Nancy Reagan holds up a 'Just Say No' sign for press photographers
On horseback at Rancho del Cielo, the Reagans' California ranch, Nancy Reagan holds up a hand-lettered 'Just Say No' sign for the press while President Reagan looks on, 6 September 1986. Eight days later the couple gave a joint televised address launching a national campaign against drug abuse, in which she urged young people to 'just say no'. The photo puts the First Lady's own name and image behind the slogan, as the campaign's testimonial face.
Propaganda techniques used in this photograph
- Date
- September 6, 1986
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- U.S. government (First Lady Nancy Reagan and the White House)
Full record
Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Themes, Event, Source, Rights
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Photograph
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Reagan Administration
- Leader
- Ronald Reagan
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Health, Media and information
- Event
- War on Drugs
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, via DPLA), retrieved September 27, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
White House Photographic Office, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (NARA).
Text on the object
Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked
JUST SAY NO
Hand-lettered in marker on a piece of white card, held up by Nancy Reagan; not a printed sign.
