[12] At the time, the United States National Security Council under Richard V. Allen, the National Security Advisor, was split into four, with Major General Robert L. Schweitzer heading the military quarter, and Nance above him; Nance, considered well-connected,[13] later took on Schweitzer's duties after the general's removal from the council for inopportune remarks.

[18] Still, during his short tenure as acting National Security Advisor, Nance informed Vice President George H. W. Bush about the imposition of martial law in Poland,[19] and helped the Reagan administration draft a response to it.

[3] With Allen's resignation and replacement with William P. Clark Jr. on January 4, 1982, Nance ceased being the acting National Security Advisor;[21] despite the pleas of some within the White House, he was then removed as Deputy National Security Advisor on January 20, 1982, instead shifting to a lesser role as one assistant among many,[22] though Larry Speakes claimed that he was put in charge of certain special projects.

[23] In March 1982, he was moved out of national security entirely, and appointed the director of the Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, led by J. Peter Grace.

[24] Nance soon returned to the private sector, working for the Boeing Military Airplane Company;[1] and supporting Helms,[25] even paying his filing fee in 1990.

[28] As his old friend and fellow conservative,[3] Nance had the rare ability to persuade the obstinate and obstructionist Helms to support certain measures, such as the START II treaty.

[31] Still, Nance endured; and though his health declined over time—in 1997, he suffered serious injuries in a car accident[32]—Nance, seen as the more genial gentleman to Helms's more feisty populism,[33] continued to work, often arriving at 7 am.