Since the 1960s, even before she was the first lady, Betty took prescription opioid painkillers for a pinched nerve and severe arthritic pain. [116] She also received that year's "Commitment to Life Award" from the Los Angeles AIDS Project. [33], Ford was also unapologetically pro-abortion rights. Helping others overcome addiction became her chief cause. The first lady helped the nation restore its faith in the presidency following the Watergate scandal, once saying she wanted the White House to sing again. Her candor in talking about and dealing with substance abuse and treatment helped led to an improvement in how Americans talk about such matters. "First Ladies and the Cultural Everywoman Ideal: Gender Performance and Representation. [3], Before the end of December, Ford played a role in establishing the Republican Women's Federal Forum, partnering with Barbara Bush, whose husband George H. W. Bush was chairman of the Republican National Committee at the time. [22] Two days later, on October 12, 1973, President Richard Nixon nominated Gerald Ford to serve as vice president. In private, she triumphed over serious personal adversity. [15] This open affection was evident from the beginning of Gerald Ford's presidency. This is my problem". In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ford to the second National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year (the first had been appointed by President Ford). [14] The Fords would ultimately be married for the next 58 years, until Gerald Ford's death. 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. Betty Ford. LR: Nancy Reagan, Ladybird Johnson , Hillary Clinton, Rosalyn Carter, Ford, Barbara Bush, The Fords post for a photograph with three other U.S. first couples (George H. W. and Barbara Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter) during at the 2000 White House Historical Association Dinner, Ford attends a National Press Club event in 2001, The Fords with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House in 2003 at a celebration President Ford's 90th birthday, Ford and her husband at a June 2005 Gerald R. Ford Foundation dinner, Betty Ford with her husband and President George W. Bush on April 23, 2006, Ford leans over President Ford's coffin during memorial services for him held December 30, 2006 in the United States Capitol rotunda as part of the his state funeral, Ford being escorted by Army Major General Guy C. Swan III during a portion of the state funeral of her late husband, Betty Ford died of natural causes on July 8, 2011, three months after her 93rd birthday, at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage. Dance developed into a passion for her, and she decided she wanted to seek a career in it. ", This page was last edited on 14 January 2023, at 22:04. (National Archives Identifier 187012) [31] Active in social policy, Ford broke new ground as a politically active presidential spouse. Magazines such as Vogue and Ladies Home Journal were planning to publish spreads on Ford in upcoming issues. [45][48], Ford was popular with the American public. 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 has consistently ranked among the top-nine most highly assessed first ladies in these surveys. She had held the top post at the center since its founding. Betty Ford: Abortion is NOT a Partisan Issue - WCLA - Choice Matters Coming of age when Betty Ford and her husband found themselves accidental occupants of the White House, all I knew of Betty Ford was that she had big hair, and, subsequently, breast cancer and addiction issues. "Jerry did not want this," she wrote. [5] After he recovered, they were divorced on September 22, 1947. [19] Ford had, particularly, become addicted to prescription medication (opioid analgesics) that she had been originally prescribed in the early 1960s to treat a pinched nerve. [87] She served as chair of the board of directors. [3][5][6] While she was still in high school, she started her own dance school, instructing both youth and adults. After being accepted by Graham as a student in 1940, Bloomer moved to New York to live in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood; she worked as a fashion model for the John Robert Powers firm in order to finance her dance studies. [3], Ford campaigned actively both during primary elections and the general election. [102] After the service, Betty Ford was buried next to her husband on the museum grounds. She joined Graham's auxiliary troupe and eventually performed with the company at Carnegie Hall. [3], As she became a more active second lady, Ford adopted an objective of promoting the arts. [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. Best known for her leadership in the founding of the Betty Ford Clinic in California to treat addiction. This experience has been credited with further cementing Ford's understanding of gender-based income inequalities between individuals doing the same work. [3], During the campaign, many Ford supporters wore campaign buttons with phrases like "Betty's Husband for President in '76" and "Keep Betty in the White House". [3][19] Ford took doses of this medication in excess of her prescription. [69] At the state dinners of the Ford presidency, the president and first lady always led off the dancing, and dancing often lasted beyond midnight. Ford's failure to conduct a solo trip is not all that extraordinary, however. [5] At the time they married, Warren worked for his own father in insurance sales. Betty had a history of taking opioid painkillers for a pinched nerve since the 1960s (which is also alluded to in episode 1 of 'The First Lady'). Ford made the decision that year to erect a tent in the White House Rose Garden to host dinners outside. At this point in her life, she was married to her first husband, businessman William Warren. [5] Warren was an alcoholic and diabetic, and was in poor health. Betty developed a passion for dance at an early age. Mrs. [84], Funeral services were held in Palm Desert, California, on July 12, 2011, with more than 800 people in attendance, including former president George W. Bush, then-First Lady Michelle Obama, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, herself a former First Lady, former First Ladies Rosalynn Carter, who gave a eulogy,[76] and Nancy Reagan. [34] Ford's popularity often was higher than her husband's. [3][5][12] They married on October 15, 1948, at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids. He was a Bristol, Tennessee, native who had a 40-year career as a music . "[28] Ford ultimately became a popular and impactful first lady. She was 93 years old when she died. It was just that they were accustomed to the more formal atmosphere prevailing under the Nixons. I got the stuff and got back to my place and did it. No one confronted life's struggles with more fortitude or honesty, and as a result, we all learned from the challenges she faced. "In terms of the White House atmosphere, there's no doubt that Mrs. Ford wanted to, in her own words, let open the windows," said Richard Norton Smith, a presidential historian and one of the eulogists at the funeral for President Ford. As Betty Ford recounted at the time, the wedding was delayed until shortly before the election because, "Jerry was running for Congress and wasn't sure how voters might feel about his marrying a divorced ex-dancer.". [24] The Carters would, ultimately be the Fords successors as president and first lady after Carter defeated Ford in the 1976 United States presidential election. This large number of state dinners was, in part, due to great interest from foreign dignitaries in visiting the United States for a state dinner amid the United States bicentennial celebrations. She received an award from Parsons The New School for Design in recognition of her style. The Fords' children often also attended the dinners they hosted. She died in her sleep, in her. In the opinion of The New York Times and several presidential historians, "Mrs. Ford's impact on American culture may be far wider and more lasting than that of her husband, who served a mere 896 days, much of it spent trying to restore the dignity of the office of the president. The first instance of a first lady conducting one had been Eleanor Roosevelt in 1942. [37] Ford ultimately played an important role in the 1976 election campaign. Shortly after they married, he began to sell insurance for another company. She served as the honorary president of the National Lupus Foundation, regarding lupus as a disease which impacted women, yet received minimal public attention. It made a lot of women realize that it could happen to them. First Lady Barbara Bush holds the medal. She also organized her own dance group and taught dance at various sites in Grand Rapids, including the Calla Travis Dance Studio. As was the case during Gerald Ford's vice presidential swearing-in, Betty Ford held the bible upon which he placed his hand while taking his oath of office. President Richard Nixon selected Gerald Ford to serve as his vice president after the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew. [3][12] With her husband assuming the office of vice president, Ford became the second lady of the United States. As our nation's first lady, she was a powerful advocate for women's health and women's rights. [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. She visited states, including Illinois, where ratification was believed to have the most realistic chance of passing. 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. Her acceptance speech spoke hopefully of the prospect that attitudes towards HIV/AIDS would shift, being de-stigmatized as cancer and alcoholism had (in part due to her contribution). [107][108] In the 2014 Siena Research Institute survey, historians ranked Ford 3rd-highest among 20th and 21st century First Ladies in the greatness of post-White House service, 3rd-highest in advancement of women's issues, and 4th-highest in creating a lasting legacy. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Betty_Ford&oldid=1133654245, Dubriwny, Tasha N. "Constructing breast cancer in the news: Betty Ford and the evolution of the breast cancer patient. It amounted to as aestheticization of breast cancer and her coverage became the major discursive model for looking at all breast cancer survivors. [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. Shortly after leaving the White House in 1977, at a time when alcoholism was considered a shameful topic which should never be discussed or even mentioned, the Ford family held . 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. [18], Ford served as a parent-teacher association member, Sunday school teacher at Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill, and a Cub Scout "den mother". [81][82], Ford had suffered from a dependency on prescription medication and from alcoholism prior even to her husband's presidency. Take a look at images from Betty Ford's years in the White House. Nor did she address her relationship with alcohol, which she, at the time, believed was typical consumption. [25][26] At the first state dinner that she arranged as first lady, Ford revived dancing as an activity of White House state dinners. 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