President Barack Obama was joined by a pretty powerful Republican lady in his corner today when Nancy Reagan came out in favor of his repeal of a ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. 

Politico says the former First Lady said she’s "grateful" to Obama for opening up funding, which could eventually lead to cures for debilitating and often deadly diseases, including Alzheimer’s, which afflicted late President Ronald Reagan. As he signed the order today, Obama said he is ending what he calls "a false choice between sound science and moral values." 

"Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem-cell research can provide," Mrs. Reagan said. "We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases — and soon. As I’ve said before, time is short, and life is precious."

She also sat down with Sen. John McCain last year to talk about stem cells while he was on the presidential campaign trail. It was Reagan who helped change McCain’s mind on federal funding for the research. In 2006, she urged the Senate to pass a bill lifting restrictions on funding, despite a veto threat by then-President Bush.  

Mrs. Reagan was quietly frustrated during George Bush’s last eight years in the White House when it came to the topic of stem cells. "A lot of time is being wasted,” she told a friend in 2002, who then told The New York Times of the conversation. ”A lot of people who could be helped are not being helped.”

Maybe now we can make up for time that’s been lost.