5 Stories That May or May Not Have Been True About Nancy Reagan

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan has passed away and every obituary of her will mention the fact that she told kids to "Just Say No" to drugs. Most will also include mentions that she had an astrologer that gave her advice on the President's schedule (which she reportedly followed) and that she pleaded for new china for the White House.

Here are some stories about Mrs. Reagan that probably didn't make many of the obituaries. These stories aren't all confirmed but we're not making them up out of whole cloth either. I've linked back to all the sources for these entries.

1.) She May Have Offended Miles Davis

The oft-repeated story goes that the legendary jazz musician was invited to a dinner at the White House. A bunch of other guests were there but they didn't seem to know who Miles was. At one point in the dinner Mrs. Reagan turned to him and asked what he'd done that receive an invitation to dinner at the White House. To which Miles is reported to have said...

"Well, I've changed the course of music five or six times. What have you done except f*** the president?"

2.) Her Name was on a Communist Blacklist

Nancy Reagan (nee Davis) first met Ronald Reagan because her name kept appearing as a communist sympathizer back in the Hollywood witch hunt days following WWII. It turned out there was another Nancy Reagan working as an actress and the two got confused for each other. She went to see Mr. Reagan who was then the president of the Screen Actors Guild to see if he could help clear up the confusion. He did and they started dating.

3.) She May Have Turned Her Back on Rock Hudson as He Was Dying of Aids

I include the word "MAY" in the title just as a CYA precaution. This link shows copies of documents that seem to bear out the truth of this story.

So, Rock Hudson was a handsome, manly matinee idol who was also gay. He was one of the first famous people to contract AIDS. Nine weeks before he died, he was seeking treatment in France. Not much was known about AIDS at this time but there was one doctor in France who seemed to have had some success in treating the disease. The problem was that the doctor worked at a military hospital and they wouldn't admit the American Hudson. Hudson's people reached out to ask Nancy to pull a few strings. She declined.

Maybe there really wasn't anything she could do. Who knows? Follow that link to see the correspondence for yourself.

4.) She Probably Didn't Have an Affair with Frank Sinatra

This was something brought up in Kitty Kelley's Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography. Kelley relayed that Sinatra began visiting Nancy in the White House for "private luncheons" with the strong implication being that there was hanky-panky going on. However, a Sinatra biography that came out in the nineties claims that the relationship was purely platonic. Oh, and also that Frank was feeling really down in the dumps because he was impotent and needed a shoulder to cry on!

Also, no reliable source has ever backed up the affair rumors.

5.) She May Have Been a BJ Queen

Again, Kitty Kelley so take it with a grain of salt. According to Kelley's book, Nancy was very popular on the MGM lot because of her willingness to grant favors of the oral variety. According to the widow of actor Peter Lawford, Lawford had relayed the story about the times he and another actor would go on road trips with Nancy and she would "gratify" whoever wasn't driving at the time. So, I guess she didn't always "just say no"?