With this current election becoming a whirlwind of media bias, voter aggression, and overall confusion, I think its important to reflect on past leaders in this country. With Hilary Clinton as the potential democratic nominee, and possible first female president, reviewing and appreciating women of power, such as the late Nancy Reagan.

Nancy Reagan wasn’t just the wife of President Ronald Reagan. She started her acting career in the 1940s, she worked on films known by many. Reagan was able to land roles on Broadway with the help of some of her mother’s friends. One of her first roles was in the Broadway production of "Lute Song." The producer of the show told her, “ "You look like you could be Chinese."

After passing her screen test she moved to California and signed a contract with Metro Goldwyn Mater Studios. She was a very attractive young woman, which helped her land roles in several feature films. She played the roles of a devoted housewife and a dependable young mother

Reagan downplayed her accomplishments stating, “I was never really a career woman but [became one] only because I hadn't found the man I wanted to marry. I couldn't sit around and do nothing, so I became an actress." This she told to biographer Lou Cannon.

She met her husband while acting, as he was the President of the Screen Actors Guild. They started dating after her name was mixed up with another actress on the Hollywood blacklist. She went to Ronald for help to keep her career going.

Despite Ronald’s skeptical feelings about marriage he proposed to Nancy three years after the two started dating. He had been married once before, this lead to his uneasy feelings about marriage. They married in a private ceremony on March 4, 1952. Fellow actor William Holden was the best man and his wife Brenda Marshall was the matron of honor. Holden and Marshall were the only attendees to the wedding.

After she retired from acting, she served as First Lady of California when Ronald was elected to two terms as governor. During this time she stirred up some controversy. The fire officials had stated that the Governs Mansion was a firetrap. She moved her family out and into a wealthy suburb. The move did not sit well with many people.

Her biggest accomplishment while serving as First Lady of the United States was the “Just Say No” awareness campaign. The campaign was aimed to educate children about peer pressure to take drugs. She wanted to have people understand the impacts of drugs on the young people of the world. The campaign went international in 1985 when she invited other First Ladies to join her in the fight and attend a conference about drug abuse in Washington.

Nancy Reagan unfortunately was diagnosed with breast cancer while her time as First Lady. A lesion was found on her left breast in a routine mammogram. She has a mastectomy on October 17, 1987. Ten days after her surgery her mother passed away at the age of 99 in Phoenix, Arizona. Nancy later recalled that October of 1987 was, “a terrible month.”

After her years as First Lady she lost the love of her life to Alzheimer's disease on June 5, 2004. She was strong and held composure until later in the week long ceremony. She cried for the first time that week during the sunset memorial service and interment in California. Journalist Wolf Blitzer explained the First Lady, “She's a very, very strong woman, even though she looks frail.”

Sadly twelve years later the country lost Nancy Reagan to congestive heart failure. She passed away March 6, 2016 at the age of 94. She was the second-oldest-living First Lady. Before her passing she made it her mission to do anything and everything to help with research on Alzheimer’s disease. In 2009 she praised President Obama when he reversed the ban on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. She was laid to rest with her husband on March 11, 2016.

Nancy Reagan is gone but her legacy both in the Hollywood world and the political world will live on.