Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

good causes. I couldn’t believe
the things that they found and
got stores to give. I mean it
was amazing. This was at the
Botanical Gardens and it had
a French outdoor theme. But
Nancy and I were old friends
Nancy with other Senate wives on Nancy Reagan’s First Lady’s Luncheon committee, 1986.
Evans family album
because we had known each
other as governors’ wives.
But I had this Red Cross outfit. You could either buy the dress or you could buy the apron.
Well, for $2 I bought the apron. I wasn’t going to wear the cotton Red Cross dress ever. We
were supposed to wear whatever Red Cross thing we had, and then of course we would
take pictures with the First Lady. I was giggling because I felt so silly in that dumb outfit.
Hughes: I don’t think I’m telling any tales out of school when I tell you that Jay
Fredericksen (the governor’s press secretary in 1973) told me that one time you told him
you thought it was a little bit over the top the way she looked at Ronnie, like he sort of
walked on water. I mean they were gaga in love.
Evans: Oh absolutely. And you knew that it was very real. But you’re on the stage so
much in front of people and you listen to your husband speak so many times. I could give
Dan’s speeches – I’d heard them so often. But you have to look somewhat attentive, and
she always seemed to overdo it.
Hughes: Of those people you met at the governors’ conferences, who were the most enduring
of the friendships – people you really felt like you could really let your hair down around?
Evans: The governors of Idaho and Utah, who were both Democrats, (Cecil Andrus and
Calvin Rampton) were very good friends. And in Wyoming it was a Republican, Stan
Hathaway, and in Oregon, Republican Tom McCall, who we enjoyed knowing.
Hughes: Speaking of nonpartisan, in the same era in our state, it was the Jacksons and the
Magnusons – two Democratic powers in the U.S. Senate. Did you get to know them as well?
Evans: Yes, we did. … Helen Jackson and Jermaine Magnuson. I remember one time, it was
108