Nancy Reagan Vanity Fair Interview: "I See Ronnie" At Night, Obama Should Have Invited Me To The White House

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Nancy Reagan sat down for an interview with Vanity Fair's Bob Colacello to tell him about her thoughts on Obama, the conversations she still has with her husband and her feelings about the Bush family. Read excerpts from Vanity Fair interview below and click HERE for more of the Nancy Reagan interview.

NEW YORK, N.Y.--Nancy Reagan tells Vanity Fair special correspondent Bob Colacello that "it sounds strange, but ... I see Ronnie. At nighttime, if I wake up, I think Ronnie's there, and I start to talk to him. It's not important what I say. But the fact is, I do think he's there. And I see him."

"I miss Ronnie a lot, an awful lot," Mrs. Reagan tells Colacello more than once. "People say it gets better. No, it does not." Does she ever feel like giving up? "No. Ronnie wouldn't like that."

During her talk with Colacello, a rare, in-depth interview which took place at her home in Bel Air, California, Mrs. Reagan also discusses the Obamas, the Bushes, entertaining in the White House, her contentious relationship with Donald Regan, and being re-united with Ronnie in the afterlife. "Billy Graham said it," she tells Colacello. "I said to him, 'Just tell me if I'm going to be with Ronnie again. Just tell me that and I'll be O.K.' He said, 'You are.' And I said, 'O.K.'"....

Obama did not invite Mrs. Reagan to the announcement ceremony at the White House to celebrate the reversal of Bush's policy on stem-cell research, attended by 30 members of Congress and several prominent advocates of stem-cell research. "I would have gone, and you know I don't like to travel," she tells Colacello. "Politically it would have been a good thing for him to do. Oh, well, nobody's perfect. He called and thanked me for working on it. But he could have gotten more mileage out of it."

Comments

[CherokeeGirl]

She was ill the day he signed that bill on stem cell. I saw her come out and give a press conference endorsing the bill. She didn't look like she could have traveled. Aw, hell, Obama probably invited her.

[sufi66]

I saw Ronnie's statue. The pigeons will avoid it. Why waste good waste?

[Marina56]

There are way too many nasty comments on here from both sides of the aisle. Sad.

[sufi66]

This woman and her hubby did a lot of damage to this country. Maybe you don't remember? So no negative remark is too negative for me.

[lynettema]

When you are 98 years old, you can see or say anything you want.

[cinnamonlady]

This reminds me of George and Gracie. He said he didn't have a good night's sleep after Gracie passed on until he started sleeping in her bed.

I always talk to loved ones who have preceeded me and very often feel their presence at the oddest moments - sometimes when I'm taking a solitary stroll or sometimes during the night. It is always just the most beautiful, incomparable experience. Love never dies.

As to the Obama situation, our president is a gentleman and our first lady is most gracious. They are now presented with a sweet opportunity.

[Norge]

Good for you Nancy. He is fortunate to someone looking in on him at times.

Gernada is still from what I have heard bitter about that invasion. Though as always, done with the best of intentions.
Though he was kind and good to you Nancy which is obvious.

[sufi66]

If I knew while thinking about a run for the presidency that I might have to walk with Nancy Reagan to the cameras for a photo-op, I would not run.

There are some things that are so obscene that I couldn't live with myself.

[lynettema]

It's so great that we have a gracious President.

[sufi66]

Or a fool of a president?

[Forest]

Something was working right with Nancy and Ronald to have produced such a quality son in Ronald, Jr.

[JenniferEccles]

yes. I wish we could see more of Ron Jr.

I remember when he worked for good morning america [mid 80s?] and his segments were always the most interesting on the show.

his views and opinions are always articulate and thought provoking.

[Forest]

I agree. When I listen to him I hear more the wisdom and insights of his mother than his father.

[Forest]

I agree. We need to see/hear more from Ron Reagan Jr.

[montecarlo408]

I'd consider him more of an anomaly than a result of good genetics.

[Hedgehogging]

The Democrat vs Republican debate on these forums is hilarious. I have to question the IQ of most of the people who think there's a difference between the two. It's shocking, really shocking.

[TENICH]

I just saw Nancy Reagan with the POTUS for a bill signing. The POTUS escorted her across the stage in his usual attentive and courteous style. She responded graciously with a cougar smile that most women her age seem to have when hanging with the POTUS. Nancy R. was just ok with me. But now that the POTUS has embraced her, I have become a fan of hers. She is a sweetheart.

[ItHadToBeSaid]

Self-importance and self-absorption weren't becoming in the 80s and they're not becoming today. But for Nancy, they are very, very typical . . .

[dollyfedup]

Were you a supporter of Obama Mrs. Reagan? If not, don't expect an invitation to the whitehouse. I do recall you supporting McCain. No offense though

[S1m0n]

Republicans NEVER give up that feeling of entitlement, do they?

[Melizzy]

I'm not a Ronnie fan but I think the missus did this country a great service with the "just say no" campaign. Not for pot, but for other serious drugs. I wish someone in the Bush administration had gotten the word out about meth. It's killing our rural towns and there is no public message out there to the kids. Pix of meth mouth and the incredible toll it takes should be rampant. Instead the drug is rampant. :(

[lynettema]

Too bad it didn't work. There is more drug usage and more abortions in a Republican administration. Fact.

[hydrogeoman]

Despite the misleading headlines to this piece (which Huff Post is shamefully guilty of), all Nancy said was that Obama could have "gotten more mileage" from inviting her. That means POLITICAL mileage. Perhaps he realized what a phony move it would have been to have invited her.

Or, maybe Obama (or whomever does his thinking on such issues) simply forgot. No harm done, except for possibly the extra "mileage" he could have gotten.

Oh well ...bigger fish to fry, anyway.