Politicians, Stars of the 80s, Pay Their Respects to Nancy Reagan

You'll Never Guess Who Showed Up

By Warren Rojas
Posted March 11, 2016 at 3:28pm

   

Actor Mr. T arrives for the funeral service of US former First Lady Nancy Reagan on March 11, 2016, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. AFP PHOTO/FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP / FREDERIC J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
Actor Mr. T arrives for the funeral service of U.S. former first lady Nancy Reagan on March 11, 2016, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

Lawmakers, world leaders, political observers and close friends Friday gathered in Simi Valley, California to lay to rest former first lady Nancy Reagan.  

Those who filed into the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum to honor the fiercely loyal spouse of the 40th president regaled the dignitary-packed crowd with anecdotes about how integral she was to American politics.  

“Her absolute belief in him gave him the chutzpah to run for office,” her son, Ronald Prescott Reagan, said of the quiet strength she shared with the then-aspiring candidate. “My mother provided the encouragement that he needed … she protected him.”