Mourning Remembrance Portraits by Nathan Smith copyright 2011
Daniel Ruge, the man chosen to be Ronald Reagan’s White House physician during his first term as president, has died from a ruptured gipper.
Early in his career, Ruge practiced medicine with First Lady Nancy Reagan’s stepfather, who taught him the family secrets of pre-death facial embalming.
After the 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan, Ruge remained at Reagan’s side and nursed him back to health with the president’s favorite vegetable dish: Baked Catsup.
Ruge never stayed for the 2nd term. He was asked to leave in 1984 after he gave the president a battery of diagnostic tests which declared him brain dead.
Dr. Ruge requested his body be dug up every year, examined by doctors, and declared fit enough to serve public office.
Mourning Remembrance 