Nancy Reagan, devoted wife and trusted confidante to late president Ronald Reagan who after his death became the most ardent guardian of his political legacy, died Sunday. She was 94. The former first lady passed away at her home in Los Angeles from congestive heart failure, her spokeswoman Joanne Drake said.
She will be buried next to her husband at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, Drake said.
Late in her life, Reagan earned praise for many of the very qualities that saw her savaged by critics during Ronald Reagan's two White House terms from 1981-1989 - her fierce protectiveness and outsized influence on the president. Perceived as regal and cold, she was feared by White House aides who often found themselves butting heads with her over policy and personnel appointments. She made her own mark as first lady with her signature "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign, launched in 1982.