"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.". A mutual friend, Peg Neuman, suggested to Gerald that he should ask her out, so he called her. [3] Following her husband's death, Ford continued to live in Rancho Mirage. The week she entered rehab, Ford disclosed her addiction to prescription medication. [96], On November 18, 1991, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H. W. Ford surprised the media and the public by explicitly supporting a woman's right to an abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and grass roots activism. [32], Repeatedly speaking out on women's issues, Ford was a leader in the changing status of women in American society. [3], In November 1975, it was reported by the Associated Press that Ford's husband's advisors, who had previously worried her outspoken comments would hurt him in the 1976 presidential election, were now recognizing her popularity and desiring for her to have a greater role in the campaign. In the 1950s Bette Ford turned heads and raised eyebrows when she became a model-actress-bullfighter. July 8, 2011 — -- Betty Ford, wife of former President Gerald Ford and the founder of the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse and addiction, has died at age 93. [33], Ford was also unapologetically pro-abortion rights. This experience has been credited with further cementing Ford's understanding of gender-based income inequalities between individuals doing the same work. Warters, T. Alissa. Ford would become the 38th president of the United States. Shortly after becoming president in 1974, Ford said, "I am indebted to no man and to only one woman, my dear wife.". [3], As she became a more active second lady, Ford adopted an objective of promoting the arts. [75], During the Fords' 1976 trip to mainland China, when being shown an exhibition by a Chinese arts college dance group, Ford decided to join the dancers. "[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). Ford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush in 1991. [19] In her 1987 memoir she reflected on these addictions, writing, "I liked alcohol, it made me feel warm. Betty Ford began taking prescription pain killers in the 1960s for a pinched nerve. Betty Ford, or Elizabeth Anne Ford, was the wife of the 38th U.S. president, Gerald Ford, and thus the First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977. 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. [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. 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. First Lady Betty Ford held her first official press conference in the State Dining Room on September 4, 1974. She worked a production line for a frozen food company in Fulton, New York. Ford's family has traveled to California and expects to arrange a service in Palm Springs soon, Barbara Lewandrowski, a family spokeswoman, told The Associated Press. [31] Active in social policy, Ford broke new ground as a politically active presidential spouse. 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. In private, she triumphed over serious personal adversity. The series lovers highly anticipate the show and are peculiar to know about Betty Ford's first husband. She also, ultimately agreed to attend rehab at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Long Beach, California. She involved herself in the Los Angeles AIDS Project. "[21][24] The Fords had planned to make a diplomatic trip to European nations after the midterm elections. At this point in her life, she was married to her first husband, businessman William Warren. "Did they dislike her? This led her to seek psychiatric assistance. [3], In 2013, Ford was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. CNN . [84] After they left the White House, her addictions became more evident to her family and appeared life-threatening. Betty Ford, whose husband, Gerald, died in December 2006, had undergone surgery for an undisclosed ailment in April 2007. Betty Ford was at his side. Betty Ford, the first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, died at the age of 93. ', "October 10, 1973: Vice President Spiro Agnew Resigns", "How Betty Ford Made History Inside The White House and Beyond", "Betty Ford: unaffected, but not a 'plain country girl', "March 13, 1974 - Vice President and King Hussein of Jordan", "Betty Ford: Feminist, Social Liberal, Republican", "Betty Ford as First Lady: A Woman for Women", "Back in View, a First Lady With Her Own Legacy", "Betty's popularity rises because of her big mouth", "Presidents Advisors Urging Bigger Role for Betty Ford", "Digitized from Box 39 of the Sheila Weidenfeld Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library", "Person of the Year: A Photo History - TIME", "Betty Ford, again putting on a brave face", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Watch Betty Ford's Memorable Cameo", "LOOK: Proof Betty Ford Was A Total Badass", "The story behind an iconic Betty Ford photo", "Then and Now: First Ladies | Roper Center for Public Opinion Research", "12 Jan 1984, 9 - The News and Observer at Newspapers.com", "Religious leaders make gains in most-admired lists", "First lady Nancy Reagan is most-admired woman", "Bush, Gorbachev Are 1-2 In Popularity Poll", "President, Barbara Bush Top 'Most Admired' Lists", "1 Jan 1978, 21 - Tampa Bay Times at Newspapers.com", "Carter First On 'Most Admired Man' List", "Reagan Replaces Pope as Most Admired Man", "Golda Meir Named As 'Most Admired'; Betty Ford Second", "Special Encore PresentationInterview with Gerald Ford", "Betty Ford 'in TipTop Shape' After Grueling FourDay Trip", "Mrs. Ford Helps 'Remember the Ladies' of Revolutionary Era", "A Certain Comfort: Betty Ford as First Lady", "Notable State Dinners at the White House", "Top 10 Memorable State-Dinner Moments - TIME", "That time FDR served hot dogs to the king, and three other strange state dinner facts", "Factbox: Notable first ladies and their travels", "After Funeral Service, Betty Ford Buried Next to Husband", "NBC News Signs Betty Ford to Pact For Two Specials", "Equal Rights Plan and Abortion Are Opposed by 15,000 at Rally", "Betty Ford Says That She Is Addicted to Alcohol", "Former first lady Betty Ford says the six years", "Addiction Treatment Betty Ford Center Rancho Mirage, CA", "Betty Ford targets children of addicted families", "Former First Lady and Women's Rights Advocate: Betty Ford", "Betty Ford, The Junior League of Grand Rapids", "Former first lady Betty Ford says she is disappointed", "Betty Ford's death marks the passing of a lost generation of moderate Republican women", "Heroes of the Presidential Medal of Freedom", "Fords receive congressional gold medal - October 27, 1999", "Palm Springs Walk of Stars: By Date Dedicated", "Ex-First Lady, Advocate for Substance Abuse Treatment Betty Ford Dies", "Betty Ford Funeral: Family, Friends Eulogize Former First Lady", "Betty Ford Sculpture Unveiled at Ford Museum", "Eleanor Roosevelt Retains Top Spot as America's Best First Lady Michelle Obama Enters Study as 5th, Hillary Clinton Drops to 6th Clinton Seen First Lady Most as Presidential Material; Laura Bush, Pat Nixon, Mamie Eisenhower, Bess Truman Could Have Done More in Office Eleanor & FDR Top Power Couple; Mary Drags Lincolns Down in the Ratings", "Ranking America's First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt Still #1 Abigail Adams Regains 2nd Place Hillary moves from 5th to 4th; Jackie Kennedy from 4th to 3rd Mary Todd Lincoln Remains in 36th", "Ranking America's First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt Still #1 Abigail Adams Regains 2nd Place Hillary moves from 2nd to 5th; Jackie Kennedy from 7th to 4th Mary Todd Lincoln Up From Usual Last Place", "The Zogby Poll: Greatness of the past 12 First Ladies", "Here's how 20 real-life first ladies compare to the actors who have played them", "White House Couples That Have Been Portrayed on Screen", "Review | 'The First Lady' turns three compelling women into Emmy bait", "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement", Ashley, Jeffrey S. "The Social and Political Influence of Betty Ford: Betty Bloomer Blossoms", Borrelli, Maryanne. ", Tasha N. Dubriwny, "Constructing breast cancer in the news: Betty Ford and the evolution of the breast cancer patient.". [33], Steinhauer of The New York Times described Ford as "a product and symbol of the cultural and political timesdoing the Bump dance along the corridors of the White House, donning a mood ring, chatting on her CB radio with the handle First Mamaa housewife who argued passionately for equal rights for women, a mother of four who mused about drugs, abortion and premarital sex aloud and without regret. Former first lady Betty Ford has died at the age of 93. As a supporter of abortion rights and a leader in the women's rights movement, she gained fame as one of the most candid first ladies in history, commenting on the hot-button issues of the time, such as feminism, equal pay, the Equal Rights Amendment, sex, drugs, abortion, and gun control. One day in 1934, when she was 16, Betty came home and her father, a traveling salesman who had recently lost his job, had. [3] Ford remarked, "I agree with the Supreme Courts ruling. [19][61] In a 1975 interview with the news program 60 Minutes, Ford called Roe v. Wade a "great, great decision". After leaving. After her pinched nerve, she began suffering several effects, including muscle spasms, periphrasic neuropathy, numbing the left side of her neck, and arthritis on her shoulder and arm. [36], During her time as first lady, Ford was an outspoken advocate of women's rights and was a prominent force in the Women's Movement of the 1970s. Shortly after she decided to file for divorce, Warren fell into a coma. [3][19] Ford took doses of this medication in excess of her prescription. Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness following her 1974 mastectomy. In 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center in California. [109], 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. Through the work she did at the Betty Ford Center, Ford recognized the link between drug abuse and AIDS. She recalled that the first time she heard someone call her father an alcoholic was at his funeral. [99] In 2003, Ford was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award by the Woodrow Wilson Center of the Smithsonian Institution. [89] Ford continued to be an outspoken supporter of equal pay for women, breast cancer awareness, and the ERA throughout her life. [3], Campaign button in support of President Ford's 1976 presidential campaign with the phrase "Keep Betty in the White House", Betty and Gerald Ford onstage at the 1976 Republican National Convention. I got the stuff and got back to my place and did it. Mrs. Among the nations that Ford accompanied her husband to were China, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. [98] That same year, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her and her husband. "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. "Jerry did not want this," she wrote. Kalb shares a few things you may not know about the 38th . [69], Among the most notable state dinners the Fords hosted was a July 7, 1976 state dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. [3], Ford filmed an interview with the television news program 60 Minutes which was broadcast on August 10, 1975. For more, click here: http://abcn.ws/BettyFordRIP She was also the Second Lady of the United States from 1973 to 1974, when Ford served as the 40th U.S. vice president. She was also outspoken on women's rights issues. [7], Ford supported numerous charities as first lady. [94] The amendment did not receive enough states' ratification. [114], In 1975, when Time named "American women" as its "Time Person of the Year",[39] the magazine profiled Ford as one of eleven women selected to represent "American women". [110], 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. Emergency responders, including police, showed up at her home Friday morning as a standard procedure. On Aug. 9, 1974, Nixon stepped down following the Watergate scandal. Betty and Gerald Ford embrace in the White House in 1974. "I'm not out to rescue anybody who doesn't want to be rescued," she once said. Betty Ford Biography Betty Ford, the United States' first lady, was born on April 8, 1918. [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. [4], In 1926, when she was eight years old, her mother, who valued social graces, enrolled her in the Calla Travis Dance Studio in Grand Rapids, where Ford was taught ballet, tap dancing, and modern movement. I embrace it, not only for me, but all the many others who are here to participate." TMZ was the first to report the news.. A cerebrovascular accident, commonly known as a stroke, is a loss of blood flow to part of the brain, which damages brain tissue. She was working in a fashion job in Grand Rapids where Gerald lived. [25][26] The dinner was held in the John Quincy Adam's Drawing Room, one of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the United States Department of State headquarters at the Harry S Truman Building. Ford, a Rancho Mirage resident who died in July 2011, had told The Desert Sun that she opposed the idea of national expansion. Betty Ford may be the most famous and least known First Lady in history. That is why I loved this stuff so much. When did Betty Ford die? 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