Nancy Reagan, Former First Lady, Dies 94

Nancy Davis Reagan, wife of the late President Ronald Reagan, has died. She was 94.

The former first lady will perhaps be best remembered for her loyalty to her husband. She became fiercely protective of him after a 1981 assassination attempt, and later stood by him as Alzheimer's disease overtook him in his last years.

In a 1998 Vanity Fair article, she vocalized this loyalty: "When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it's true. It did," she said.

As the first lady from 1981 to 1989, Reagan endured criticism for bringing high fashion and a lavish lifestyle to the White House in a time of recession. Some critics called her "Queen Nancy."

After her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, Reagan became an outspoken advocate for Alzheimer's research and formed the Ronald & Nancy Reagan Research Institute in Chicago the following year.

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