If there is a more awkward position in American public life than first lady, The Scrapbook is unaware of it. The president’s spouse—and of course, thus far, they’ve all been women—is elected by no one and enjoys a certain status undefined by any statute. But she is front and center in the press, very much a part of her husband’s political apparatus, and an endless source of criticism, gossip, and speculation.
The first lady is expected to be competent, decorative, and discreet—and to be regarded as an asset, not a liability, to her husband. The fact that most modern presidential wives have successfully navigated these perilous shoals is a tribute to two salient facts: The American people are fundamentally generous in their attitudes toward public figures; and most men, presidents included, marry above themselves.
The death this past week of Nancy Reagan, at the age of 94, reminds us of our increasing distance from the Reagan presidency. It has been 27 years since Ronald and Nancy Reagan left the White House, and in the intervening quarter-century, much has changed in America and in the wider world. But the Reagan years remain a lodestar, to friends and foes alike, and Ronald Reagan set a standard to which all subsequent presidents aspire.
How much of this was due to Nancy Reagan will never be fully known, but there can be no doubt that she was both a valuable partner and luminous first lady. This is all the more impressive given the obstacles she faced. The Reagan presidency was a decisive break with many domestic and foreign policies of the recent past, and the partisan atmosphere in 1980s Washington—indeed, in 1980s America—was no less rigorous than it is now.
Yet part of Ronald Reagan’s success was his seemingly effortless ability to transcend such differences and to dominate the landscape. This owed much to his natural skills as a politician, and nearly as much to the public face and private counsel of his life’s partner. Nancy Reagan was a gracious, elegant, and captivating first lady; she was also smart and effective. No president, and no country, could ask for more.
