Nancy Reagan would have turned 98 this week. In remembering her, it’s remarkable to think of how different the world is today from when she first “arrived,” but especially how much has changed since she passed away just over three years ago.
In two areas, specifically, she would be quite surprised. First would be how public attitudes toward marijuana use have evolved. Simply put, “Just Say No” has turned into “Just Say Yes,” and while some may think that would upset her, I’m not so sure. Remember that Nancy Davis Reagan was a doctor’s daughter. Her father, Loyal Davis, was a highly respected and innovative neurosurgeon. She understood the practice of medicine cannot be static, that it needs to continually seek new, and sometimes controversial, ways to treat devastating and fatal illnesses.
She was a strong advocate for research into the use of stem cells to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, which took her beloved husband’s life. So determined was she to make progress in finding a cure — thereby sparing other families what she, her husband, and their children had gone through — that she took on not only a Republican president but much of the conservative establishment that opposed using embryonic stem cells. No doubt it was uncomfortable for Reagan to battle people who had been so supportive of her husband’s political career, but she was undeterred.
That’s why I am certain she would be fully supportive of the use of marijuana for medical purposes. If there was a way to avoid suffering, Reagan would be all for it. A more intriguing question is how she would feel about recreational use of marijuana. Generally speaking, she was a “live and let live” person and thought what people did in the privacy of their homes (as long as it posed no danger to others) was their business. What concerned her about marijuana use was what it could lead to. She worried smoking marijuana could be the first step on the road to using more serious drugs, especially heroin, which ruins and ends many lives.
While it’s impossible to know how she would feel about the decriminalization of personal use of small amounts of marijuana, she would be deeply concerned about the crisis of opioid addiction in our country, and would do everything she could to call attention to it.
The other change that would surprise her is how different the role of first lady is now. While I am confident Reagan would respect Melania Trump’s decision to make raising her son her first priority, I have a feeling she would be disappointed Trump has not used her unique position to more aggressively advocate for an important social cause. After all, Barron is a young man now who is at school the better part of every day. Being an active first lady and a devoted mother are not mutually exclusive.
Like her predecessors, Reagan viewed being first lady as an extraordinary opportunity to shine a bright light on an issue that needed attention and came to Washington knowing what it would be. Her aides recommended she not pursue youth drug abuse as her cause because they thought it was “a downer,” but she rejected their advice because she felt she could make a real difference. And she did.
That’s what might perplex and perhaps even sadden her about the current first lady. While “Be Best” has worthy goals, it is hardly a robust national program that is making a difference anywhere. Mrs. Trump’s participation in the program is tepid at best. From time to time, Mrs. Trump appears at an event, but she is mostly invisible. And when she is on the public stage, Trump usually wears very expensive clothes from foreign designers. That too would bother Reagan, because she believed a first lady should promote the American fashion industry and made sure to wear U.S. designers’ clothes at high-profile events.
Were she here to blow out 98 candles on her birthday cake, Reagan would be immaculately turned out in something red by James Galanos or Adolfo, wearing a button that read “Just Say Maybe,” and probably have some pretty interesting things to say about how things have changed.
Mark Weinberg, a communications consultant and executive speechwriter, served on the White House staff as special assistant to the president and assistant press secretary to President Ronald Reagan. He also served as the director of public affairs in former President Reagan’s office and is the author of Movie Nights with the Reagans (Simon & Schuster).
