Patti
Davis (born Patricia Ann Reagan on October 21, 1952 in Los Angeles,
California) is the daughter of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis and
a bestselling author. Known as the black sheep of the Reagan children,
she had a highly-publicized rift between her and her parents.
She was romantically involved with Bernie Leadon of Eagles for
a time in the 1970s [1], and co-wrote with him the song "I
Wish You Peace", which appeared on the Eagles' One of These
Nights album.
She
is known for her pro-choice viewpoint on abortion and for being
against nuclear weapons. She wrote fictionalized accounts of her
life that did not portray her family in a positive light, and
an autobiography The Way I See It, which contained the revelations
that her father was cold, distant, and aloof to everyone except
Nancy. It also contained accusations of physical abuse by her
mother. In 1994 she posed nude for Playboy magazine.
She married her yoga instructor Paul Grilley in 1984 but they
divorced in 1990.
In
recent years, however, Davis reconciled with her parents, especially
as they battled her father's Alzheimer's disease. As public opinion
polls looked more favorably upon Ronald and Nancy Reagan, so did
Patti's portrayal of them. She wrote books that were more flattering
to her father, and was active in Reagan family actions against
John Hinckley and a CBS mini-series called The Reagans. Davis
also published columns and articles in a number of newspapers
and magazines.
Read
Patti Davis' eulogy here.
