Actor James Stewart once speculated that had Ronald Reagan met Nancy Davis before he married Jane Wyman, Reagan never would have gone into politics. “She would have seen to it that he got all the best parts … won three or four Oscars and been a real star.” That was his way of saying that, but for Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan would never have become president. Once in the job, she made sure he became a great one.

The Reagans forged one of the most successful partnerships in all of history. In many ways they were opposite sides of the same coin. “My life did not begin until I met Ronnie,” Nancy Reagan once said. “I cannot imagine life without her,” Reagan said of his wife. Many politicians are in the habit of using the word “we” to describe their campaigns or administrations. When Ronald Reagan used it, those who knew him best knew that he was primarily thinking of himself and Nancy.