Clinton News Record, 2016-03-09, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, March 9, 2016
i
www.clintonnewsrecord.com
NewsCl
Record
PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860
53 Albert St.
P.O. Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0
(519) 482-3443
www.clintonnewsrecord.com
J POSTMEDIA
MARIE DAVID
Group Advertising Director -
Grey Bruce Huron Division
519 376-2250 ext 514301 or 510364-2001 ext 531024
rei
NEIL CLIFFORD
Advertising Director
NClifford@postmedia.com
VALERIE GILLIES
Journalist
dinton.reporter@sunmedia.ca
VGillies@postmedia.com
DAWN JOHNSTON
Sales Representative
DJohnston@postmedia.com
TERESA SMITH
Front Office
TSmith@postmedia.com
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST)
2YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST)
SENIORS
60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST)
120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST)
Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a
typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous
item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be
charged but that balance of advertisement will be paid for at the
applicable rate. In the event of a typographic error advertising goods
or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Ad-
vertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time.
The Clinton News -Record is not responsible for the loss or damage
of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for
reproducing purposes.
Publications Mail Agreement
No.40064683
RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES:
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
53 Albert St., Clinton ON NOM 1L0
(519) 482-3443
Clinton News Record is a member of the National Newsmedia
Council, which is an independent ethical organization
established to deal with editorial concerns. For more information
or to file a complaint go to www.mediacouncil.ca or
call toll free 1-844-877-1163.
We acknowledge the financial support of the
Government of Canada through the Canadian
Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.
AO
Canada
Member of the Canadian Community
cnaNewspaper Association and the Ontario
Community Newspapers Association
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan dies at 94
Will Dunham
Reuters
Nancy Reagan, the former
actress who was fiercely pro-
tective of husband Ronald
Reagan through a Hollywood
career, eight years in the
White House, an assassina-
tion attempt and her hus-
band's Alzheimer's disease,
died on Sunday at age 94, the
Reagan library said.
Michael Reagan said on
Twitter he was saddened by
his stepmother's death. "She
is once again with the man
she loved;' he wrote.
Reagan became one of the
most influential first ladies in
U.S. history during her
Republican husband's presi-
dencyfrom 1981 to 1989,
Her husband, who affec-
tionately called her
"Mommy" while she called
him "Ronnie," died in 2004
after a long struggle with Alz-
heimer's, the progressive
brain disorder that destroys
memory.
As Nancy Davis, she was a
Hollywood actress during the
1940s and 1950s and married
Reagan, a prominent film
actor, in 1952. She then served
as first lady of California dur-
ing her husband's stint as Cal-
ifomia governor from 1967 to
1975 before moving into the
White House after his decisive
victory over incumbent Dem-
ocratic President Jimmy
Carter in 1980.
Her most publicized pro-
ject as first lady was the "Just
Say No" anti-drug campaign.
After her husband developed
Alzheimer's disease, she
became an advocate for dis-
covering a cure.
She was diminutive and
publicly soft spoken but
Nancy Reagan's strong will,
high -tone tastes and clout
with her husband made her a
controversial figure during his
presidency.
As Reagan's wife, political
partner and adviser, she
became one of America's
most potent first ladies,
alongside the likes of Franklin
Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor,
Woodrow Wilson's wife,
Edith, and Bill Clinton's wife,
Hillary.
"I see the first lady as
another means to keep a
president from becoming iso-
lated;" she said in 1985. "I talk
to people. Theytell me things.
And if something is about to
become a problem, I'm not
above calling a staff person
and asking about it. I'm a
woman who loves her hus-
band and I make no apolo-
gies for looking out for his per-
sonal and political welfare.'
Tiny and frail in her later
years, Reagan devoted her
time to caring for her ailing
husband at their home in Los
Angeles' exclusive Bel Air
enclave. She was always a
stickler for protocol and detail
and stoically presided over
the former president's week-
long
eeklong funeral and celebration
of his life in June 2004.
One of her most trying
times as first lady came when
John Hinckley stepped out of
a crowd outside a Washing-
ton hotel on March 30, 1981,
and fired six shots toward the
president, striking him in the
chest. A .22 -caliber bullet
punctured his lung and
nearly entered his heart.
"Honey, I forgot to duck,"
he told her at the hospital.
Some critics lambasted
Nancy Reagan as a meddle-
some "dragon lady," derided
her anti-drug campaign and
ridiculed her for consulting
an astrologer to schedule
presidential events.
President Reagan called
this view of his wife "despica-
ble fiction," saying in 1987:
"The idea that she is involved
in governmental decisions
and so forth and all of this,
and being a kind of dragon
lady- there is nothing to that."
The reputation was estab-
lished during Reagan's time
as California governor and
followed her to Washington.
She was first accused of
being a vacuous spendthrift
interested chiefly in renovat-
ing and buying new china
for the White House, lavish
entertaining, her designer
wardrobe and the like, then
portrayed as a cunning
manipulator of policy and
people.
Nancy Reagan
Advocates of the latterview
saw her influence as virtually
unlimited in such matters as
the dumping of presidential
advisers, efforts to get a
nuclear arms accord with the
Soviet Union and her hus-
band's decision to seek a sec-
ond term in 1984.
Some Reagan -watchers
said reports of Mrs. Reagan's
influence were exaggerated
and that it was merely the
protective concem of a loving
wife.
She frequently clashed
with President Reagan's chief
of staff, Donald Regan, who
lambasted her in a 1988 "tell -
all" book after he was ousted
from the White House during
the chaos of the Iran -Contra
scandal in 1987. Regan dis-
closed that she had used
astrology to decide the timing
of presidential speeches and
trips, and even her husband's
1985 cancer surgery.
"Virtually every move and
decision the Reagans made
during my time as White
House chief of staff was
cleared in advance by a
woman in San Francisco who
drew up horoscopes to make
certain that the planets were
in a favorable alignment for
the enterprise," Reganwrote.
James Baker, who served as
White House chief of staff
during Reagan's first term,
took a different view, telling
PBS in 2011: "If there was one
person who was indispensa-
ble to Ronald Reagan's politi-
cal success, it was Nancy
Reagan'
Nancy Reagan acknowl-
edged she had the ear of her
husband.
"In most good marriages
that I know of, the woman is
her husband's closest friend
and adviser," she wrote in her
1989 memoir, "My Turn:' `...
But however the first lady fits
in, she has a unique and
important role to play in look-
ing
ooking after her husband. And it's
only natural that she'll let him
know what she thinks. I
always did that for Ronnie
and I always will:'
Ronald Reagan was known
for penning innumerable let-
ters to his wife. In one, he
stated: "I more than love you,
I'm not whole without you.
You are life itself to me. When
you are gone I'm waiting for
you to return so I can start liv-
ing
iving
The former president's Alz-
heimer's struggle made Mrs.
Reagan a campaigner for
broader human embryonic
stem cell research, a stand
that put her at odds with
many Republicans.
"Ronnie's long joumey has
finally taken him to a distant
place where I can no longer
reach him. Because of this,
I'm determined to do what-
ever I can to save other fami-
lies from this pain," she said
before his death in 2004.
Some critics dismissed her
"Just Say No" efforts as sim-
plistic but she becameAmeri-
ca's most visible anti-drug
crusader at a time when the
crack cocaine epidemic was
raging.
In 1988, she addressed the
U.N. General Assembly, say-
ing the United States must do
more with tougher law
enforcement and anti-drug
education efforts and should
stop blaming the poor nations
that produce most of the nar-
cotics used byAmericans.
"We will not get anywhere
if we place a heavier burden
of action on foreign govern-
ments than on America's own
mayors, judges and legisla-
tors. You see, the cocaine car-
tel does not begin in Medellin,
Colombia. It begins in the
streets of New York, Miami,
Los Angeles and everyAmeri-
can city where crack is bought
and sold," she told the Gen-
eral Assembly.
Mrs. Reagan had her left
breast surgically removed in
CLINTON NEWS RECORD — HOURS OF OPERATION
October 1987 after a cancer-
ous tumor was discovered.
She was born Anne
Frances Robbins into a crum-
bling marriage in New York
on July 6, 1921. Her car -sales-
man father deserted the fam-
ily soon after, and her mother,
actress Edith Luckett Robbins,
resumed her show business
career two years later.
In 1929, her mother mar-
ried Loyal Davis, a neurosur-
geon. Nancy came to adore
him, even taking his name,
and the doctor was believed
to have had considerable
influence on his eventual son-
in-law's shift from Democrat
to Republican years later
After graduation from elite
Smith College, she worked as
a nurse's aide, then began a
stage career in New York.
Starting in 1949, she had an
eight-year career in films
including one - "Hellcats of
the Navy" (1957) - co-starring
with Ronald Reagan.
She often took supporting
roles but had starring roles
like one in the 1953 B -movie
"Donovan's Brain" about a
scientist who kept the brain of
a dead millionaire alive in a
tank
Ronald Reagan divorced
another actress, Jane
Wyman, in 1948. They had a
daughter, Maureen, and
adopted a son, Michael.
At the time, Ronald Rea-
gan headed the Screen
Actors Guild. Davis was
stunned when an industry
newspaper published a list
of communist sympathizers
and her name was included
(it turned out to be a refer-
ence to another actress of
the same name). She sought
out her future husband for
assistance.
During the early years of
the Cold War, Hollywood
blacklisted - refused to
employ - numerous people
accused of holding commu-
nist views, ruining many
careers and lives.
Ronald and Nancy Rea-
gan got married in 1952 and
had two children together -
Patti Davis, an actress, and
Ron Jr., who pursued careers
in ballet and television.
MONDAY: 9:00 - 5:00 • TUESDAY: - CLOSED • WEDNESDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • THURSDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • FRIDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • SATURDAY & SUNDAY: - CLOSED
ADVERTISING DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 2:00 • PHONE 519-482-3443 • FAX: 519-482-7341
www.clintonnewsrecord.com