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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAsshole Chuck Todd.
Just said that Nancy Reagan was more influential than Eleanor Roosevelt in presidential politics.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)I've long thought that she was essentially president in that second term.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)nt
cwydro
(51,308 posts)She always struck me as tough as iron.
Reagan was president, and no doubt she protected him completely from anyone knowing fully what was going on.
noretreatnosurrender
(1,890 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)of covering up the fact that Ronnie had gone senile. I don't think she was as politically influential as Eleanor Roosevelt, though, or as active in actually managing things as Edith Wilson.
WhiteTara
(29,722 posts)Iliyah
(25,111 posts)Plus, GOPers are re-writing history as I post.
livetohike
(22,163 posts)sure he was politically aware then
rurallib
(62,448 posts)The movie he watched the night before may become policy tomorrow
so that statement may well be true.
If you talk influence for good policy it is no contest. Eleanor #1
brooklynite
(94,727 posts)He wasn't talking about policy influence.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)and was a strong influence on her husband's policies,I think I can say that with some authority.Any other influence on a president would be besides the point,unless we're going to judge the influence Eleanor had on what clothes Franklin wore that day or what he had for breakfast maybe.
rockfordfile
(8,704 posts)DURHAM D
(32,611 posts)to ban pants wearing for women working in the WH. This was her idea of how to push back against the women's movement.
Never forget... women are to be seen not heard. Naturally Todd would agree with that like most men of mediocre talent and low level intelligence.
flamingdem
(39,321 posts)for Reagan now.
Blue_Adept
(6,402 posts)And that's Todd in a nutshell.
Paladin
(28,272 posts)UTUSN
(70,740 posts)Last edited Sun Mar 6, 2016, 02:39 PM - Edit history (1)
I detested her along with her hubby while living through their reign, but in recent decades have slightly modified the detestation, to wit: The RAYGUN idolaters, who wanted to name every public facility after him, would not be stifled by anybody EXCEPT by her, when she put the kibosh on their wanting to replace FDR with RAYGUN on the dime. So thanks for that and for her having produced Ronnie Junior and half of Patty. That said, Kitty KELLYs scandalous biography was merciless AND TRUE, with the opening paragraph (paraphrasing), Nothing on her birth certificate was true not her name, her date of birth, name of the father, nothing. And I ate up the tawdry stories about her talents as a starlet not being about the thespian profession, and that the perk of political power was her SINATRA infatuation.
All that said, did JERK Chuck TODD mean by "influence" that she had more CONTROL over ACCESS to RAYGUN and controlling *him*? Thats a very limited deal. Edith WILSON was literally, de facto PRESIDENT while WILSON was incapacitated. Otherwise, Nancy is nowhere on the same planet as Eleanor.
But this group pic is hilarious, the BODY LANGUAGE. She had NO interest in hanging with the gals:
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)But, yeah, Nancy wants to be anywhere else, lol.
skypilot
(8,854 posts)*
UTUSN
(70,740 posts)But Betty FORD had refuge with Big Babs, and I'm grateful that Hillary glommed onto LadyBird.
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)Your husband's doing his thing, and you've got to fit in somehow.
Anyway, if Bill becomes the 1st, 1st gentleman, we will get a whole new perspective, lol.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Just look at all of the people that Nancy got unhooked from their drug addictions!
shadowmayor
(1,325 posts)NO. So many of us, Americans capable of critical thinking, collectively just say NO. As for being influential, was it positive or negative? I'll give you that Nancy was influential, but most of it was negatively so.
madamesilverspurs
(15,806 posts)Nancy Reagan was vital to her husband's presidential legacy. She was singularly adept at providing glittering distraction, a willing veneer on the contrived persona of a man utterly inadequate to the demands of the office. Her devotion to the good of the man overrode any consideration of the good of the country. She personally directed the artisans who crafted the public perception that sought to mask the sadder reality; in that, she largely succeeded. To this day her labors are rewarded as her husband continues elevated status as the Republican partys vaunted Golden Calf. In other words, she served as chief acolyte to a false deity. For the sake of the country, may we never see their like again.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)malaise
(269,157 posts)Psychics in the White House?
PatrickforO
(14,587 posts)Eleanor was a real power for good.
Nancy was the 'power' behind the increasingly senile throne.
LonePirate
(13,431 posts)MurrayDelph
(5,301 posts)is a redundancy.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)The truth?
Why do you watch that shit? Turn it off and stop polluting your mind.
Buzz cook
(2,474 posts)Edith covered for Wilson after his stroke and is said to have acted as president. Nancy covered for Ronnie's senility and is said to have prompted his actions.
It has been said that glasnost was done at Nancy's urging. If so we should remember her in a better light.
TeamPooka
(24,254 posts)relatively innocent people (mostly minorities) to jail.
She was no Eleanor Roosevelt.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)soooooo glad i have turned off m$$$$m