Doria Palmieri was an American clinical psychologist best known as the first wife of Ron Reagan, the younger son of President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan. Yet Palmieri had a professional life that extended beyond her connection to the Reagan family. Early in her career, she was described as a literary researcher, and she also spent time working in the publishing world before becoming a psychologist. She married Ron Reagan in November 1980, shortly after his father was elected president, and the couple remained together for more than 33 years, until Palmieri’s death in 2014.
Doria Palmieri Quick Facts
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Doria Palmieri |
| Known for | Clinical psychology and marriage to Ron Reagan |
| Profession | Clinical psychologist; earlier worked as a literary researcher |
| Spouse | Ron Reagan |
| Marriage date | November 24, 1980 |
| Wedding location | Manhattan, New York City |
| Long-term residence | Seattle, Washington |
| Death | March 24, 2014 |
| Age at death | 62 |
| Cause of death | Complications of a progressive neuromuscular disease |
Who Was Doria Palmieri?
Doria Palmieri lived much of her adult life alongside a family that occupied an unusually visible position in American culture and politics. Her husband, Ron Reagan, was the youngest child of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, but Palmieri did not build her own identity around political activity or ceremonial life.
When national coverage began mentioning her around the time of her marriage, Palmieri was described professionally as a literary researcher. A January 1981 profile identified the 29-year-old Palmieri in that role while discussing Ron Reagan and the wider Reagan family.
Her career later moved in a different direction. By the 2000s and early 2010s, Palmieri was working as a psychologist. A Washington Post profile published in 2011 described her as a psychologist who continued working while dealing with a serious degenerative illness. After her death, Ron Reagan identified her as a clinical psychologist.
Her Early Career in Research and Publishing
Palmieri’s early professional history included work connected with writing and publishing rather than psychology.
Contemporary coverage from the beginning of the Reagan presidency called her a literary researcher. There is also a direct connection between Palmieri and Interview, the influential magazine founded by Andy Warhol.
Writer and editor Bob Colacello later recalled that Palmieri had worked as his assistant at Interview during the early 1980s. The detail provides a useful glimpse into a period of her career that is often overlooked in short biographies concentrating almost entirely on her marriage.
The progression from literary and editorial work to clinical psychology also makes Palmieri’s professional history more varied than a single job title suggests. Precise details about when she completed her psychological training and where she practiced throughout her career are not sufficiently documented in strong contemporary sources to state them confidently.
How Doria Palmieri Met Ron Reagan
Doria Palmieri and Ron Reagan knew each other before Ronald Reagan reached the White House.
Contemporary reporting in 1980 identified Palmieri as a former dance-school classmate of Ron. Another profile from that year said the two had known one another for several years and were already living together before their marriage. By July 1980, they were described as sharing a home while Ron pursued his career in dance.
Ron Reagan had left Yale University and pursued professional ballet, eventually becoming associated with Joffrey II. Their relationship therefore developed during the period when his own career was centered on dance rather than politics.
Doria Palmieri and Ron Reagan’s 1980 Wedding
Palmieri and Reagan married on November 24, 1980, only weeks after Ronald Reagan won the 1980 presidential election.
The ceremony was markedly informal for a couple suddenly connected to an incoming presidential family. It took place in the chambers of State Supreme Court Justice Lester Evans in Manhattan.
Palmieri wore a black sweater and black slacks with red cowboy boots. Ron Reagan wore jeans, a red sweatshirt and tennis shoes. Neither Ronald nor Nancy Reagan attended. Contemporary reporting described the event as a private civil ceremony rather than a large family celebration.
The couple had been living together in Greenwich Village. A profile published shortly afterward described them sharing a small walk-up apartment in New York while Ron was developing his ballet career. Their day-to-day life at the time was considerably more modest than the White House surroundings associated with the Reagan name.
Life as Part of the Reagan Family
The timing of the marriage inevitably connected Doria Palmieri with one of the most recognizable American families of the 1980s.
Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the United States in January 1981. Ron Reagan, however, developed a career and political outlook distinct from his father’s, working at different points as a dancer, writer, television personality and commentator.
Palmieri generally remained outside that professional spotlight.
Her marriage also lasted far beyond Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library records Ron Reagan and Doria Palmieri as married from 1980 until Palmieri’s death in 2014.
A Marriage That Lasted More Than Three Decades
By 1991, more than a decade after the wedding, Ron Reagan publicly described himself as happily married to Palmieri.
The couple eventually made their home in Seattle. A detailed 2011 profile showed them still together more than 30 years after their Manhattan wedding, while Palmieri was undergoing treatment for a degenerative medical condition.
That profile also portrayed Palmieri as continuing to work despite her health problems, offering one of the clearest later-life accounts of her professional and personal circumstances.
Doria Palmieri’s Illness and Death
Palmieri experienced a progressive neuromuscular disease during the final years of her life.
By 2011, her condition was serious enough to require hospital treatment and affect her mobility, although contemporary reporting said she was still working at the time.
Doria Palmieri died on March 24, 2014, at the age of 62. Ron Reagan later said that her death resulted from complications of the progressive neuromuscular disease she had developed approximately seven and a half years earlier. Their marriage had lasted about 33 years.
Claims sometimes made online that identify her illness more specifically should be treated cautiously. The strongest firsthand account described the condition as a progressive neuromuscular disease rather than providing a more specific diagnosis.
Doria Palmieri Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| Late 1970s | Palmieri and Ron Reagan were together while Reagan pursued dance |
| 1980 | Contemporary media described Palmieri as a literary researcher |
| November 24, 1980 | Married Ron Reagan in Manhattan |
| Early 1980s | Worked in the publishing world, including as an assistant at Interview |
| Later career | Worked as a clinical psychologist |
| 2011 | Profiled while working and receiving treatment for a degenerative illness |
| March 24, 2014 | Died at age 62 from complications of a progressive neuromuscular disease |
Doria Palmieri’s Professional Identity
Calling Palmieri simply “Ron Reagan’s wife” leaves out an important part of her biography.
The documentary record establishes at least three distinct parts of her working life: literary research, involvement with magazine publishing and clinical psychology.
Her association with Interview placed her within an influential part of New York’s early-1980s publishing and cultural scene. Her later move into psychology represented a substantially different professional direction. By the final years of her life, major newspaper coverage consistently identified psychology as her profession.
Unlike Ron Reagan, Palmieri did not develop a sustained career in television commentary or political media. As a result, much of what can be established about her comes from contemporary profiles of her marriage and later accounts discussing her career and illness.
Was Doria Palmieri Ron Reagan’s Ex-Wife?
No. Describing Doria Palmieri as Ron Reagan’s “ex-wife” is inaccurate if the term is meant to imply divorce.
Palmieri and Reagan remained married from November 1980 until her death in March 2014. Ron Reagan later remarried, but that occurred after Palmieri had died. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library records Palmieri as his spouse from 1980 until her death.
For biographical purposes, Ron Reagan’s first wife or late wife is therefore more precise.
Frequently Asked Questions About Doria Palmieri
Who was Doria Palmieri?
Doria Palmieri was an American clinical psychologist who earlier worked in literary research and publishing. She was also the first wife of Ron Reagan, son of President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan.
What did Doria Palmieri do for a living?
Palmieri was described as a literary researcher around the beginning of the 1980s and worked for a period at Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. She later became a clinical psychologist.
When did Doria Palmieri marry Ron Reagan?
Doria Palmieri married Ron Reagan on November 24, 1980, in a civil ceremony held in a judge’s chambers in Manhattan.
Did Doria Palmieri and Ron Reagan divorce?
No. They remained married until Palmieri died in 2014. Their marriage lasted more than 33 years.
When did Doria Palmieri die?
Palmieri died on March 24, 2014, at the age of 62. Her husband said she died from complications of a progressive neuromuscular disease.
Was Doria Palmieri a psychologist?
Yes. Later contemporary coverage identified Palmieri as a psychologist or clinical psychologist. She was still working during the period when she was receiving treatment for her degenerative illness.
Conclusion
Doria Palmieri’s biography extends beyond her connection to the Reagan family. She moved through literary research and magazine publishing before establishing a career in clinical psychology, while maintaining a marriage to Ron Reagan that lasted more than three decades. Their informal 1980 Manhattan wedding became an unusual footnote in presidential-family history, but Palmieri herself largely pursued a professional life away from political celebrity. She died in 2014 at 62 after living for years with a progressive neuromuscular disease.
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