EXCLUSIVE: We Reveal Nancy Reagan's 'Addiction to Medication' on Anniversary of Iconic First Lady's Death — 'She Popped Pills to Fall Asleep… and Suffered Violent Withdrawal Symptoms'
March 6 2025, Published 5:59 p.m. ET
The details surrounding Nancy Reagan's rough "addiction to medication" have been exposed.
On the anniversary of the iconic First Lady's death, RadarOnline.com can reveal how she "secretly popped pills" despite being famous for telling the American people to "say no to drugs."
Back in 1982, Reagan launched the anti-drug campaign.
Back in 1982, Reagan launched the anti-drug campaign, which was then questioned after the biography, The Triumph of Nancy Reagan, revealed bombshell claims about her addiction to prescription medication.
According to the book, her husband, President Ronald Reagan, had to be told by White House doctors she had a "problem" and was taking too many "uppers and downers."
In the bombshell book that exposed the other side of the former First Lady, the president's deputy chief of staff Michael Deaver allegedly said in 1999: "She took a pill to fall asleep, and then woke up in the middle of the night to take another."
It also claimed a member of the White House medical staff, Dr. John Hutton, attempted to wean the First Lady off the sleeping medication because at the time she had "been taking so much and for so long."
However, after she had a "violent reaction to withdrawal," the doctor was given no other choice but to "put her back on the drug."
The First Lady even allegedly offered pills to her husband.
As doctors attempted to help the First Lady with her "problem," her very own brother, Dr. Richard Davis, "did not dismiss the possibility that Nancy had grown addicted to medication."
While she battled her own "addiction," the First Lady even allegedly offered pills to her husband so he could sleep better while on work trips.
However, the pills allegedly ended up making him feel "groggy" and "stumbling" on stairs in 1988 during a visit in Moscow – which the press luckily didn't catch and no photos were taken of the moment.
According to one of the former aides, the book claimed: "He couldn't handle it very well. One wasn't enough because he was a pretty good-sized guy so he would take two and he would wake up the next morning and he was really kind of hung over, kind of groggy and his balance was off. It happened two or three times."
On March 6, 2016, the former First Lady passed away at 94 years old..
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The First Lady launched the "Just Say No" campaign to help encourage children to deny experimenting with or using drugs by simply saying the word "no."
To promote the movement, she traveled all over the country to help bring awareness and even appeared on television news programs, talk shows and public service events.
The First Lady even visited drug rehabilitation centers to promote the strong message.
According to the book, her commitment to the cause was "genuine and deeply felt" – despite her struggle with "addiction."
On March 6, 2016, the former First Lady passed away at 94 years old.
