"My life really began when I married my husband," says Nancy Reagan, who in the
1950's happily gave up an acting career for a permanent role as the wife of
Ronald Reagan and mother to their children. Her story actually begins in New
York City, her birthplace. She was born on July 6, 1921.

When the future First Lady was six, her mother, Edith--a stage actress--married
Dr. Loyal Davis, a neurosurgeon. Dr. Davis adopted Nancy, and she grew up in
Chicago. It was a happy time: summer camp, tennis, swimming, dancing. She
received her formal education at Girls' Latin School and at Smith College in
Massachusetts, where she majored in theater.

Soon after graduation she became a professional actress. She toured with a road
company, then landed a role on Broadway in the hit musical Lute Song. More parts
followed. One performance drew an offer from Hollywood. Billed as Nancy Davis,
she performed in 11 films from 1949 to 1956. Her first screen role was in
Shadow on the Wall. Other releases included The Next Voice Your Hear and East
Side, West Side. In her last movie, Hellcats of the Navy, she played opposite
her husband.

She had met Ronald Reagan in 1951, when he was president of the Screen Actors
Guild. The following year they were married in a simple ceremony in Los Angeles
in the Little Brown Church in the Valley. Mrs. Reagan soon retired from making
movies so she "could be the wife I wanted to be...A woman's real happiness and
real fulfillment come from within the home with her husband and children," she
says. President and Mrs. Reagan have a daughter, Patricia Ann, and a son,
Ronald Prescott.

While her husband was Governor of California from 1967 to 1975, she worked with
numerous charitable groups. She spent many hours visiting veterans, the elderly,
and the emotionally and physically handicapped. These people continued to
interest her as First Lady. She gave her support to the Foster Grandparent
Program, the subject of her 1982 book, To Love A Child. Increasingly, she has
concentrated on the fight against drug and alcohol abuse among young people.
She visited prevention and rehabilitation centers, and in 1985 she held a
conference at the White House for First Ladies of 17 countries to focus
international attention on this problem.

Mrs. Reagan shared her lifelong interest in the arts with the nation by using
the Executive Mansion as a showcase for talented young performers in the PBS
television series "In Performance at the White House." In her first year in the
mansion she directed a major renovation of the second- and third-floor
quarters.

Now living in retirement in California, she continues to work on her campaign
to teach children to "just say no" to drugs. In her book My Turn, published in
1989, she gives her own account of her life in the White House. Through the
joys and sorrows of those days, including the assassination attempt on her
husband, Nancy Reagan held fast to her belief in love, honesty, and
selflessness. "The ideals have endured because they are right and are no less
right today than yesterday."