Obama Apologizes To Nancy Reagan For Joke About Seances

UPDATE: AL BROOKS: LIGHTEN UP AMERICA

WASHINGTON — President-elect Obama called Nancy Reagan on Friday to apologize for joking that she held seances in the White House.

At a news conference in Chicago, Obama said he had spoken with all the living presidents as he prepares to take office in January. Then he smiled and said, "I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any seances."

The 87-year-old former first lady had consulted with astrologers during her husband's presidency. But she did not hold conversations with the dead.

Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the president-elect later called Mrs. Reagan "to apologize for the careless and offhanded remark." She said Obama "expressed his admiration and affection for Mrs. Reagan that so many Americans share, and they had a warm conversation."

It actually wasn't Nancy Reagan who was linked to conversations with the dead; it was Obama's top Democratic challenger for the presidency, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

In either case, use of the word "seance" might be overstated.

Nancy Reagan consulted an astrologer to help set her husband's schedule, wrote former White House chief of staff Donald T. Regan. The revelation created a furor and President Reagan even broke with his policy of not commenting on books by former White House staffers.

"No policy or decision in my mind has ever been influenced by astrology," Reagan said.

In his book "The Choice," Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward described how Clinton consulted with a spiritual adviser who led her through imaginary conversations with her personal hero, Eleanor Roosevelt. Newsweek magazine, which was promoting the book, characterized the visits as "seances," a term that White House officials quickly tried to squelch.

"These were people who were helping her laugh, helping her think," said Neel Lattimore, Clinton's spokeswoman. "These were not seances."

Comments

[foxbat]

Stay focused Barack. A little humor is OK, but give the vindictive types opportunities steal your news cycles with pettiness. And if you don't think it can happen, just look at what happened to McCain's campaign in the last week of the election. McCain couldn't get any traction on message because the whole cycle was about his OWN staffers trashing each other and their own candidates. If they could be that disruptive with their own, think about how disruptive they could be with a common opponent now that they have no one individually to pull for. The most unifying factor for the Repubs now is Obama and he needs to be careful not to help at all with that unity.

[avatarrenee]

Good point about their source of unity. I'm interested to see his choices for his cabinet and how diversified he can make it.

[anghiari]

I think Obama did the right thing...PC is not a dirty phrase as Reps try to make it. Being conscious of perhaps hurting the feelings of a woman who has been first lady and lost her husband to Alzheimers and is in the latter part of her life required he apologize. He cannot asked people to respect his wife and not show the utmost respect for other wives of past Presidents and women in general. I thtink the President Elect's response is that of a grown up. He realized later that it sounded if he were ridiculing Nancy Reagan and that is not who he is and probably not how he meant it.

Behaving decently in all situations is a welcome change. We can handle mistakes and missteps, if he admits them or gives an explanation. We don't have to agree on everything as long as he demonstrates decency, humility and a willingness to communicate. I do think it has to do with fatigue...I just hope someone reminds him that he has to get rest, mistakes happen when you are tired.

[Questinia]

...and so now, after charming the housecoat off Nancy while on the phone... he's got a new fan.

[MsKillaSmile]

So what? Why is this even making the News?

I vote for a Labrador Retriever. That's what I'm getting. :)

[larazon]

Not hypo-allergenic.

[wearyvoter]

As a dog-allergy sufferer, I have to second that re: Labs. The Golden Doodle sounds promising.

[bryanjbusch]

Personally I'd rather she was trying to speak with ghosts instead of planets.

[larazon]

A real tempest in a teacup. It's blown out of proportion.

Re: the dog. A goldendoodle or cockapoo would be nice.

[grizhead63]

I do hope they get a shelter doggy. They make great pets plus it would help the ASPCA and Humane Society quite a bit in their efforts.

[larazon]

Must be hypo-allergenic. But shelters sometimes have cockapoos.

[jobecky20]

Frankly I hope we stop talking about the dog (is this the new JTP?)...we have got bigger problems.

[chinacatsunflower]

nancy reagan should apologize to all the people whose lives have been ruined by her crusade against non violent "offenders" - the war on drugs.

[Teadye]

It's my guess that Obama was referencing the brouhaha surrounding Nancy Reagan's use of astrologers and not the actual event. You can bet he is being constantly regaled with "do's" and "don'ts"... and his comment was more in line with "oh boy, now they are going to run with this just like they did with the Nancy Reagan seance thing." . He also knows how blown up in the media that became... after all he's the Secret Socialist Muslim. Obama is a history buff and knows damn well Nancy Reagan didn't have seances. And everyone who has been following him knows damn well he would never intentionally say something snarky against the former First Lady. I'm sure he has his personal gaff radar up, it's just that in avoiding one poopie-pile he stepped back into another. Stuff happens.

[mumrock]

What a classy move. A pre-emptive apology, as we don't know if Nancy was offended. (Considering her recent injury, I questioned the appropriateness of the comment.) Also, I'm sure Barack extended a genuine apology, not "I'm sorry if you were offended."

Class, grace, and thoughtfulness are back in style.

[majorteddy]

Now if we could just get Nancy Reagan to apologize for all the rotten things Ronald Reagan said and did for and to the country.We gained about one third of our national debt under him and our industry was shredded under his policies.

[nevadagirl]

The two children she had with Ronnie are both Democrats. The two that were ignored by Ronnie (from his prior marriage) are both Republicans. Maybe conservatism looks better the farther you get from it.

[JohnPone]

Nancy had to consult someone to make the decisions while Ronnie was asleep at the head of the table.

[MyUserName]

:-(
You should be ashamed.

[sammie mn]

Except it was true. Presidency + Alzheimer's = Scary.

[jingles32]

Much ado about nothing is right. Poor O, he's utterly exhausted, and tried to lighten the presser a bit, including poking fun at himself. Such a decent man, apologizing unequivocally as he did to Nancy; I'm sure she got a kick out it. Kudos to MSNBC who has not mentioned it at all, all morning...just the dog debate, the mutt remark, which they said was funny! CNN on the other hand...BREAKING NEWS! lol

[boogiewoman]

I remember the 80's and Reagan and what I find odd is why they{repubs, pundits} think he was such a wonderful President? He just cared about the rich. I remember Nancy running around in $5000.00 gowns. Alot of folks were broke and homless in the 80's.

[MyUserName]

Hmmm
Will you pass the same judgement should our new First Lady show up in a $5000 gown at the inauguration ball...after all, these are some tough times.

[4akinderworld]

Anyone want to join me in the opinion that Michelle's gown will cost significantly less than $5,000? That hasn't been her MO so far.

[moderate1]

Ha good call. I suppose you think the same about Michelle Obama after she showed up in Grant Park in a $3000 dress?

[DTOM]

I can't believe I can't even take a look at this thread without nasty comments. Nancy Reagan is an 87 year old widow of a former president. Barack Obama made a joke about Nancy Reagan, confusing her with stories about Hillary Clinton. He then apologized, which was the classy thing to do. Taking this as an opportunity to trash Nancy Reagan or to mock Ronald Reagan for having Alzheimer's Disease is disgusting.

Barack Obama handled the sitution with class - many on this site should be taking notes.

[DoctorJJ]

Much ado about nothing.

[moderate1]

I suspect this will be your reaction to every gaffe President Obama has over the next four year....

He is, afterall, perfect.