She studied dance under Martha Graham in New York, working as a fashion model to finance her studies. her husband's time in the office of the presidency, develop an addiction to prescription medication, 1974 United States House of Representatives election, 1972 United States House of Representatives elections, joint session of the United States Congress, Ford filmed an interview with the television news program, National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam, List of state dinners in the United States, wine from the Fords' home state of Michigan, discrimination in the United States military, Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service, List of breast cancer patients according to occupation, List of first ladies of the United States, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum, "Betty Ford Dies at Age 93; A Look Back on the Former First Lady", "Betty Ford, Again Putting On a Brave Face", "Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum", "The 38th First Lady: not a robot at all", "Betty Ford, Former First Lady, Dies at 93", "Betty's life changed dramatically once she became", "Friends Asking: 'Is There A New Betty Ford? [46][44] Contrarily to her, while President Ford ranked in the top-10 positions of most admired men in multiple years,[49][50][51][52] he never managed to top it. She was married to Gerald Ford for 58 years. Mrs. Ford brought a relaxed touch to the White House within days of moving in. She had held the top post at the center since its founding. [110], On July 14, a second service was held at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, with eulogies given by Lynne Cheney, former Ford Museum director Richard Norton Smith, and Ford's son Steven. "[10], Ford was popular with the American public. She became famous for her candor. But Id stopped being an underdog; Id gotten myself in hand.. [115] In both the 1993 and 2003 Siena Research Institute surveys, Ford was similarly ranked the 5th-highest in historians' assessment of first ladies' courage. Ive heard women say theyd rather lose their right arm, and I cant imagine it. From the outside, our life looked like a Norman Rockwell illustration, Mrs. Ford said at one point. [24] On May 31, 1973, Ford made her first major speech when she gave a commencement address to the graduates of the Westminster Choir College. [3][19] Ford also posed for newspaper publicity photographs and was a clothing model for charity fashion shows, after a Republican had urged her to do so since they felt that Democratic Party spouses had far outnumbered Republican spouses in such publicity-generating activity. Her candor in talking about and dealing with substance abuse and treatment helped led to an improvement in how Americans talk about such matters. Because she suffered, there will be more healing. A decade later, reminiscing with Margaret Truman for Ms. Trumans book First Ladies, she voiced regret over that television appearance. Ford will be buried alongside her husband, the former president, at his library in Grand Rapids, Mich., she added. She spoke often in support of the Equal Rights Amendment, endorsed legalized abortion, discussed premarital sex and revealed that she intended to share a bed with her husband in the White House. [5] After he recovered, they were divorced on September 22, 1947. An immediate change went into effect, to the degree that during family meals the president and the butler compared golf scores. [3] Ford remarked, "I agree with the Supreme Courts ruling. [27], In June 1974, Ford represented the Nixon administration by attending the funeral of Alberta Williams King, the assassinated mother of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Other Nixon administration official figures did not attend, continuing with other obligations. Bush called her, "a wonderful wife and mother; a great friend; and a courageous first lady. "[3][13] For their honeymoon, the two briefly traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they attended a college football game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Northwestern Wildcats, before driving to Owosso, Michigan, to attend a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee Thomas Dewey. [3], During her and President Ford's later years together, they resided in Rancho Mirage and in Beaver Creek, Colorado. The week she entered rehab, Ford disclosed her addiction to prescription medication. She refused to acknowledge that a problem existed, calling her family a bunch of monsters, but she eventually entered the Long Beach Naval Hospital in California for treatment. White House photographer David Hume Kennerly took a photo of her on the table. Nevertheless, by 1962, she was seeing a psychiatrist twice a week because, as she put it, Id lost my feeling of self-worth., I think a lot of women go through this, she said. She began dancing lessons when she was 8, and for two summers after graduation from high school she attended Bennington School of the Dance at Bennington College in Vermont. [38] In January 1976, Ford made a cameo appearance on the popular television program The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Ford was born Elizabeth Anne Bloomer in 1918 in Chicago, Illinois, the third child and only daughter of Hortense (ne Neahr; 1884 1948) and William Stephenson Bloomer Sr. (18741934), who was a traveling salesman for Royal Rubber Co.[3] She was called Betty as a child. Ford assisted in fundraising for the little-known Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, D.C., whose patients were predominantly African American. Most of all we wanted the state dinners to express the very best about America, particularly during the bicentennial year. And when Mrs. Ford returned from her mastectomy, the staff lined up with signs reading, We love you, Betty.. Her husband jokingly told her later that the comment had cost him 20 million votes in the 1976 election, she said. ", President Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who succeeded the Fords in the White House, recalled "a close personal friend and our frequent partner in bipartisan efforts to improve mental health and substance abuse care in our nation. It was just that they were accustomed to the more formal atmosphere prevailing under the Nixons. [21] That same year, her husband brought up the possibility that he might retire from congress in 1977, which would make the 1974 United States House of Representatives election the last he would run in. She wanted, she said, a fresh new face for her new life. A high school teacher, Betty Ford, was murdered in a dreadful way possible by none other than her friend, Candy. [3][105] In 1999, she and President Ford were jointly awarded Congressional Gold Medals. At one point, she recalled, she was in an airport and through clenched teeth said: I dont want anyone to come over and talk to me. In attendance were former president Bill Clinton, former vice president Dick Cheney and former first lady Barbara Bush. [3] Ford also held active membership in groups such as the 81st Congress Club and National Federation of Republican Women. During the period after the election, Ford postponed scheduled plans to give her slated successor, Rosalyn Carter, a tour of the White House. [62] At the state dinners of the Ford presidency, the president and first lady always led off the dancing, and dancing often lasted beyond midnight. Shortly after they married, he began to sell insurance for another company. Witjas said in a statement on Monday, January 3, "Betty died peacefully in her sleep at her home. After recovering, she founded and served as the first chair of the board of directors of the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse and addiction. "But the fact that I was the wife of the President put it in headlines and brought before the public this particular experience I was going through. Ford's transparency was praised by experts in drug abuse treatment, who predicted that it would make a major and positive impact. Ford's family has [21] Among those she met on the two-day trip was Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. Later, when she was no longer first lady, she was criticized in some circles for having a facelift almost immediately after overcoming her addictions. Betty Ford, who died yesterday at the age of ninety-three, got married the year she turned twenty-four, to a furniture salesman who did not become the President of the United States. But the main point was, it was best for the country.". In what was standard practice at the time, Betty was put under general anesthesia while the doctors took a sample of the suspicious tissue. The biopsy proved malignant and the doctors immediately performed a radical mastectomy. [81] In September of that year, Ford traveled to Moscow for a television program taping and to serve as hostess for The Nutcracker. This response proved effective in killing the speculation that she was covering-up her past, and earned her some admiration in the media. Poor health and increasing frailty due to operations in August 2006 and April 2007 for blood clots in her legs caused her to largely curtail her public life. Thereafter, Mrs. Ford's daily greetings were verbally reciprocated.". [3], Ford campaigned actively both during primary elections and the general election. [111] After the service, Betty Ford was buried next to her husband on the museum grounds. ABC News' David Reiter and Michael S. James contributed to this report. For state dinners held using this tent, the receptions, entertainment, and dancing portions of the evenings were still held inside of the White House. In private, she triumphed over serious personal adversity. [7][38][37], In 1975, when Time named the "American women" as its "Person of the Year",[39] the magazine profiled Ford as one of eleven women selected to represent "American women". Ford also enjoyed the traditional role as hostess of the White House and on a daily basis spent most of her energy on the family, health, and filling in for her husband on the hustings. [19][54] In a 1975 interview with the news program 60 Minutes, Ford called Roe v. Wade a "great, great decision". [3] After the interview aired, a number of Ford's remarks in this interview on hot-button issues generated particularly immense media attention. [3], As she became a more active second lady, Ford adopted an objective of promoting the arts. After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction and inspired thousands to seek much-needed treatment. "[7], Betty and Gerald Ford had four children together: Michael Gerald Ford (born 1950), John Gardner Ford (nicknamed Jack; born 1952), Steven Meigs Ford (born 1956), and Susan Elizabeth Ford (born 1957). "I just think it's important to say how easy it is to slip into a dependency on pills or alcohol, and how hard it is to admit that dependency.". "Betty was a remarkable woman whose legacy will live on in people around the country whose lives are longer and better because of her work. In contrast, there was tremendous organic excitement for Betty Ford among supporters of the campaign. [15] This open affection was evident from the beginning of Gerald Ford's presidency. ", Gregory Knight, Myra. [118], In 2021, Zogby Analytics conducted a poll in which a sample of the American public was asked to assess the greatness of twelve First Ladies from Jacqueline Kennedy onwards. Seated (lr): Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, Ford; Standing (lr): Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, President Bill Clinton speaks with the Fords at the White House ceremony awarding the at a 1999 Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony, Ford with other U.S. First Ladies at the 1994 National Garden Gala, which was themed "A Tribune to America's First Ladies". Throughout her husband's time in the office of the presidency, she maintained high approval ratings and was considered to be an influential first lady. [3] The campaign made a deliberate effort, ahead of the 1976 Republican National Convention, of sending Ford to liberal and moderate-leaning states and not more conservative states in the western and southern United States. [3][5], In 1942, Elizabeth Bloomer married William G. Warren,[5][4] whom she had known since she was 12. In 2003, Ford produced another book, Healing and Hope: Six Women from the Betty Ford Center Share Their Powerful Journeys of Addiction and Recovery. (He had played center for Michigan.) She also traveled to Iowa before its caucus, and delivered a speech on behalf of the president (who had been unable to make his planned appearance) in which she labeled herself as being his political partner. [19] Ford's abortion position differed from the political platform of the Republican Party. [85] The fact that Ford had, for years, been given tranquilizers to treat a pinched nerve in her neck, was public knowledge as far back as her time as second lady. That same year, she joined First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson and Rosalynn Carter to open and participate in the National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas, where she endorsed measures in the convention's National Plan of Action, a report sent to the state legislatures, the U.S. Congress, and the President on how to improve the status of American women. We all like to cheer an underdog. I embrace it, not only for me, but all the many others who are here to participate." Betty Ford was good at doing the things that every first lady does: accompanying her husband on tours and public ceremonies and holding dinners and parties. Betty Ford saw her role in the White House as official hostess and a goodwill ambassador. Photos of this moment were published widely in the American press, resulting in Betty Ford somewhat upstaging President Ford in the press. "Competing conceptions of the first ladyship: Public responses to Betty Ford's 60 Minutes interview. She accompanied her husband to congressional and White House events, as well as on some trips abroad, and made herself available to newspaper and magazine articles. [3][68] She is the most recent first lady not to have done so. Asked about her illness, she said, "I'm very glad that I brought cancer to the forefront.". Gerald Ford died on December 26, 2006, at the age of 93. [8][63] She found out of this upcoming dinner and her responsibility for planning it through a phone call she received within 24-hours after her husband's swearing-in as president. Nevertheless, she said, she believed it cost her husband the election. Shortly after becoming president in 1974, Ford said, "I am indebted to no man and to only one woman, my dear wife.". [7][34][37] However, polling would show that her comments were accepted by many Americans. Her overall approval rating was, at times, as high as 75%. Although she said she believed men and women should give two years of service to the country, she confessed she was very relieved when her sons drew high draft-lottery numbers. The countrys affection for Betty Ford transcended party lines. Betty underwent a radical mastectomy at Bethesda Naval Hospital and inadvertently destigmatized breast cancer by addressing her illness publicly during a She regularly drove her children around to their activities, such as her sons' Little League Baseball games and her daughter's dance classes. Betty Ford may be the most famous and least known First Lady in history. Surveys of historians conducted by the Siena College Research Institute have shown that historians regard Ford to be among the best and most courageous American first ladies. ", President George W. Bush said he and his wife Laura "admired her as a first lady and valued her as a friend. She also co-authored with Chris Chase a book about her treatment, Betty: A Glad Awakening (1987). The family moved to Grand Rapids, Mich., when she was 2. [3], Ford had an extremely busy schedule by July 1974. Her mother persuaded her to return to Grand Rapids in 1941, but not before she had modeled on Seventh Avenue and for the John Robert Powers modeling agency. Ford took these stances despite recognizing that they created a political risk of conservative backlash against her husband. Thats the way I feel. I just want to sit here all alone and finish this cigarette.. [103], In the early 1990s, Ford voiced admiration for First Lady Hillary Clinton and praised her for taking an active role in policy within her husband's administration by leading the Clinton health care plan[100], In 1987, Ford was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. [19], In March 1977, Ford signed with NBC News to appear in two news specials within the following two years along with contributing to Today,[79] and jointly signed with her husband to write their memoirs. [15], Barbara Bush, a later first lady, opined that Ford, after discovering she was dependent on drugs, "transformed her pain into something great for the common good. She continued to strongly advocate and lobby politicians and state legislatures for passage of the ERA. [76] Kennerly has touted the image as both capturing Ford's personality and being a symbolic image showing the feminist first lady posing in what had been a space occupied predominantly by white men. She was, in her own words, more of a hawk than her children on the war in Vietnam. President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also cited Ford's dedication to woman's rights and substance abuse issues, and recalled honoring her during her lifetime. Married and divorced in her 20s, in 1947 her life changed forever when she met Gerald R. Ford. [3][20] However, notably, Ford had not managed to address her increasing prescription pain medication dependency, which sometimes saw her taking as many as twenty pills in a single day. [32], Repeatedly speaking out on women's issues, Ford was a leader in the changing status of women in American society. At 14, she was confirmed as an Episcopalian (her mothers religion; her father was a Christian Scientist) and began working on Saturdays, for $3, as a model for Herpolsheimers department store. She joined Graham's auxiliary troupe and eventually performed with the company at Carnegie Hall. Their husbands have fascinating jobs, their children start to turn into independent people and the women begin to feel useless, empty., Later, when she accompanied her husband on campaign trips more frequently, she acknowledged that that, too, was not all fun. [3][21] Her candor on this trip received a positive reception by the news media. In this statement, Ford disclosed, "I have found I am not only addicted to the medication I have been taking for my arthritis but also to alcohol". [3][5][6] While she was still in high school, she started her own dance school, instructing both youth and adults. Shortly after leaving the White House, the Fords built a 15-room house bordering the 13th fairway of the Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage. This phenomenon became known as the Betty Ford blip. What was her prognosis? "First Ladies and the Cultural Everywoman Ideal: Gender Performance and Representation. Although she left the dcor as it was, she could not resist a bit of deviltry. Ford, the oldest surviving former U.S. president, died peacefully at 6:45 p.m. PT (9:45 p.m. On April 1, 1978, her family staged an intervention which forced her to acknowledge the negative impact that her addiction was having on her health and family relationships. Elizabeth Bloomer, who was known from childhood as Betty, was born in 1918 in Chicago and grew up in Michigan. At 20, she was in New York, living on the fringes of Greenwich Village and attending dance classes with Martha Graham. [21] Ford became overwhelmed by the media attention she received and became somewhat reclusive for a period early into her time as second lady. She joined Graham's auxiliary troupe and eventually performed with the company at Carnegie Hall in New York City. When they returned to Grand Rapids, she worked again at Herpolsheimer's, this time as the fashion coordinator. [3], Ford accompanied her husband on a trip to mainland China in 1972. ET) Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, according to a statement from his office. Her mother remarried, to family friend and neighbor Arthur Meigs Godwin, and Bloomer lived with them. Betty Ford. [3] Ford received support from her family and managed to resume a busy lifestyle. She also, ultimately agreed to attend rehab at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Long Beach, California. WASHINGTON, April 11 (AP) President and Mrs. Ford expressed their deepest sympathy to the family of James W. Howe, husband of Betty Ford's, personal assistant. She would be given prescription medication, including Valium. [7][30] Ford regarded Roosevelt a role model. [60] The spike in women self-examining after Ford went public with the diagnosis led to an increase in reported cases of breast cancer, a phenomenon known as the "Betty Ford blip". Their first son, Michael, was born in 1950 while the Fords lived in an apartment in Georgetown. Ford did indirectly indicate her willingness to step into the role of first lady by affirming that she would make any sacrifices required for her husband to carry out his constitutional obligations, but also opined that it would be traumatic if the nation had to endure a president being forced from office. [33], Ford was also unapologetically pro-abortion rights. Birthday: April 8, 1918 Date of Death: July 8, 2011 Age at Death: 93 Live Live Death Statistics Worldwide and The United States Is Betty Ford's father, William Stephenson Bloomer, dead or alive? [3] Many of Fords views were aligned-with, or even more liberal than, Rosalyn Carter, the wife of Fords Democratic general election opponent Jimmy Carter. [7] Weeks later, when the Fords moved from their Virginia residence into the White House[3] their king size bed was photographed being moved into the White House, which prompted Betty to quip that they had been outed for breaking the tradition of first couples keeping separate bedrooms in the White House. The 1974 murder of Mrs. Alberta King is not as widely known as the murder of her late civil rights leader son, which took place just six years before in 1968. Reactions to Ford's death came in quickly from subsequent occupants of the White House. [46], In Good Housekeeping's annual readers' poll of most admired women, Ford placed second in 1974[53] and first in 1975. [119], Ford's life is the focus of the 1987 ABC biographical television film The Betty Ford Story, which has a story adapted from her memoir The Times of My Life. While her death is a cause for sadness, we know that organizations such as the Betty Ford Center will honor her legacy by giving countless Americans a new lease on life. [19] In her 1987 memoir she reflected on these addictions, writing, "I liked alcohol, it made me feel warm. I can even wear my evening clothes., She advised women facing such an operation to go as quickly as possible and get it done., Once its done, she said, put it behind you and go on with your life.. The centers philosophy, drawn from the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, is based on peer interaction and learning to identify and express feelings. "People are saying her death was related to getting a booster shot three days earlier but that is not true. [3] It was never confirmed whether his death had been accidental or a suicide. Mr. Ford won the election. [32] On September 4, 1974, weeks after becoming first lady, Ford conducted a press conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in which she remarked that she, "would like to be remembered in a very kind way; also as a constructive wife of a president. Betty White died from a stroke suffered on Dec. 25, 2021, six days before her Dec. 31 death at age 99, according to her death certificate, the Associated Press reports. Despite her advanced age and own frail physical condition, Ford traveled across the country and took part in the funeral events in California, Washington, D.C., and Michigan. Elizabeth Anne Ford (ne Bloomer; formerly Warren;[2] April 8, 1918 July 8, 2011) was the first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the wife of President Gerald Ford. Ford was credited with rejuvenating the ERA movement and inspiring more women to continue working for the ERA. The 2008 survey also ranked Ford the 5th-highest in their assessment of first ladies who were their own women as well as 5th-highest in courage. [75][76] The photo was subsequently published and is regarded as an "iconic" photograph of Ford's time as First Lady. [19] The use of Ford in such a manner to promote her husband's candidacy was not the work of the campaign itself, but rather, produced by supporters outside of the campaign organization. [37][33] In January 1976, the editors of the New York News Service wrote that Ford was, "one of the most charming and popular First Ladies ever to occupy the White House". Phyllis Schlafly accused Ford of acting improperly by intervening in state affairs. She was 93. Betty Ford, the former first lady whose triumph over drug and alcohol addiction became a beacon of hope for addicts and the inspiration for her Betty Ford Center in California, died at age 93, a family friend said late Friday. "In the end, simply by being herself, she made it easier for millions of American women to be themselves," Smith told ABC News. In 1985, Ford received the Los Angeles AIDS Projects "Commitment to Life Award". She disclosed her alcoholism through a statement that a family spokesman read on her behalf at a press conference (at which Ford was not herself present) held outside of the hospital. "When other women have this same operation, it doesn't make any headlines," she told Time. Ford reads her husband's 1976 presidential concession speech to the press. , not only for me, but all the many others who are to! Women to continue working for the country. `` service, Betty: glad! A radical mastectomy [ 33 ], Ford made a cameo appearance on the museum.! 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