SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Political and Hollywood heavyweights from past and present mourned and reminisced over a bygone era at the funeral of Nancy Reagan.
They talked of her signature elegance and the fierce approach she took to her causes. But most of all, they talked of her marriage and ferocious love for her husband that eclipsed all else in her life.
The Reagans were “defined by their love for each other,” said former Secretary of State James Baker at the service.
While her husband was alive, she was fiercely protective of every aspect of his life and career, Baker said. After her husband’s death, she dedicated herself just as relentlessly to President Ronald Reagan’s memory and place in history. The two, Baker said, were “as close to being one person as any person could be.”
“My parents were two halves of a circle. Nobody truly crossed the boundaries of the exquisite space that was theirs,” said their daughter Patti Davis. Davis made brief reference to her at-times bitter relationship with her mother and recalled the heat of her wrath. “Even God might not have the guts to cross Nancy Reagan.”
The funeral — an invitation-only affair at the Reagan Presidential Library — was attended by representatives of 10 White House families. Shortly before the funeral began, in a history-filled first row, former first lady Hillary Clinton and Caroline Kennedy could be seen helping former first lady Rosalynn Carter find her place between them. Sitting with them: first lady Michelle Obama; former president George W. Bush and his wife, Laura; Tricia Nixon; and Lynda Byrd Johnson Robb and Luci Baines Johnson.
The guest list read like a flashback to a bygone era, with celebrities like Wayne Newton, Anjelica Huston, Melissa Rivers, Tina Sinatra, Bo Derek and Ralph Lauren.
Mr. T — an ally in Reagan’s “Just Say No” antidrug campaign — arrived dressed in full camouflage attire, combat boots and an American flag wrapped around his head.
