“It sounds strange, but … I see Ronnie,” she tells the magazine. “At night time, if I wake up, I think Ronnie’s there, and I start to talk to him. It’s not important what I say. But the fact is, I do think he’s there. And I see him.”

While Mrs Reagan admits that she voted for the Republican candidate, John McCain, in the presidential election campaign last year she did take notice of Mr Obama on the other side. “I thought Obama ran the best campaign I have ever known – disciplined, well organised, very, very good,” she said. “I was very impressed.”