for ours, our coverage continues. it is high noon in the east, 9:00 nam the west. i'm alex wittman with breaking news. former president ronald reagan's wife died. former first lady nancy reagan died at her home in los angeles at the age of 94. the cause of death was congestive heart failure. she'd be buried at the library of congress next to her howze ronald reagan. let's go right now to presidential historian michael bertsch love who's on phone. michael, we've been speaking

with andrea and now with you. tell us your most profound memories of nancy reagan and the legacy she leaves behind. >> well, i think there's no more. she made ronald reagan possible. she made ronald reagan presidency possible. we think of her at tas making p popular. when they met in the 1950s, he was at the ebb of his professional career. he came back from world war ii. his audiences in hollywood were not what they were before and she basically stood at his side and brought him back not only as an actor in a few movies and they were together in a movie called "hellcats of the navy," the only time they acted together, but she was an essential collaborate never his

career. one thing about nancy, when she was alive, it would always say, ronnie, i had a bit part, i didn't have sr. much to do with this. i think now that she's no longer with us and we begin to learn more and more about that marriage, i think we will increasingly see how essential it was for ronald reagan's success as a politician and president for her to be at his side. >> michael, i'm going ask you to stay with us. but right now for all of you tuning in, nbc's lester holt looks at the life of the former first lady. >> nancy davis was an actress herself when she met ronald reagan on the mgm lot in 1949. he was already a star. but though she had her own hollywood dreams she later said she found her a greatest role as his wife. >> i think i was born to be married. i was the happiest girl in the world when i became wee. >> they married in 1952, a

simple ceremony and even appeared in "hellcats of the navy," the last of her 11 films. >> i began to think i was playing the south see circuit. >> you should have noun. >> how could i remember. >> her life was devoted to her husband, as mother to their two children patty and ron and a stepmother to his two children by former wife jane wyman. then came politics and her long career as first lady, first in california as governor to ronald reagan in 1966. >> what's ronald's a greatest asset to the women voters? >> just being ronnie, i guess. >> and then to president reagan in 1980. after the president was shot by a would-be assassin just two months into his first term, his wife was forever shake snoon every time he went out and talked to thousands of people,

my heart stopped. >> but she carried on, steadfast in her chosen roles as the president's protector, bend friend and partner in efforts like the anti-drug campaign for which she was forever linked. >> when it comes to drugsed a alcohol, just say no. >> she was criticized for consulting an astrologer about her husband's schedule. dubbed queen nancy for her expensive fashion and white house decor and accused of managing her husband. >> doing everything we can. >> everything we can. >> the fact is she never wavered as a loving wife in all the ways she knew and when in the mid-'90s, the former president revealed he had been stricken with alzheimer's disease, the partner who never would leave his side visited the convention to share her family's pan and start a new cause. >> we learn as many other families learn of the terrible pain and loneliness that must be

endured as each day brings another reminder o thf very long good-bye. >> nancy, let me say thank you for all you do. thank you for your love. and thank you for just being you. >> she stayed close to herr her ronnie even in the last year. she was at the library and to visit her husband's resting place, a love story to the very end. lester holt, nbc news. >> joining us now, nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. and, andrea, as we were speaking earlier, she really had quite a profound influence on international politics and policies that were developed by her husband's administration, didn't she? >> she did. and most importantly with the soviet union, what was the soviet union because there had been a number with who he had no communication and there was potentially crisis after crisis,

and she saw an opening when mikhail gosh charbachegorbachev generation leader, and she was one of the key figures who pushed for the first summit between reagan and gorbachev, and it was in 1985. he helped with george schultz, the then secretary of state and others in the administration to promote the atmosphere at a guest house in geneva that would vee y create a real conversation where they would walk about, there was a fire set in a small room and they then had their first one-on-one conversation without all of the others hanging on and it became a template for the future talks. some went well. the one in iceland was a terrible summit. the fact is they were on a glide

packet f packet for any goigs yags. we were sometimes on a hair trigger with nuclear weapons aimed at each other and all of that changed with conversations and summits. a lot of other people, not only schultz but jim baker who were interested in negotiations despite efforts at the pentagon by the defense secretary and casper weinberger and others in his close circle whole tried time and time again to stop those engagements, and there were military deployments which were controversial, intermediate range missiles. the green party grew up. there were protests all over. his only ally there was maggie thatcher, the leader in france, a socialist. justin trudeau who is coming to washington this week, the new leader in canada, very

frustrated with the washington policies in 1982, 1983. there was a summit in 1983 which went very badly in williamsburg, virginia, where ronald reagan hosted for the first time the g-7 summit and it was all about the missile deployment and the controversy whether or not there should be nuclear weapons and whether or not there should be a zero option of weapons but it was the first chance for reagan and gorbachev to start growing down these weapons to begin to make europe a safer place, the world a better place and change what was then the soviet union and the eastern block. so major transformations on foreign policy. in other ways she and her husband were more rigid. they had to be dragged into recognizing that in the philippines that ferd and in marco whose wives got along with each other, they had to think

about democracy and it was richard lugar, a very prominent senator and others and george schultz, again, the secretary of state who helped pull them along. aparta apartheid, they were very strong against in south africa and in the united states. so there were pluses and minuses in foreign policy, but i think certainly the biggest contribution was on east-west legislation and negotiations to reduce nuclear weapons. >> andrea, stay with us as we welcome the moderator of "meet the press," chuck todd. so, chuck, when you first heard this news, what came to mind? >> immediately just the idea that, you know, i think we're going to have a good celebration of the reagan legacy. you can't help but note that it's in the middle of a republican primary season and

that's going to rifefocus a lotf people on the reagan legacy and we're going to rightfully so. the first thing i thought of when it came to nancy reagan, in many ways when you think of the most influential first ladies when it comes to the 20th century, pretty much the first two people you're going to come up with in the 20th century are nancy reagan and hillary clinton. after that eleanor roosevelt. she really, in hindsight, helped usher in the new era where the first lady was used to being both a political and personal adviser to the president and that it's more -- she almost -- she got criticized a lot at the time because i think she was the most overt at the time since eleanor roosevelt, but i think in hindsight people realize, okay, nancy reagan was the same for ronald reagan as hillary clinton was for bill clinton. it was more respect, hiebld site, in her role before she got

to first lady. >> to that end, it seems, chuck, that the republican candidates would seek her blessing, her endorsement for their candidacies because of the role you are describing. >> no, there is and i think that, again, this is -- you know, she's -- especially in the last decade or so, she really is viewed as this revered figure in the republican party and the conservative movement and i think adding her name to any presidential campaign would help a lot and i think that's why so many people would make the visit out there. they want to be seen with her. anything to connect themselves to the reagan legacy. it's understandable in the republican party. >> andrea, to continue with you, there are few memories that i have of the reagan funeral back in 2004 more profound than the grief-stricken look on nancy reagan's face.

you felt as if she had lost her heart, as if half of her was also being buried there in simi valley, california. >> i think that's correct. i was there for the funeral and then afterward that incredible day where we saw the sun set burial at simi valley. she visiting that grave so often but i always felt part of that was lost there. she lost so much of her heart and soul with his death. it was a long slow death. you recall as he became increasingly frail in mind and body, she stayed with him every step of the way. she nursed and attended him and her ronnie as she always called him was at her side and she was at his side until the very end and so i think that devotion to him -- that devotion led to, as

i said, her acceptance of stem cell research and also scientific developments that were in the republican party at the time and it was her voice who courageously led the way within conservative republican circles to rethink differently about a lot of this scientific research, and she had the support of so many people in the republican world. i'm not talking about the leadership. i'm talking about families across america who had gone through similar travail, that she really became a very important spokesperson and also thinking about the brady bill and gun control that she and ronald reagan after the terrible harm that was done to jim brady, their press secretary, she was completely and passionately devoted to that struggle as well and that was not republican orthodoxy, but it was where the

personal crossed the traditional republican views. >> andrea mitchell and chuck todd, i know you'll welcome to the conversation, tom brokaw. put this into perspective, the life of nancy reagan and your first thoughts of nancy when you heard. >> i was unsettled more in a way than i thought i might have been because i've been concerned that she was near the end. in fact, i just talked to her on february 6th. her and i share a birthday so every year nancy and i would exchange notes and a phone call and jim baker was there. she was very alert, very responsive to what she had to say. when i saw her in los angeles, i was quite concerned. we couldn't see her until late in the afternoon. she was not as responsive.

she was very pulled together in terms of her appearance and everything and we spent about an hour with her, so i've been waiting for this news in a manner of speaking, but i've spent a lot of my life with nancy reagan. i was a young reporter in 1 196 in los angeles having just arrived to work for the network when he came on as governor. obviously she was important in that campaign and others that followed. i came to know her as a reporter and the woman who was going to be the wife of the governor of the state of california initially, and she was very protective of him then and came out of that kind of higher cast los angeles film society. they had a lot of important very wealthy friends, came to be known as the big kitchen cabinet. alfred blooming da g dablooming. she had a very good idea how to

live her life and protect her "my ronnie" as she called him. i was sitting at the end of the table and nancy was giving little kisses to everybody standing there. as i remember there were people like jimmy stewart and gloria stuart and their friends from the old hollidays. she got all the way around the room and leaned over to kiss me and kind of startingly she leaned back. i said, oh, police reagan, whatever i have is not catchy. she laughed, gave me a kiss, and gave me a high-five. she was so adept at any kind of public appearance and making a recoverry. as andrea said earlier, i thought she was one of the most important political advisers he had in his days at california but certainly at the white house. very protective of him, but she also encouraged him to make the deal with the soviet union, not

just on their terms but on our terms. she could see having talked to jim baker and george schultz and the others the opportunity to do something truly historic. >> and, tom, to that end, her footprint, if you will, within the reagan white house years, that which you're talking about, chuck and andrea, and her influence, that was obvious that was known. was it as much so during her first years as first lady of california? >> i think it did help. and, of course, there's a kind of aristocracy in hollywood as well. they were the first couple of hollywood. by the time i got to know him, by the time he was running for governor, his film career had peaked but he was known around the country for being a spokesman for general election trick. you could see the transition from being a 1940s liberal to be

a 1950s and '60s streconservati and in the los angeles society they were highly regarded and had their own setting and she had a very strong sense of who she was, what was appropriate, and i always thought she carried herself with a great dignity. she grew up in a family where her father was a well known surgeon and a mother in chicago and later in phoenix. so this is something she had grown up with all of her life. just a little tidbit that a lost people may not be aware of. her mother was an actress on radio in chicago and one of her mother's great friends was mike wallace who was also a radio actor. so michael and nancy were a great friends to the end of his life. they knew each other since they were very young. they even had a couple of dates, but it was platonic. she touched a lot of bases.

>> she did. how about her role as her mother. she had her own two biological chirngs of course, patty and ron and was a stepmother to michael and maureen. it's hard to do everything, we working women know that. she was the working wife of a president and a working mother as well, but what do you know about that role. >> well, that was tricky because her daughter was coming of age, and there was a lot of pressure on her because her father was something and patty wanted to be something else. she posed in "playboy" and wrote some articles. nancy, i know, was upset with a lot of that behavior but behaved well in a pub lake wi. didn't condemn her daughter or

throw her out. same with her son ronnie. there was tension, no credit about that. may tainted in touch, i give nancy a lot of credit about that. about an hour after the ceremony had been concluded i got a call from new york at the officend eight was from nancy and patty both on the phone at the same time and they wanted to get my assessment with how things had gone and i told them i thought it was one of the most remark state unions i had been witness to. patty was on the phone with her mother and they were joined at that point when the president became so ill and was at home and there was some real questions about how much of this was going to cost, about the kind of care that he needed. there was a little tension there as well. but it got out -- it worked out within the family and it really didn't spill out into the

public. so i give nancy a lot of credit for that but also their children. and maureen, who was the daughter by his first marriage became very close to nancy. they had shared political values if you will and maureen was a very good counselor to the president. unfortunately we lost her as well. >> tom, i will add that i became friendly with her daughter patty a number of years ago through our calling harry smith and at that time, say no matter what happened in the past, patty flew to her mother's side and seemed to be in her later years her advocate in everything. i think spending a lot of time with her mother at the home, making sure she was getting proper care. i will be honest and say i have not spoke within patty for a few years but that said i have no reason to think that changed. the two of them had a reconciliation, if there was anything to reconcile. >> look. a lot of families went through

those same experiences in the '60s, when the children, the boomers, absolutely battled against the values of their parents. and in the case of the reagans, it was very public. because of his political view and her conventional old kind of stalish way of wanting to appear in public and how she wanted to raise her family, there was an enormous clash at that time, but in my conversations with her about patty and in my conversations with patty, i never detected any a great hostility. you know, they were both uncomfortable with each other for a time. there were kind of minor complaints but nancy knew to give her just enough running room and patty began to understand this is my mother, after all, and there was enormous pressure on the fact that i'm the daughter of the president of the united states. it could have ended disastrously, but it did not.

>> tom, as i ask you to stay with our conversation, i want to go back to the moderator of "meet the press" chuck todd, and, chuck, how do you expect washington will react to this news from both a political standpoint and those who seek to align themselves with ronald reagan and the presidency. also atz you mentioned at the very beginning the way you think washington will put on a celebration of her life. >> no, i definitely think there will be a celebration of her life md and i think there be, like i said, a lot more -- she'll get a lot more praise for her role as first lady today on both sides of the aisle than she would have or did 30 years ago. and i think part of that is almost sort of a maturity with which washington looks upon. any first spouse would naturally be, many marriages and partnerships are just that,

partnerships as well as marriages now. but, look. we're in the middle of a presidential campaign. a campaign that's been among the most vulgar and ungraceful that we've had in a long time, and i do wonder if remembrances of nancy reagan, someone who brought gras and elegance and respectful to the with white house. as if standards weren't high already in washington, there was an extra sense of graeshsness about her that you wonder maybe will it put the presidential candidates on their best behavior for a little while. >> we can hope. >> we can absolutely hope. >> as i ask you to stay with me. ken served as chief of staff from 1988 to 1989. ken, your thoughts when your

first heard of the passing of former first lady nancy reagan. >> i think it's safe to say she and her beloved ronnie are back together. what a sad, sad day, tending of a rag eagan era. as was said, it was a true partnership but a true love affair. any time she was in a room, he was better and any time he was in the room, she was better. but she brought a sense of dignity and class and elegance that everyone respected and admired. she fundamentally upgraded the white house, and i'm not just talking about structure. i'm talking about the way people acted in that place. there was -- it was just a joy

to be there as hard as we worked because she knew that nancy reagan and the president had brought that level of dignity to the office again, that joy that we all loved. >> mm-hmm. ken, as an insider there, and i mean a true insider there in the west wing and you're able to see those who come and go through the oval office and perhaps leave to go to the white house, first family's residence there, talk about their interaction. you said they made each one better and would sparkle in each one's presence. would she just walk in and be welcomed or how would that work? >> well, she seldom came to the oval office, but she loved using the telephone wlrks she was calling the president or oftentimes calling me, asking me

to remember about this or remember about that or to remind me of something that was on the president's mind. it is not something she shared widely, but inlike others, i never made a mistake of hangs up on nancy reagan because she was inviewable because she became a friend, knew i was there to serve as president, and husband, and she wanted to be the best she could be because that would help the president. that was -- they had the best thing going in washington, the two of them, and if she was willing to share some stuff with me, sure, i was going to do that. >> she was fiercely loyal to her husband. how did she react to those who in her mind who were another? >> she could give you those eyes

and a cold stare that would were destroying. she didn't like people picking on her, which was natural, but if you messed with her husband, you were -- you had a black mark next to your name for a long, long time and sometimes in perpetuity. >> ken, did you ever see the pressure, the presummed pressure of living in the white house and if so, how did that manifest itself? >> i think she fit quite well in the white house. she was very comfortable there, she loved the staff, both the white house staff, the household staff. she was very comfortable in her own skin as the president was and i didn't see any issue whatsoever. >> ken, how did she take to

criticism? for example, when she was criticized for her influence with astrology over the president. >> well, she wasn't happy about it, but, you know, she went on. nobody likes the kind of criticism you get, but she ended up rolling with the punches, slept on it for a night or two, and kept going. >> was she as gracious to you and leaders in the white house as she was to say somebody on the wait staff? >> absolutely. >> an absolute lady. >> yeah. you're talking about real class and real dignity here. you're talking about somebody as gracious as could be, fiercely loyal to her husband, and wanted him to succeed. >> absolutely.

>> and the country would succeed. >> thank you so much for your recollections there. for all of you, you're watching the nbc news coverage of the death of nancy reagan. some of our stations may go back to regular programming. for others, our coverage continues. nancy reagan, the widow of president ronald reagan has died. she was 94 years old. her death was announced in a statement from her spoerks penn and lester holt looks ak the life of the first lady. >> nancy davis was an actress herself when she met ronald reagan on the mgm lot in 1949. he was already a star. but though she had her own hollywood dreams she later said she found her a greatest role as his wife. >> i think i was born to be married. i was the happiest girl in the world when i became wee.

>> they married in 1952, a simple ceremony and even appeared in "hellcats of the navy," the last of her 11 films. >> i began to think you were maybe playing the south seas circuit. >> you should have known. >> how could i have known? did you give me a post script check? >> her life was devoted to her husband, as mother to their two children patty and ron and a stepmother to his two children by former wife jane wyman. then came politics and her long career as a first lady, first in california to governor ronald reagan in 1966. >> what's ronald's greatest asset to the women voters? >> just being ronnie, i guess. >> and then to president reagan in 1980. after the president was shot by a would-be assassin just two months into his first term, his wife was forever shaken. every time he went out and talked to thousands of people, my heart stopped. >> but she carried on, steadfast in her chosen roles as the

president's protector, best friend and partner in efforts like the anti-drug campaign for which she was forever linked. >> when it comes to drugs and alcohol, just say no. >> she was criticized for consulting an astrologer about her husband's schedule. dubbed queen nancy for her expensive fashion and white house decor and accused of managing her husband. >> doing everything we can. >> everything we can. >> the fact is she never wavered as a loving wife in all the ways she knew, and when in the mid-'90s, the former president revealed he had been stricken with alzheimer's disease, the partner who never would leave his side visited the convention to share her family's pan and start a new cause. >> we learn as many other families learn of the terrible pain and loneliness that must be endured as each day brings another reminder of this very

long good-bye. >> so, nancy, let me say thank you for all you do. thank you for your love, and thank you for just being you. >> she stayed close to herronny even in her last years. she made it a point to be there when the reagan library hosted election year debates and to visit her husband's resting place. a love story to the very end. lester holt, nbc news. >> mrs. rag listen be buried at the simi valley, california, library next to her husband. i'm joined once again by chief correspondent of foreign affairs andrea mitchell. you've chronicled the incredible influence that the former first lady had but i'm curious your take on what she would think of the presidential campaigns that

are under way today. >> well, it would be hard -- i would want to presume to say what she would think about, but from just all of her history, we know that she did not believe in streams, she believed in compromise, and she believed as did her husband in working across party lines. we once heard him say when he compromised on taxes that that sound you heard was the concrete breaking around my feet. so i would think she would be concerned about the state of the republican party. it would certainly be hard for her to imagine the kind of republican debates that we saw in the last couple of times and the language that was used because if nothing else, she was a classy lady, and as ken duben

steen was saying, this is a woman whose husband never took off his jacket because he didn't want to diminish the sanctity of the official office. the when we visited, we wore dress code. we came out of the carter white house where jeans were the decor. it was a different style. all of a sudden we didn't wear slacks unless it was a snow day. it was a very old-fashioned dress code on "air force one." i dressed in suits very consciously because that was the style set by the first lady, so i think she would not approve of the language if nothing else that is being used in this campaign and as much as she disliked some of the more, you know, outrageous aspects of contemporary politics, she was a

modern person. she adjusted. she understood. we had our own debates in the reagan library and she until recently attended those debates and functions. she kept up with everything. she loved gossip. she would be on the phone with you asking what was going on or with her friend george will and others in her circle back here in washington and of course talk to our own wonderful tom brokaw as recently as the shared tom brokaw/nancy reagan birthday on february 26th. i don't think she would have been happy about the tone that was taken in these debates. >> certainly her intrinsic style and dignity reflecting a much different era. andrea, i'd also like to ask you as tom shared, can you share with us anything from your last communication with mrs. reagan? >> well, my last communication was a public one because i

called her when maggie thatcher died. they shared such a love and respect for each other. margaret thatcher was the first to take ronald reagan seriously and she was his partner throughout the very ta'u muchous years when he was isolated from the other foreign leaders in their perspective toward east-west relations and also econom economics. she was very important to her and was kind enough to come on our show on msnbc and share her reflections. i thanked her afterward. i would send her flowers and commemorate anniversary and birthdays because she was always so kind and i did receive a beautiful letter from her when i had my cancer experience almost

five years ago. and she had been one of the first ladies, you know, not as much of a breakthrough as betty forward so memorably and courageously back in the day with breast cancer, but nancy reagan had her own experience. and then we also, of course, shared that moment when ronald reagan had his cancer surgery and the doctors at nih were all out for a live news conference and the doctor, head of nih and the head of the cancer institute, the president has cancer. that almost got him fired. they insisted he no longer had cancer because they had surgically removed his tumors. there was that side of her. she protected the image and vigor of the president. we never knew until years later how close he came to dying after the assassination attempt.

but imagine what that was like to go through seeing your husband, the president of the united states cut down by an attempted assassination, seeing him struggling for his life, and for tall lines that they put out, joking to the surgeon in the e.r., i hope you're not a democrat, et cetera. she almost lost her husband to an assassin's bullet. i can tell you, the way he rebuilt himself, the strength he showed through physical therapy, the upper body strength to recover from the attack really that came so close to his heart and lung, just think of what that entailed. that certainly led to what we called later the overprotectiveness and i can understand it completely for your what she went through. i admire her greatly for not only her public policy role but to her devotion which was so clear.

>> yes. a very strong and steadfast woman in her own right. loyal to her husband and her causes. andrea mitchell, our chief foreign correspondent helping us with this special coverage, thank you so much, andrea. >> thank you very much. >> i'm joined right now by the co-host of msnbc, joe scar broechlt joe, e'd like to know what you thought about when you heard the news of the passing of nancy reagan this morning. >> obviously very sad news, but what also struck me about nancy reagan and ronald reagan is what an absolutely critical role she played in really one toof a greatest presidencies of the 20s century. she and ronald reagan were inseparable. he was miserable when she was not around. she didn't care about doing things without him. i remember one time "vanity

fair's" legendary columnist christopher hitchens once attacked ronald reagan's intellect and did so using, number one, that reagan could have any artist or any musician or any historian or any world leader over at his home at night any night and he chose not to. the fact is ronald reagan and nancy reagan were so self-contained they just wanted to be with each other. of course, they would do what was necessary to be be president and first lady, but it was a love story unlike few others in the white house. if you read the letters, there's actually a book of letters between ronnie and nancy reagan and it was extraordinarily moving, and this was so critical to ronald reagan because ronald reagan is remembered throughout

history as a leader, the kidnapper, getting democrats to vote for hem, the very people who seem to be slipping out of the traditional republican party's grasp, but the fact is reagan was a very inward looking man for whatever reason and staffers, world leaders, even at times, even his own children complained about the fact that they couldn't get close to ronald reagan. and even nancy reagan one time said that there were parts of him that she never got close to. but she was ronald reagan's conduit to the outside world. she was the singular person that could reach in to reagan and turn reagan from the b left actor onto the skids. when i say "only the kwidsth i'm saying it profeg algly into a man who worked again in television, a man who worked again in movies and then in

probably 1966 took on one of the most popular progressionive governors of the 20th andtry in palt brown. absolute absolutely. then, of course, continues that improbable rise all the way to the white house in 1980. you know, help ed helped be at and one of the greatest republicans and who historians would claim to be two of the most successful in the 20th century. you heard michael earlier. as we move further and further away from this sad date where we're remembering nancy reagan, more and more historians will come to that understanding and that realization and understand that she was the indispensable

partner in ronald reagan's life and in his really extraordinary political rise. >> joe, it's interesting that since leaving the white house officially in january of 1989, she became the person in the latter years given her husband's battle with alzheimer's, she became the person who republican candidates would go to as if to kiss the ring. they wanted to get her blessing, get her encoursement. talk about the power of that in these years since leaving the white house, the kind of power she wielded through her influence in the republican party. >> well t reagan library was mecca for republican candidates who wanted to be president of the united states. they did. they did in the past at least want nancy's blessing and wanted an association with the library

in any wei they could. it's an extraordinary library for republicans to go visit and that's why it plays such a pivotal role every four years when you look at -- when you look at the presidential debates and look at all of the functions that continually go out there. i've been out there several times. once with her hosting. but she was always -- she was -- as andrea mitchell said, she remained not a politician's wife but a politician to the end because she was always working the phone, she was always keeping up with what was going on in washington. she was always taking lunch meetings. and one of the things when i had lunch with her in bel air several years ago, what struck me was the same thing that has always struck me in any private times that i had with the bush family, especially bushes in

kennebunkport. you see them as political figures and then you get close and spend time with them and realize they're husbands and wives first and mothers and fathers first. i know when i was speaking with nancy reagan, she was talking with affection about her two children and talking about how proud she was of both of them, which, you know, from a distance -- that was a surprise because -- i had heard just like everybody else about the distance that she had from time to time with her daughter, but she spoke in such positive loving terms of both of her children, that that took up most of our time together at lunch. she was a proud mother. she was a loving mother. she was a loving wife. and as tom brokaw said, she did it during the most difficult of times and the most difficult of

circumstances. being the wife to the man that ran the counterrevolution in 1966 through 1988 to all the things that her children held dear and that was the freedom of eisenhower and she stood by her children to the very end. >> msnbc joe scarborough host of "morning joe." i know you ee goepg have a lot of more tomorrow morning. thanks for calling in. we'll see you in the morning. let's go to nbc's kelly o'donnell who's at the white house. i know you covered the reagan years and all sorts of facts when it comes to ronald and nancy reagan. your thoughts when you heard about the passing of nancy reagan. >> well, alex, let me begin at the white house to say at this point the president is out of

the white house, he's on a golf trip. we have not heard from him yet on the passing of mrs. reagan and the vice president traveled last night to the middle east to the united arab emirates, so we've not yet heard from the obama administration on the passing of mrs. reagan. there are other leaders from the political world and capitol hill who are coming up with statements and sharing their remembrances. also the former first lady laura bush has put a statement out saying nancy reagan was totally devoted to ronald reagan and we take comfort they'll be reunited once more. george meaning george w. and i send prayers and condolences to her family. then we hear from the one of the top democrats on capitol hill who said you done have to be a republican to admire nancy reagan. she was a tower of strength alongside her husband, had strong believes, and charted her

own course. we heard from ted cruz who so frequently on the campaign trail talks about ronald reagan. he says nancy will be remembered for her deep passion for the nation and love for her husband ronald and the family is in our prayers. and the last one from donald trump, nancy reagan, was an amazing woman. she will be missed. personal remembrances we'll showing, the scene where she was with senator john mccain. i was with him that. was the time he had become the republican nominee and it was very much a necessity of the right of package in the republican party to pay your respecting to mrs. reagan. to have that photo opportunity. for him it became much more than that. he became from being a prisoner of war and has been close in all

the years since. there's a personal connection as well. i was out recently at the reagan library last fall for a program mrs. reagan carried very much about. it's called the peace through strength forum where they bring together a lot of the minds on national security issue and talk about many of theives were relevant and remains relevant now. it's a form rum she carries very muching about. i received a lovely note from her thanking me for my participati participation. she took that kind of detail on the mish and what it means to the republican party and what it means to people who come to the library, which is an extraordinary piece of property that they selected so they president reagan when he was laid to rest would be able to enjoy his california mountain view.

i was also at the western white house at a ranch. and i was there when mrs. reagan sold the property to a young foundation's ceremony, an organization for younger republicans and what was particularly striking is the home had been sold. it was a very rustic sort of spartan small ranch on a spectacular piece of property and she went back and provided some of her own personal effects that she and president reagan had used during the time they were in the white house,erring from his cowboy hat to cowboy boots, saddles. of course, that's where you see all the scenes where he was riepds horses. she made that personal gift. one final note, i was with her when she came in 2009 for the statue. it was one of the last times she

has come to washington and she talked about it being such a happy occasion because the last time prior to that that she had been in the rotunda was when the former president was lying in state after his passing. so it was very -- there are personal moments you can reflect on, the style and commitment to her husband's legacy and how she remained involved as long as she could. >> kellie o'donnell at the white house. thank you. i'm joined by maria shriverer who joins us from california. i understand you're a bit under the weather and we'll excuse that if that comes through over this phone conversation. i'd love to talk with you about your thoughts on the passing of nancy reagan and also point out to our viewers who don't know you shared something in common both being first ladies of california. >> yes, we did. and both very active in alzheimer's.

my dad had alzheimer's and obviously president reagan had alzheimer's. so we saw each other a lot of those fronts. in fact, when i first became first lady, i called her to ask for her advise during my time as first lady to get a sense from her how to handle it, what i should do. i met with everybody who had shared in that role before. one of the things i wanted to do was put her picture up in the capitol and say she had served too because there were no pes of first ladies, just governors. she said there were none. that's a good idea. they should be done right away. i remember talking to her and wondering what i should focus on. she said. look it. the best advice i have for you is do whatever you want because people are going to criticize you anyway. people talk a lot about her love for her husband.

she had two children as you know and her stepchildren. per daughter patty is a pretty good friend of mine and wrote cently about her father. she was also later in life the stem cell research. they were surprised she got involved in that because she was a republican but also trying to focus her attention on alzheimer's. so i think she was often controversy, but she was also quite steely and i think her advice to me was the same advice she gave to herself. do what you do, don't worry about the criticism because they're going to criticize you anyway. do what's best for you, your husband, and your family and that's the way she lived her life.

she had people come in to talk to her. i think she enjoyed her status as, quote, first lady of the republican party. she liked talking to people and she liked having her opinion felt. she felt she deserved that and people sought it from her as well. i think she served well here in california and i just also reach out to her children today who are mourning the loss of their mom who they were sharing with the world. i think that's never easy for children. >> i can imagine. maria, her legacy, how much do you think her actions were influenced with the knowledge that everything she did would be excite niced and she needed to leave the proper legacy? >> i think she was very conscious of that from her days as an actor, when she became first lady of california and then went on obviously to be first lady of the united states, but the reagans had a very tight

knit group of people who supported them. ed them. i think she really enjoyed her life as she said. i think today deeply devoted to her huls bnld she wanted to be seen as somebody who's smart, not to be messed with, who had served hess. atz i said, i come back to the point where i said i didn't see your picture in the capitol and you deserve to be and i won't say she said damn right but she said, i think so too. she was a woman stand behind an opinion. if you read mike dever's book or others, people did not cross nancy reagan. i think she enjoy thad reputation. it was well earned. and i think they were very much of a team, and she enjoyed being

that team and i think she felt that she wanted to support whatever he did, but she was also, i think, you know, proud of her just say no to drugs campaign and i think she was also brown of her work on stem cell. we spoke a lot about that since we're both very committed to it and i think that will be part of her legacy. >> absolutely. our friend here at nbc news, maria shriver, thanks so much for calling in despite being under the weather. do get better soon. >> okay, thank you. once again joined by the moderator of nbc's "meet the press," chuck todd. there will be some sort of remembrance of her life. do you know how large that will be giving the largess. it's the end of an era truly. >> it is sort of the end of the

era when part 2 of that powerful couple. this is the most inflew uential republican first lady. i think because of the importance of the reagan legacy to the republican party in general, her legacy on washington, her legacicy on the -- e think this is going to be a pause in the campaign. perhaps it's a pause in the rhett rim or the style or the tone but focus on the reagan legacy and candidates going out of their way to talk about the reagan can d-day .

reagan candidacy. any idea how she'll be remembered? >> i think she'll going to be remembered as better today than perhaps when she left the wise. more the respect she did play. part of that may have been the era or partnership or polar zaip at the time, but i this i with time and space there is just going to be a much more appropriate, frankly, i think, and a much more positive review of just how influential she was at a first lady. again, there's three or four -- there's eleanor roosevelt, there's nancy reagan. there's hillary clinton. >> all right. chuck todd, thank you so much for your insights. for all of you, you're watching nbc news special coverage of the death of former first lady nancy reagan. our coverage continues now on msnbc and there will be a full

report tonight on nc nightly news with lester holt. i'm alex witt, nbc news, new york. and welcome to all of you. it's 1:00 in the east, 10:00 a.m. in the west. nancy reagan, the widow of ronald reagan has died. she was 94 years old. her death was announced in a statement from her spokesperson and nbc's lester holt takes a look at the life of the former first lady. nancy davis was an actress herself when she met ronald reagan on the mgm lot in 1949. he was already a star. but though she had her own hollywood dreams she later said

she found her greatest role as his wife. >> i think i was born to be married. i was the happiest girl in the world when i became wee. >> they married in 1952, a simple ceremony and even appeared in "hellcats of the navy," the last of her 11 films. >> i began to think you were playing the south seas circuit. >> you should have known better. >> how could i? did you send me a post script check? >> her life was devoted to her husband, as mother to their two children patty and ron and a stepmother to his two children by former wife jane wyman. then came politics and her long career as first lady, first in california as governor to ronald reagan in 1966. >> what's ronnie's greatest asset to the women voters? >> just being ronnie, i guess. >> and then to president reagan in 1980. after the president was shot by a would-be assassin just two months into his first term, his

wife was forever shaken. >> every time he went out and talked to thousands of people, my heart stopped. >> but she carried on, steadfast in her chosen roles as the president's protector, best friend and partner in efforts like the anti-drug campaign for which she was forever linked. >> when it comes to drugs and alcohol, just say no. >> she was criticized for consulting an astrologer about her husband's schedule. dubbed queen nancy for her expensive taste in fashion and white house decor, and accused of managing her husband. >> doing everything we can. >> everything we can. >> the fact is she never wavered as a loving wife in all the ways she knew and when in the mid-'90s, the then former president revealed he had been stricken with alzheimer's disease, the partner who never would leave his side visited the convention to share her family's pain and start a new cause.

>> we learn as many other families learn of the terrible pain and loneliness that must be endured as each day brings another reminder o thf very long good-bye. >> nancy, let me say thank you for all you do. thank you for your love. and thank you for just being you. >> she stayed close to her ronnie even in the last year. she was at the library and to visit her husband's resting place, a love story to the very end. lester holt, nbc news. mrs. reagan will be buried at the library in simi valley, california, next to her husband. there will be an opportunity for members of the public to pay their respects at the library. we want to let you know we just received a statement from former president george w. bush. i'd like to read it to you now. he says laura and i are saddened by the loss of nancy reagan.

she was fiercely loyal to her husband and that devotion was matched to our country. her influence to the white house was complete and lasting. during her time as first lady and since she raised awareness about drug abuse and breast cancer. when we moved into the white house, we benefitted from her work to make those historic rooms beautiful. laura and i are grateful for the life of nancy rag and send our condolences to the entire family. again, former president george w. bush. chuck todd, political director and moderator of "meet the press." what do you think her ultimate legacy will be. we heard lester report about her just say no and her ability to raise the white house and glamor, probably the first to do so since jackie kennedy, but she also had political influence. where do you think her grittest legacy lies?

>> i think her greatest legacy is ronald reagan. look, the reason i say it is the more we learn and the more that's reported about the white house years is what everyone learned on the insues was on the outside and how influential she was during his entire political career. in many ways she was the chief political adviser. let's think about ronald reagan's legacy. he's still the tip of the spear, the shining part on the republican hill. the north star of the republican party. does he become the north star of the republican party without nancy reagan? we can talk about the specific things she did. her ultimate legacy, we can say, is ronald reagan. >> i understand that. i think that makes perfect sense. do you have a sense in the waning years since 1989, you do think her role was getting

library up and running and making that a focal point for republican politics and discussion and furthering her husband's ideology? >> yeah. i think it was less about furthering her husband's ideology than furthering her husband's legacy and influence. i think she loved the idea of making reagan library the first place that republicaned who wanted to become prts of the united states, that that's where they come first. >> as joe scarborough said, it was the mecca. >> that's right. i think that's something she wanted to establish and she did and that is it. i can't imagine anybody else getting role of, you know, that's where republicans debate first. with they want to start making their case. they should start making it at the reagan library. so i think that was very important to her. you say, look, we know a lot. when she cared about an issue, she wasn't afraid to toe the party line.

she wasn't frad to go after it. at the same time i never thought she was a defender of reagan the i'd log. i thought she was the defender of reagan the leader and that presidency. that's what she was protective of. >> it can't be scored enough that theirs was truly a love story. chuck, my heart broke looking at her grief-stricken face at his funeral in 2004. >> alex, that's the part of it -- just as a human being, i so admire this marriage and so admire this love story. you read these love letters and the more they keep coming out, i'm sitting there and i feel as if -- i feel less of a husband sometimes. it's just amazing their love story. i hope i do with my wife, don't get me wrong.

but it's aspiring to marriage. it's a remarkable love story. >> yeah. chuck, with regard to the celebrations of her life, her leg circle and the life, can we expect them to be large in washington? is that appropriate? i mean e i'm not sure of the wife of a dignitary or will they be more compact, do you think? >> i think it's more compact here, but i think you're going to see a lot of people make their way out to california and make their way out to the library. >> perhaps a cessation on the campaign trail for a little bit. >> you can't stop primary elections, they go on and things like that, but it will feel like a pause. we'll see. at least i thought so. but i have to say i've been surprised how marching forward the campaigns are going forward put out their statements about the first lady and then went right back to the campaign. so maybe it won't create the pause that i thought it would. >> well, the perfect setup for

us to move on. chuck todd, you have a busy day. you moderate "meet the press" which will come up again on air. thank you for joining me from the d.c. bureau. let's bring in nbc's hallie jackson. she has more. hi to you. >> alex. we're starting to see people, politicians responding. ted cruz saying she will be remembered for her deep passion for this nation and love for her husband ronald adding the reagan family is in our prayers. donald trump says she was an amazing person and she will be mixed. alex, a lot of the reaction you're seeing is exactly what you and chuck were talking about, the relationship and the deep love that she and ronald rang shared. that's come up in people like mitt romney who says with charm, grace, and a passion for america, this couple reminded us

of the greatst and endurement. he continued, some underestimate the power of a first lady. they have power, strength and resolve and draw on our better angels from mitt romney there. barbara bush responding. whatever you might say about the relationship between those two, nancy reagan was totally die voted. george and i send our prayers and condolences to her family. you've heard them talk about the influence of their lives and each of them fighting to be the standard barer of that legacy moving forward. i expect we'll hear much more about nancy reagan and that reagan legacy over the coming days. it is the middle of the political season but as chuck has been talking about, perhaps a pause for the candidates to reflect on her legacy and what

president reagan annancy reagan have been to you. >> thank you very much for rounding up the responses on this terribly sad news. appreciate that. we're joined on the phone by gayle. welcome on the phone. i'm sure you talk to us with a very heavy heart. talk about your experience after you learned of the passing of nancy reagan today. >> well, my emotions have been mixed. i'm happy for her and sad for all she's left behind. i visited with her in october and she said to me then that she felt that god had forgotten her and i think now that we know that god has not forgotten her, and i think she's in a place where she wanted to be. but sad for us that really the

gold standard of the presidency, of the president and the first lady as both republicans and democrats have started to acknowledge has left the scene and i think it would be wonderful if all candidates right now reflected on both president reagan and police rag p and remembered what it meant to be a lead ore thf country. >> gayle, we spoke about her legacy as wife and mother, as swhoun wield political influence in both domestic and foreign policy affairs with her husband. we also talked about the glitterraderie she brought. as a press secretary in the 1980s, what kind of a whirl winld was that. >> it was a whirlwind. we entertained a lot and we entertained big.

it was constant, but it was constant because mrs. reagan understood the art of french open and entertainment. she was, of course -- she came from the entertainment world and it was in mm ways east coast meets west coast sort of interest in the rasning in the beginning. she made friends with people like kay graham, the publisher of the "washington post" almost on a daily basis took her husband to task on the front page, but she understood the importance of friendship and was able to project friendship through her role as first lady and entertaining at the white house and it was nothing for us to have frank sinatra or sammy davis jr. or dean martin there sort of leading the way, helping

her and leading the way for her. and it was -- it was quite a ride, but it was really a lesson in friendship because when the going got tough, reagan could bring tip o'neill to the white house, they would have their beer together, they would recite their latest irish limericks together and the same thing happened with thatcher and helmet coal and brian maroney and when the going got tough, those friendships were there, and when we needed to deploy cruise missiles or whatever in europe, there was an understood lying friendship there that had -- that the foundation had been built on mrs. reagan bringing them to the white house, entertaining them, and forging these friendships. >> gayle, do you think that mrs. reagan developed her social

style after landing at 1600 pennsylvania avenue or did she arrive there with a very innate sense of self, who she was and what direction she wanted to go in. >> >> i think she arrived with an innate sense of self, but i think her direction evolved as she evolved. one thing we can point to is the just say no drug campaign. she and so many of her friends who had children in their 20s were battling addiction. she's the first person to throw a light on that in a sustained way, and i mean we're still battling addiction. she completely got elizabeth taylor involved in the aids

phenomenon. a story that comes to mind is we sent -- we had rock hudson to dinner at the white house and we sent a photograph to him taken from behind his head over his shoulder of the reagans. and i sent that -- i always sent photographs to people after events at the white house, and it was that photo that he saw a spot on the back of his neck and he called police reagan to thank for for sending the photo to him and he had gone to the doctor and had been diagnosed with aids and police reagan called elizabeth taylor and the rest is sort of history as to how aids started to ravish this country in the mid-'80s. >> that's an extraordinary story that you tell there, gayle. you throw around these names.

elizabeth taylor, rock hudson, sammy davis jr. these were frequent guests at the white house. was sheed a comfortable with the political glitterraderie if you will and with the people she grew up with as the people of los angeles? >> she was. you could talk to anyone right now who's still alive, but if margaret thatcher were still alive, mrs. thatcher once complain shed didn't have good towels at number ten and mrs. reagan told her where to find good towels in washington, d.c. it's those kinds of friendships that she really did foster. i ended up having to go find the towels. but anyway it was the deep and the personal that she was very good at connecting on.

and she, of course, connected with ronald ragen in a very deep and personal way and he knew at the end of the day that she was the only person that came to him with no agenda. and mike deever and jim baker understood that dynamic as well and they never brushed her aside as don regan did and he diddet at his own peril. >> your vignettes and perspectives so much appreciated. gayle from the reagan administration. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. let's go back to the white house. kelly o'donnell standing by. the president, has he yet to weigh in? i know he's on a trip, right? >> no. the president is golfing this afternoon and we've reached out to white house officials and

we've not yet received a statement from the president and mrs. obama. vice president biden and his wife left last night for a trip to the middle east. he's on his way to abu dhabi. we have not heard from the administration yet. i manl we would later in the day. there's a particular coincidence. that is the president's personal photographer is man named pete souza who was also serving in that same role for president reagan and in both cases you have very visual historic presidencies where the photos will live for a very long time to come. that's one of the small wrinkles of coincidence between obama and reagan. we have heard from debbie

wassermann schultz. she has released a statement on the death of former first lady nancy reagan. sheless makes a point that seems relevant in the political environment we're in as she acknowledges lots of different things about mrs. reagan. as we celebrate her life and legacy as a coffey dant and finale throw first, we should honor her own right by looking at the pros we make when our elected official work together across the aisle as the reagan administration did. makes our nation more prosperous and ore nation more secure. she talks about president rag and tip o'neill. so some of these statements are infused with a lot of on the policies of the day.

more and more we receive statements reflecting what you've been talking about. the marriage and how that was the core of their family and in many ways his leadership style. i think many reflect on her fierce loyalty and how that played out in political was. gayle who you were speaking to who i had a pleasure to meet really had fantastic insights on life inside the white house and the importance of a personal partner and nancy reagan took that role very seriously and certainly on issues that were far more public like the just say no campaign. she really became the face of that move mngt to try to incur with not to be involved with drugs and alcohol and go down the packet of addition. it would bring more attention, more resources, and just sort of a public will. one of the most certainly

prominent inmy m ways you could argue successful campaigns that a first lady has. as you know, it's not an elected job. it's not a job where the president is paid a salary for the work they do, but in many ways nancy reagan as other first ladies have tried to have a public role in life that would be separate from her husband's agenda but significant on its own and she certainly did that. and i'd only wished i had worn a red dress today because she was known for that. and i think at any event whether mrs. reagan was talked about or thought about, people would wear a red dress because that was her signature look. >> that was indeed her look. that being the predominant color of the republican party. kelly o'donnell, they're standing in front of the home they called home at the white house from 1981 to 1989. thank you so much. ken duber dean served on

president reagan's staff. he joins me on the phone as we continue with the coverage of the passing of former first lady nancy reagan. ken w when you think about your experience with her, what comes to mind? is it a kindness, graciousness, that she could become a for midn't foe or worse she could love ronny? >> ken, it's alex witt. can you hear me? >> i can hear you. >> the question is what comes first to mind? is it about personality. her kindful or others. oer as we heard she would be a very formidable foe if you came up against her or her husband. >> the first thing that comes to mind is the love affair between

ron and and nancy reagan. wit as true partnership, a true love affair. they were better together than separately. they reinforced each other. nancy brought an elegance, dignity, class to the white house. we always wore a tie and jacket before we walked into the oval office. everything was spot perfect. you had to look good, speak well. vulgarity was out. you had everything on the up and up when it came to nancy reagan. she was an incredible partner of the president but she admired people and worked with people and knew their agenda was only the president's and didn't have their own. she had this sense about who was

playing for her husband and who was playing for themselves, and she was very quick to detect that. >> ken, i've heard it said that even if you went into a room with the two of them knowing of that special bond, that special love affair, that you could almost see the sparks fly, that the two of them when they locked eyes, you knew that was an unbreakable collection, that they were almost communicating that way. did you witness that? >> all the time. whenever they were together, it was magic. they were fiercely devoted to one another. they enjoyed each other's company. they shared that knowing look, that nancy reagan smile, that president's twinkle in his eye. so no matter what kind of room

it was, no matter what kind of dignitaries there were, you always knew that they were coming home to one another and they couldn't wait to do that. >> something we all should aspire to have in our lives. >> absolutely. >> gayle hodges better said she was happy for nancy reagan right now because she's now been reunited with her beloved ronnie. do you share that same sentiment? >> absolutely. i think i said on your program earlier or on msnbc, she's home with ronnie, with her ronnie. god bless her. she had 94 wonderful years and so many years with him.

they're smiling, catching up, and she's listening to all the deposit, and she's sharing all the gossip with ronnie. that's what it was all about. >> living past her husband for nearly 12 years. she will now be reunited with him in death. ken duberstein. thank you very much for all your thought as and vignettes from your time as the white house chief of staff. for all of you, we're going to take a short break on msnbc, but we're going to continue with the coverage of former first lady nancy reagan who died today at the age of 94. thank you. imagine if the things you bought every day... ...earned you miles to get to the places you really want to go. with the united mileageplus explorer card, you'll get a free checked bag, two united club passes, priority boarding, and 30,000 bonus miles. everything you need for an unforgettable vacation.

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failure. her announcement was made by her spokesperson. nbc's lester holt looks at the life of the former first lady. >> nancy davis was an actress herself when she met ronald reagan on the mgm lot in 1949. he was already a star. but though she had her own hollywood dreams, she later said she found her greatest role as his wife. >> i think i was born to be married. i was the happiest girl in the world when i bake we. >> they married in 1952, a simple ceremony and even appeared in "hellcats of the navy," the last of her 11 films. >> i began thinking you were playing the south seas circuit. >> cow should have noun. >> how could i. >> her life was devoted to her husband, as mother to their two children patty and ron and a stepmother to his two children by former wife jane wyman. then came politics and her long career as first lady, first in california as governor to ronald reagan in 1966.

>> what's ronnie's greatest asset to the women voters? >> just being ronnie, i guess. >> and then to president reagan in 1980. after the president was shot by a would-be assassin just two months into his first term, his wife was frerch shaken. >> err time he went out and talked to thousands of people, my heart stopped. >> but she carried on, steadfast in her chosen roles as the president's protector, bend friend and partner in efforts like the anti-drug campaign for which she was forever linked. >> when it comes to drugs and alcohol, just say no. >> she was criticized for consulting an astrologer about her husband's schedule. dubbed queen nancy for her expensive fashion and white house decor and accused of managing her husband.

>> doing everything we can. >> doing everything we can. >> but the fact is she never wavered as a loving wife in all the ways she knew, and when in the mid-'90s, the former president revealed he had been diagnosed with alzheimer's disease, his partner would never leave his side and visited the convention to share her family's pain and start a new cause. >> we learn as many other families learn of the terrible pain and loneliness that must be endured as each day brings another reminder of the very long good-bye. >> nancy, let me say thank you for all you do. thank you for your love. and thank you for just being you. >> she stayed close to her ronnie even in her last years. she made it a point to be at the library and to visit her

husband's resting place, a long story to the very end. lester holt, nbc news. >> mrs. reagan will be buried at the ronald reagan presidential library in simi valley, california, next to her husband. prior to funeral service there will be an opportunity for the public to pay their respects at the library. we're hearing from leaders around the world and i'd like to read right now the information we've gotten, the statement from former president george w. bush which reads, laura and i are saddened by the loss of nancy reagan. she was fiercely devoted to her husband and that devotion was matched to the love of the country. her influence on the white house was complete and lasting. during her time as first lady and since she raised awayness about drug abuse and cancer. when we moved into the white house, we benefitted from her work. laura and i are grateful for the life of nancy rag and we send

our condolences to the entire reagan family. i want to bring in michael bresh love. point us to this day. the loss and ending of this love story which was perhaps one of the most influential parts of nancy reagan in her life and her legacy. >> you are so right. let's just set aside from the great political history of what was so important, apart at the two. ronald came out of illinois, northern illinois, a poor foomly. his father drank too much. wonderful to his sun but a very insecure light. nan circumstance very much the same. her father was absent, her mother was an actress who loved her very much but oftentimes was acting in other cities and raised by other relatives.

these are two people who were very vulnerable and insecure. ronald reagan got back from world war ii, had become a famous movie star. came back. the audience wasn't there anymore. by the early 1950s, ronald reagan had to support himself and his wife was reduced to being an emcee at a hotel in las vegas. they married in 1952. the wonderful thing about this mairj, you look oftentimes at political marriages in history, they're very tough and sometimes very distant. in this karks it was just in many ways a model marriage. they brought so much to each other. that sense some of security helped ronald reagan to come back at least as a television star in the 1950s and early '60s. g.e. theater, death valley days. and in the 1960s to run for

governor of california and a great one and significant one and run for precedent in 1976 and almost get there. he always said i couldn't be pretty or nancy. we talked about this more than once. i got to know her a tiny bit. she'd say, don't give credit to me. give the credit to ronnie. i was just a big player. now that she's passed and more diaries and letters are open, i think scholars are going to see what a central part she played as a collaborator. i think she's one of the most important a great first ladies in history. >> it's interesting because you talk about humble beginnings and

challenges she had to undergo. i'm confess i'm from southern california in los angeles. notably the little brown church on cold water canyon in the ventura boulevards in the los angeles area. it's noun because that is the place where these two huge figures were married. it's this little church. very unassuming. and to think their beginnings that started so humbly there and where they would go, that's zoord. >> that's rye. that was 1952 and i once talked to mrs. reagan about it. i asked what it was like. she said it was absolutely lovely but our best man was the actor rohnert taylor and his wife. that day we got married the two were not talking to one another and didn't say anything during the entire experience but that did nothing to diminish the experience for them. >> that's extraordinary. let's get to your area of

expertise and her legacy. fiercely loyal, propped him up always, as you said, did not want to take any credit at all for his success, and yet she was inturin six to it. >> she was. for starters, i think one would vt to say ronald reagan was a great man but not always the best judge of people. nancy had this almost installed in this sooft software. she was a terrific judge of people and was able to help him in that respect. and the other thing is if you look back historically, ronald reagan was about to win but

you're never certain. she worried that many americans felt he was too hard-lined on the sovietionion that might have gotten an exacerbation of that relationship that could have lead to, you know kind of general war. she said it's gone too far. she began presentation ronnie. she enlisted a skou lar named suzanne massey to tell him about soviet culture and history but the other thing is by the fall of 1984, ronald reagan met with a foreign prime minister and that was the first contact throughout his (dency. it paved the way for when mikhail gorbachev appeared. he said do i take this seriously or is he a new joseph stalin

who's hide behind the face of a peacemaker. nancy rag and she told me and there are other records who suggest this. gorbachev is serious, take this serious seriously. this is a chance to end it during your lifetime as part of your legacy. that could be a great contribution. by far his greatest accomplishment was to pave the way and she was essential. not nechb that on transfenter r >> some might look at the elegance and style she brought to the white house. in some ways you can't separate that, the way the united states was known for its glamour and elegance. they would have rock hudson, elizabeth taylor, frank sinatra.

sam are davis junior and that was not lost. >> no, that's absolutely true. i remember running into mrs. reagan in 2005 at a dinner that the george w. bush white house held for prince charles and his then new wife and i saw her and she said my mind keeps on going back to the dinner and that ronnie and i had for pretty prim charles and his first wife. the one where mrs. reagan danced with john travolta as did princess diana. what the founders did with the presidency, they said it's not going to just be a pliolitical job. the president is also going to be chief of state and she knew that the politics were important but she also knew the symbolism was important and when they became president and first lady in 1981, america had been

through a very rough, you know, 17, 18 years. the asass new york stock exchange. nixon and watergate. very difficult economic times. in the 1970s she felt ronald reagan, ail thee at that time he was considering to be a strong iej lot kay. it had pnl been the case for almost two decades. she felt statementing the two dinners was going to be essential to that. the other thing she under is by the 1980s, image was so important to the president and many of the things that she felt very strongly about and presided over which was the way the president was presented in public, the way his helicopter landed. for instance when he first met with gorbachev in 1985, whether or not ronald reagan would wear

an overcoat. as it turned out, he didn't. you see mikael gorbachev getting out of a car with a hat. ronald reagan bounds out of the house to shake hands and he. she was very tuned into things like that and i think it did make a difference. >> i must say in your recollection, i have a snapshot inch of princess diana beautiful in that mitt nine dance. it really bridge as small to her face. we're just going to take a short bring, everyone. on the other side, how ronald reagan is remembered by today's generation. we'll get a oven that. we'll be light back. ahh...

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at 47 past the hour our coverage continues on the passing of former first lady nancy reagan who died today at the age of 94 at her home in bellaire, california. i want to bring in msnbc steve patterson. welcome to you. you were very young but what is your experience with nancy reagan. >> i'm a young correspondent. i can't hide my age here. i was in diapers when nancy was in the white house. barely in diapers. what i can tell you if i can speak from my generation and reading some of the tweets that have come out there is what she in her lasting kind of memory brought to our generation. i think a lot of us remember the elegance, the grace, the style, and here in california, kind of that hollywood atmosphere that she brought to the white house. we remember remember very

vividly what she was wearing and how she treated people and brought people in. secondly is obviously just say no. this campaign, growing up just outside of michigan, this was huge. my mother would invoke this often. we would have assemblies on it. i remember the commercials, this is your brain on drugs. all of that stemming from work she did that has been sort of criticized looking at the war on drugs since then. but i think it sparked a conversation that we're all having and you have the campaigns we're seeing now. also just breaking through party lines on health care issues, on drugs and alcohol and her battle with breast cancer and being public about that, reaching across the aisle on the stem cell debate. i think that was huge for people. i think if there's anything that we can with relate to, it's reaching across the aisle. to have somebody that high up in

the party and consider them that high up to reach across the i, i think, was huge for our generation and i hope it's a takeaway as we move forward in this interesting because what you talk about are things that not so much the details of the presidential history but lasting impressions about her legacy trying to take on the war on drugs and just say no. you first mentioned her style and her elegance which we can say may be in a past era. do you talk about that because it is something that you do not see today or because it is something you would like to see today or does it seem ant quated? >> i think it is influential. you look at the first lady now michelle obama. you see trademark style brought from that generation and that era now into the white house. it is changed, transformed and the discourse is very different

but i think that lasting image of nancy remains. >> joining us from the los angeles bureau, thank you so much. appreciate that. let's go back to the white house. kelly o'donnell is there monitoring from the white house. i understand the president has issued a statement. >> from president obama and mrs. obama and it reads like this. nancy reagan once wrote that nothing could prepare you for living in the white house. she was right, of course. we had a head start because we were fortunate to benefit from her proud example. our former first lady redefined the role in her time here and in her long good bye with president reagan she became a voice on behalf of families going through the reality of alzheimer's and took on a new role as advocate on behalf of treatments that held potential and promise. we offer our sincere condolences

to their children, patty, ron, michael and to grandchildren and we remain grateful for nancy reagan's life, thankful for her guidance and prayerful that she and her beloved husband are together again. that is a statement from president obama on the passing of nancy reagan. regardless of party and generation when people occupy the white house they are in a very rare club of incredible pressure, public exposure and demands that they could not foresee. it seems we have seen of these statements a profound sense of connection even across party lines. >> it is certainly the ultimate club. bringing us the latest from the white house and reaction to the passing of our former first lady nancy reagan. we will take a short break and be right back here on msnbc. sc. microsoft cloud changes our world dramatically. it wasn't too long ago it would take two weeks to sequence

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breaking news coverage on the death of nancy reagan i want to bring inp presidential -- i wan to know your initial thoughts on the most profound aspects of the legacy of nancy reagan. >> you heard all of this praise so far. it is well justified. the real story and the real legacy is vastly more interesting than that. she came in as a very controversial first lady, kind of in many ways epitomizing the 1980s as the age of the rich and the age of greed with expensive gowns, jewelry, spending $200,000 on new white house china. but she transcended that and that is the real story of nancy reagan. they say ronald reagan was brilliant. in some ways nancy reagan was more brilliant.

i look back to the 1982 gridiron dinner. all of the great washington correspondents there and what did she do? she dressed in this outlandish salvation army unmatched set of clothes and sang. wonderful, brout down the house, changed her image. her image also changed some talked about her making public her mastectomy and fight on breast cancer, publicizing aids, moving to become a big advocate of embryonic stem cell research andfluencing the president to negotiate with the soviets and achieve what had been reagan's dream of trying to deal with nuclear weapons. >> it was clear she was a partner in life with him and now a partner in death as she will

be buried next to her husband. thank you so much. that is going to do it for me this hour. i'm alex witt. when the coverage on the death of first lady nancy reagan continues, we will be right back here on msnbc. be good. text mom. boys have been really good today. send. let's get mark his own cell phone. nice. send. brad could use a new bike. send. [google:] message. you decide. they're your kids. why are you guys texting grandma? it was him. it was him. keep your family connected. app-connect. on the newly redesigned passat. from volkswagen. with toothpaste or plain water.an their dentures and even though their dentures look clean, in reality they're not. if a denture were to be put under a microscope, we can see all the bacteria that still exists on the denture, and that bacteria multiplies very rapidly. that's why dentists recommend

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