing room bears James Brady’s name. He died in August of last year at the age of 73.
President Ronald Reagan’s apology to PM Margaret Thatcher over the US invasion of Grenada has been published for the first time.
“We regret very much the embarrassment that’s been caused to you,” Ronald Reagan said during a phone call.
Margaret Thatcher was angered that she was not consulted before the Americans invaded a Commonwealth state.
US troops were sent to Grenada in 1983 to topple the Caribbean island’s Marxist regime.
While US forces were still in action, President Ronald Reagan phoned Margaret Thatcher to explain the action he had taken.
“If I were there, Margaret,” he said.
“I’d throw my hat in the door before I came in.”
The saying refers to a Civil War-era practice in which a visitor might throw his hat in to a room before entering – if he was unwelcome, it might be thrown out again or even shot at.
“There’s no need for that,” Margaret Thatcher replied.
Ronald Reagan apologized to Margaret Thatcher over the US invasion of Grenada
Reagan continued: “We regret very much the embarrassment that’s been caused to you, and I would like to tell you what the story is from our end.”
He explained that military commanders only had “a matter of hours” to mobilize the troops and that he was prevented from discussing it with her sooner because of security fears.
“We were greatly concerned because of a problem here – and not at your end at all – but here. We’ve had a nagging problem of a loose source, a leak,” he told her.
Margaret Thatcher went on to suggest she understood why he had not been more open with her, saying she had been subject to similar restrictions at the time of the Falklands invasion.
“The action [in Grenada] is under way now and we just hope it will be successful. There is a lot of work to do yet, Ron,” she said.
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan discussed the situation in Grenada further before she ended the call by saying she had to return to a “tricky” debate in the House of Commons.
Ronald Reagan then pitched in with some advice for her: “All right. Go get ’em, eat ’em alive.”
A box of 20 tapes was released to the public in October at the Reagan Library in Los Angeles, following several Freedom of Information Act requests.
US author William Doyle, Dan Collings – researcher for Margaret Thatcher biographer Charles Moore – and Chris Collins, the director of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation, had all been pursuing rumors of the tapes’ existence.
The release confirms that President Ronald Reagan secretly recorded his discussions in the White House situation room, a habit that was previously thought to have ended with Richard Nixon’s departure from office.
Another tape records Ronald Reagan’s condolences to Margaret Thatcher following the bombing of the Conservative Party conference in Brighton in 1984.
James Brady’s death has been ruled a homicide, 33 years after he was wounded in an assassination attempt, police in Washington have said.
The former White House press secretary was shot in the 1981 attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life by John Hinckley Jr.
James Brady suffered brain damage and partial paralysis and died this week at 73.
John Hinckley Jr. has been confined to a psychiatric hospital since he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
James Brady died on August 4 at the age of 73.
James Brady’s death has been ruled a homicide, 33 years after he was wounded in an assassination attempt
A lifelong Republican, James Brady had served in the Nixon and Ford administrations and as a Senate aide before joining Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign.
On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. opened fire on Ronald Reagan’s party outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, striking four people, including James Brady and President Reagan.
James Brady was shot in the head and was the most seriously wounded. Ronald Reagan was shot in one lung. A Secret Service agent and a police officer suffered lesser wounds.
Photos and video of the incident show the wounded press secretary sprawled on the ground as Secret Service agents rushed the president into his vehicle and others wrestled John Hinckley Jr. to the ground.
The former press secretary suffered brain damage, partial paralysis, short-term memory impairment and slurred speech.
John Hinckley Jr. was tried and found not guilty due to insanity. Since the trial he has been committed to a Washington DC psychiatric hospital, but has been allowed to spend limited time at his mother’s home.
James Brady, who served in three Republican administrations, became an advocate for stricter gun control.
He lobbied for legislation to require background checks for handgun sales. The so-called Brady Bill was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
Former White House press secretary James Brady has died at 73.
James Brady was shot in the head in a 1981 attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life.
His family said James Brady, who was left wheelchair-bound in the shooting, died after an undisclosed illness.
James Brady, who served in three Republican administrations, became an advocate for stricter gun control.
He lobbied for a law signed in 1993 that bore his name and required background checks for handgun sales.
In 2000, Democratic President Bill Clinton renamed the White House press briefing room in his honor.
James Brady was shot in the head in a 1981 attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life
President Barack Obama described James Brady as a “legend” at the White House and praised his warmth and professionalism and “the strength he brought to bear in recovering from the shooting that nearly killed him”.
“Since 1993, the law that bears Jim’s name has kept guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals,” he said.
“An untold number of people are alive today who otherwise wouldn’t be, thanks to Jim.”
James Brady, a lifelong Republican, served in the Nixon and Ford administrations and as a Senate aide before joining Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign.
On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. opened fire on the president’s party outside a Washington hotel, striking four people, including James Brady and Ronald Reagan.
James Brady was the most seriously wounded. Ronald Reagan was shot in one lung. Two law enforcement officers suffered lesser wounds.
Photos and video of the incident show a wounded James Brady sprawled on the ground as Secret Service agents rushed Ronald Reagan into his vehicle and others wrestled John Hinckley Jr. to the ground.
The former press secretary suffered brain damage, partial paralysis, short-term memory impairment and slurred speech.
John Hinckley Jr. was tried and found not guilty due to insanity. Since the trial he has been committed to a Washington DC psychiatric hospital, but has been allowed to spend limited time at his mother’s home.
Former President Ronald Reagan’s family has hit out at the producers of new film The Butler for allegedly portraying him as a racist.
Ronald Reagan is played by British actor Alan Rickman in The Butler, which tells the story of black man Cecil Gaines who served in the White House for 34 years.
However, Ronald Reagan’s son claims that the portrayal implies that the former president was prejudiced against black people, when in fact he helped the cause of African-Americans and showed friendship to the real White House butler.
The Butler, which was released in the U.S. two weeks ago, follows Cecil Gaines, played by Forest Whitaker, as he experiences decades of American history at the side of multiple Presidents.
The film is based on the real-life story of Eugene Allen, who died in 2010 and served every President from Ike Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan.
Alan Rickman, known for his roles in Die Hard and the Harry Potter series, plays Ronald Reagan, while anti-war activist Jane Fonda was controversially cast as his wife Nancy.
In the film – as in real life – Ronald Reagan invites the butler to attend a state dinner as a guest instead of an employee.
But Cecil Gaines is uncomfortable with the experience, and turns against the President over Ronald Reagan’s move to lift sanctions against South Africa over the apartheid regime.
Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan in Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Ronald Reagan’s son Michael has launched a blistering attack on his father’s portrayal, writing in Newsmax that the film should be called The Butler from Another Planet because it is so historically inaccurate.
“Portraying Ronald Reagan as a racist because he was in favor of lifting economic sanctions against South Africa is simplistic and dishonest,” Michael Reagan wrote.
“If you knew my father, you’d know he was the last person on Earth you would call a racist.”
He pointed out that the leader had a record of friendship towards black people, having been close to a number of African-Americans during his college days.
When Ronald Reagan was governor of California, his son wrote, he more than doubled the number of black officials who had ever been appointed in the state’s history.
Michael Reagan claimed that his parents “treated Mr. Allen with the utmost respect” – unlike in the film, where Cecil Gaines’s invitation to the state dinner is implied to have been an act of tokenism.
When Eugene Allen was interviewed about his experiences in 2008, his only reminiscence of the evening was to smile as his wife recalled: “Had champagne that night.”
The film culminated with the butler’s resignation as a protest over Ronald Reagan’s opposition to South African sanctions, though there is no evidence that this was the reason for Eugene Allen’s retirement at the age of 67.
“The real story of the White House butler doesn’t imply racism at all,” Michael Reagan wrote.
“It’s simply Hollywood liberals wanting to believe something about my father that was never there.”
He added: “My father’s position on lifting the South African sanctions in the 80s had nothing to do with the narrow issue of race. It had to do with the geopolitics of the Cold War.”
Allen told his interviewer in 2008 that he was “especially fond of the Reagans”, and resolutely refused to criticize any of the Presidents he worked for.
The Butler, directed by Lee Daniels, takes a number of liberties in adapting Eugene Allen’s life story, most notably in inventing an episode in which his mother is raped and father killed by a plantation boss.
Newly released tapes show two future US presidents called Richard Nixon in support after he gave a speech on the Watergate scandal amid a staff exodus.
Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush attempted to boost Richard Nixon as he denied any knowledge of the infamous break-in at his political rivals’ offices.
The calls are among the final installment of recordings to be released from the Republican’s administration.
Richard Nixon, who quit in 1974, remains the only US president to have resigned.
His second term was engulfed by scandal after burglars tied to his re-election committee in 1972 broke into the Democratic party’s headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington DC, in an attempt to dig up dirt on his political adversaries.
The recordings are the last of a total of 3,000 hours of tape released by the National Archives and Records Administration.
Another 700 hours remain restricted by national security and privacy concerns, but the archive says they will now be reviewed in order to see what can be released.
The tapes cover the time period between 9 April and 12 July 1973, the day before the existence of Nixon’s secret recording system in his offices was made public to a Senate panel probing the Watergate scandal.
The tapes implicated him in a cover-up about the break-in.
The calls from the future presidents came on April 30, after Richard Nixon had made a public address about the growing scandal.
Earlier that day, three senior White House officials had resigned over the affair and another was sacked.
Ronald Reagan, who was governor of California at the time, told Richard Nixon the Watergate speech had been the right one to make
Ronald Reagan, who was governor of California at the time, told Richard Nixon the Watergate speech had been the right one to make.
“You can count on us,” he said.
“We’re still behind you out here and I wanted you to know that you’re in our prayers.”
George Bush called the same evening. The newly appointed chairman of the Republican National Committee said he had watched the speech with “great pride”.
Richard Nixon complained to George Bush about the reaction from broadcasters.
“The folks may understand,” Richard Nixon said, adding: “To hell with the commentators.”
The tapes also show Richard Nixon press secretary Ron Zeigler briefing the 37th president about the possibility of further serious revelations by the Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward.
Despite the crisis engulfing him, Richard Nixon remained actively engaged in global diplomacy.
At one point – in discussions with an aide – Richard Nixon can be heard describing the Chinese as “the ablest people in the world”.
The president can also be heard holding a lengthy Oval Office conversation with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev before a June 1973 summit.
Richard Nixon expresses a close interest in ties with China – a relationship he describes as the “key to world peace”.
In the hour-long one-on-one, assisted by an interpreter, the two leaders chatted about personal topics, including their families.
“We must recognize…. while we will naturally in negotiations have some differences, it is essential that those two nations, where possible, work together,” Richard Nixon said to Leonid Brezhnev.
“If we decide to work together, we can change the world,” he said.
“That’s my attitude as we enter these talks.”
Previous releases show the president as a paranoid man who was obsessed with the Kennedy family.
Richard Nixon considered Senator Ted Kennedy such a political threat that he ordered surveillance in the hope of catching him in an affair.
It has been claimed that Elizabeth Taylor not only did have a string of romances with fellow screen stars – but also with Presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy.
The former liaison allegedly occurred when Elizabeth Taylor was a teenager, with the latter encounter reportedly taking place as a threesome with actor Robert Stack, according to an explosive new biography.
Elizabeth Taylor: There is Nothing Like a Dame – penned by authors Danforth Prince and Darwin Potter – is an unauthorized biography that explores the colorful love live of the late National Velvet star.
According to the book, Elizabeth Taylor confessed to a friend after she was seduced at Ronald Reagan’s Hollywood Hills home, saying: “Reagan was treating me like a grown woman, and that thrilled me.
“We sat on his sofa and I could tell he wanted to get it on but he seemed reluctant to make the first move. I became the aggressor.
“After a heavy make-out session on the sofa, we went into the bedroom.”
Danforth Prince and Darwin Potter book is an unauthorized biography that explores the colorful love live of Elizabeth Taylor
The book claims Ronald Regan [born in 1911] was 36 at the time of the alleged encounter, which means it would have been 1947.
That would put Elizabeth Taylor, born in 1932, at just 15-years-old.
The authors claim it was a nude dip in JFK’s pool that would turn into a threesome between the actress, the politician and actor Robert Stack.
Danforth Prince and Darwin Porter allege Elizabeth Taylor also counted Peter Lawford, Errol Flynn, Tony Curtis, Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra as lovers – her romance with Ol’ Blue Eyes becoming one of the more serious.
Ronald Reagan Foundation has expressed outrage after a vial said to contain the former US president’s blood was put on sale in an online auction.
British-based PFC Auctions says the blood sample was taken from Ronald Reagan after the failed 1981 assassination attempt against him.
The PFC website put the latest bid for the vial at £6,270 ($9,910) on Tuesday.
John Heubusch, executive director of the foundation, said that, if true, it would fight to stop “this craven act”.
“If indeed this story is true, it’s a craven act and we will use every legal means to stop its sale or purchase,” he said.
British-based PFC Auctions says the blood sample was taken from Ronald Reagan after the failed 1981 assassination attempt against him
John Heubusch said the hospital where Ronald Reagan had been treated had assured the foundation that an inquiry was under way into “how something like this could possibly happen”.
PFC Auctions, based on Guernsey in the British Channel Islands, displayed a picture of the vial on its website bearing a label showing the president’s name.
The lot includes a letter of provenance from the seller who says their late mother worked at the laboratory which carried out blood testing for George Washington University Hospital after Mr Reagan was shot.
“These articles have actually been in my family’s possession since… the day that President Reagan was shot in Washington DC,” the letter reads.
Ronald Reagan suffered a punctured lung and internal bleeding when he was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel.
John Hinckley Jr. was later found not guilty by reason of insanity and is being treated at a psychiatric hospital.
Ronald Reagan, who went on to serve two terms as president, died at the age of 93 in 2004.
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