Nancy Reagan Died Of Congestive Heart Failure

On Sunday morning, former First Lady Nancy Reagan died at her home in Los Angeles. She was 94 years old. The wife of the late former President Ronald Reagan, Nancy was known as an actress and glamorous First Lady, as well as a breast cancer survivor and an anti-drug activist.

Reagan reportedly died of congestive heart failure. Her health had been a concern for some time thanks to her age and her history. In 1987, while her husband was in office, Reagan was diagnosed with breast cancer following a mammogram. She opted to have her entire left breast removed via a mastectomy, rather than just having the malignant lump removed. It was a controversial decision at the time, but she defended it by saying, "It was my choice to make, so don't criticize me for making what I thought was the right choice for me.'' (With all due respect, you go, girl.) Following Reagan's diagnosis via a mammogram, more American women had mammograms of their own.

Although breast cancer hadn't been a concern for years, Reagan had been ailed by other parts of her body. In recent years, she has suffered at least two falls that have sent her to local hospitals. She has remained influential well beyond her time in the White House and her husband's death, but Reagan had wielded most of that power from the privacy of her California home recently.