Upon her death in Raleigh at the age of seventy-nine, President Reagan declared the [[conservative]] Smith "a patriot in every sense of the word. She thrilled us all with her stirring rendition of ‘God Bless America’ and sang with a passion which left few eyes dry.’’<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timeline.com/kate-smith-fat-shamed3bb7aaa26bd5-3bb7aaa26bd5|title=The woman who gave us 'God Bless America' was too busy winning to care about being fat-shamed|publisher=timeline.com|date=March 21, 2017|author=Stephanie Buck|accessdate=June 18, 2020}}</ref> | Upon her death in Raleigh at the age of seventy-nine, President Reagan declared the [[conservative]] Smith "a patriot in every sense of the word. She thrilled us all with her stirring rendition of ‘God Bless America’ and sang with a passion which left few eyes dry.’’<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timeline.com/kate-smith-fat-shamed3bb7aaa26bd5-3bb7aaa26bd5|title=The woman who gave us 'God Bless America' was too busy winning to care about being fat-shamed|publisher=timeline.com|date=March 21, 2017|author=Stephanie Buck|accessdate=June 18, 2020}}</ref> |