Nancy Reagan: Obama Snubbed Me

Former first wife also says in an interview she sees Ronald Reagan's ghost

By CAITLIN MILLAT
Updated 3:26 PM EST, Mon, Jun 1, 2009

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Former First Lady Nancy Reagan said she still sees the ghost of her husband -- and that President Barack Obama snubbed her earlier this year.
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Former First Lady Nancy Reagan said this week that President Barack Obama snubbed her  -- and that she still sees the ghost of her late husband Ronald Reagan inside her home.

Nancy Reagan told Vanity Fair that Obama missed an opportunity when she wasn't invited to a March ceremony where Obama said he'd allow comprehensive stem-cell research -- but that the commander in chief later apologized for the oversight.

“I would have gone, and you know I don’t like to travel,” said Reagan, 87, a well-known stem-cell advocate. “Politically it would have been a good thing for him to do.

"Oh, well, nobody’s perfect," she said.

It isn't the first time Obama's insulted the former first lady -- he cracked a joke in November 2008 about Reagan's reported consultations with astrologers during her time in the White House.

"I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any séances," Obama joked on November 7 at a press conference. Obama later apologized for his "careless and off-handed remark."

Reagan, who spoke from her Bel Air, Calif., home, also said she still catches glimpses of Ronald Reagan's ghost in the halls -- and that time hasn't healed the wounds in the five years since his death.

“I miss Ronnie a lot, an awful lot,” Reagan said. “People say it gets better. No, it does not.”

“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," she said.

"It’s not important what I say. But the fact is, I do think he’s there. And I see him.”

Former President Ronald Reagan died at 93 in 2004 in Los Angeles after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Ronald and Nancy Reagan were married in 1952.

The interview will be featured in the June issue of Vanity Fair.

First Published: Jun 1, 2009 11:45 AM EST

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