President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama marked the death of former first lady Nancy Reagan on Sunday.
“Nancy Reagan once wrote that nothing could prepare you for living in the White House,” they said in a statement. “She was right, of course. But we had a head start, because we were fortunate to benefit from her proud example, and her warm and generous advice.”
{mosads}They said Reagan “redefined” the role of first lady and praised her for her advocacy for those, like her husband, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
“Later, in her long goodbye with President Reagan, she became a voice on behalf of millions of families going through the depleting, aching reality of Alzheimer’s, and took on a new role, as advocate, on behalf of treatments that hold the potential and the promise to improve and save lives,” they said.
Reagan died Sunday morning of congestive heart failure, according to a spokesperson.
President Obama made headlines in 2008 when he made a joke about Nancy Reagan at a news conference. But the two later appeared together when he formally established a commission to organize events for what would have been Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday.
She also spoke with Michelle Obama about entertaining at the White House, according to an interview she gave Vanity Fair in 2009.