Conservative columnist George Will became choked up on Sunday as he related the relationship between Nancy and Ronald Reagan following the death of Nancy Reagan on Sunday at age 94.
"You have a political party. You have legislative caucus. Most of all, you have your spouse," Will said Sunday on Fox News Channel. "They were the most married couple I ever met."
The pair would sit together in a room and Ronald Reagan would write love notes to his wife across the room, Will said.
"He once wrote five words that I think is fair to say changed our lives and then the world: 'And then along came Nancy,'" Will said. "It gave him center to his life."
Ronald Reagan was famously friendly, but much of it was to keep people at bay, Will said. "I think he had one friend, and he married her."
When the Reagans followed the Carters in the White House, many had felt the White House had become to informal, and Nancy Reagan wanted to restore some of the elegance, Will said.
"Obviously, in a republic there's a certain level of formality you don't exceed, but a certain level of informality you don't fall below, and the Reagans wanted to restore style," he said. "They brought a kind of glamour back that rubbed some people the wrong way, but rubbed most of the country the right way."
Former ABC News White House correspondent Sam Donaldson agreed, telling Fox News, that Nancy Reagan set a standard.
"Can you imagine today, Nancy Reagan listening to some of the debates we've heard recently?" Donaldson said. "I won't say anything more about them except the standards have changed in Washington and across the country, and she represents the old way. I can only say to you I hope we return to it."
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