As Hillary Clinton stepped off the campaign trail on Friday to attend fellow first lady Nancy Reagan’s funeral in California, she commended Reagan’s commitment to social causes and advocacy.
Clinton was asked on MSNBC if she thought Reagan changed the role of the first lady.
“I don’t think there’s any question that that’s true. You know, this role is really, you know, so unique,” she replied. “Everyone brings to it up until now, her perspective, her experiences, and I admire all of my predecessors, because there’s no, there’s no formula. There’s no guidebook you’re given. You have to figure out how to support your husband and his agenda, his presidency, but also, find a role for yourself.”
Clinton was first lady from 1993 to 2001. Reagan was first lady from 1981 to 1989.
Recalling Reagan’s “courage and grit,” Clinton went on to praise her predecessor’s commitment to speaking out on the danger of drugs in her “Just Say No” campaign and also her behind-the-scenes work on drug policy.
Clinton also said that Reagan’s work on Alzheimer’s research and her work promoting stem-cell research provided the medical world with “contributions to this fight will be long remembered.”
Like Clinton, Reagan was also an advocate for gun control in the years following the attempted assassination of her husband. The former secretary of state repeatedly speaks of the Brady Bill while on the campaign trail, and she also credits Nancy Reagan with starting the “national conversation” about gun violence.
For most of the interview Clinton did not mention her own White House aspirations. At the end of the interview, however, when Andrea Mitchell mentioned that Reagan paved the way for first spouses to come both “male and female,” Clinton laughed heartily at the nod to her campaign.
