Former US First Lady Nancy Reagan, 94, Dies From Heart Failure

Nancy Reagan has died at the age of 94.

The former First Lady, wife of President Ronald Reagan, passed away in Bel Air on Sunday after suffering congestive heart failure.

Starting as an actress in the 1940s and 1950s, she married Ronald Reagan – then president of the Screen Actors Guild – in 1952.

Mrs Reagan was an influential First Lady during her husband’s presidency from 1981 to 1989.

Notably she spearheaded the ‘Just Say No’ to campaign against drugs, speaking at schools and appearing on TV shows such as Dynasty and Diff’rent Strokes to promote the cause.

‘Drugs take away the dream from every child’s heart and replace it with a nightmare, and it’s time we in America stand up and replace those dreams,’ she said in a speech which led to 12,000 Just Say No clubs being set up across the country and a Just Say No Week implemented by Congress.

Her efforts are credited with driving cocaine use down to a 10-year low.

Ronald Reagan died on June 5, 2004, after a 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

In recent years, Nancy struggled with her health after falling at home and breaking three ribs in 2012, not long after breaking her pelvis at home in 2008.

Despite her own health setbacks, however, Mrs Reagan remained active in politics, particularly in relation to stem-cell research.

She also endorsed Mitt Romney for the presidency in 2012.