Wonder Women: Nancy Reagan

It is without a doubt that Former First Lady, Nancy Reagan, was fiercely loyal, devoting herself passionately and completely to her husband, President Ronald Reagan, up until his death in 2004. However, behind every great man is a great woman and she embodied this spirit in the signature scarlet she so frequently wore. Of the shade, she said “It’s a picker-upper. I didn’t give it the name of Reagan Red but that became its name.”

Not only did her sartorial choices lift up the spirits of her admirers, Reagan’s regular representation of pieces by James Galanos, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, and Bill Blass and endorsement of the American fashion industry earned her a lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Often seen as a power behind the scenes, Reagan, was instrumental in President Reagan’s schedule, staff decisions, and encouraging dialogue with the Soviet Union. She was especially vocal about troubling health and medical issues and created a successful anti-drug initiative “Just Say No”. By the end of her husband’s term, reported high-school drug use had decreased by 14%. Following her own survival from breast cancer and her husband’s eventual alzheimer’s disease, Nancy Reagan fought in support of regular mammogram screenings and embryonic stem cell research.

Always a believer in saving families, in style, and in love.