She decided to establish the Betty Ford Center with gender specific treatment for men and women (Northouse, 2013) Northouse, P. G. (2013). She wrote about it in her book, "A Glad Awakening." [19] Ford also, unsuccessfully, lobbied her husband to appoint the first woman to the Supreme Court of the United States[7][33] or as a running mate in the 1976 election. "[69], Dishes that Ford particularly liked serving at state dinners included wild rice,[25][74] Columbia River salmon, souffl, and flamb. Ford also publicly expressed admiration and friendship toward First Lady Pat Nixon. She was married to Gerald Ford for 58 years. He later worked for the Continental Can Company, and after that for the Widdicomb Furniture Company. Leadership: Theory and Practice. Photos of this moment were published widely in the American press, resulting in Betty Ford somewhat upstaging President Ford in the press. 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. Among the revelations in the biography: 1. After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction and inspired thousands to seek much-needed treatment. [76] In her remarks, Mrs. Cheney noted that July 14 would have been Gerald Ford's 98th birthday. She also fundraised for No Greater Love, in appreciation of its work benefiting Children of Vietnam War MIA and POWs. [61], Ford successfully lobbied her husband to, in 1975, sign an executive order to establish the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. [19] Ford's abortion position differed from the political platform of the Republican Party. Betty's two older brothers were Robert (d. 1971) and . Betty Ford Biography Betty Ford, the United States' first lady, was born on April 8, 1918. 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. Gerald and Betty Ford on their wedding day, October 15, 1948 In 1947 a friend introduced her to Gerald R. Ford, Jr., a young lawyer who had served as Navy lieutenant during World War II. In the 1950s Bette Ford turned heads and raised eyebrows when she became a model-actress-bullfighter. ", This page was last edited on 14 January 2023, at 22:04. [45][48], Ford was popular with the American public. "In the end, simply by being herself, she made it easier for millions of American women to be themselves," Smith told ABC News. Asked about her illness, she said, "I'm very glad that I brought cancer to the forefront.". She explained that, while her husband had attended two sessions with a psychiatric doctor, those sessions were for her care, and not care of his own. [3], Despite the brevity of her husband's presidency (roughly two and a half years), he hosted 33 state dinners, the fifth most state dinners of any United States president. In 2005, Ford relinquished her chair of the center's board of directors to her daughter Susan. At one point, they lived in Toledo, Ohio, where Elizabeth was employed at the department store Lasalle & Koch as a demonstrator, a job that entailed being a model and saleswoman. YouTube. YouTube Betty White showing off her aquarium. During and after her years in the White House, 1974 to 1977, Mrs. Ford won . [41], The Fords were among the more openly affectionate first couples in United States history. In 1978, the Ford family staged an intervention, and forced Betty to confront her addition to alcohol and pain pills. Shortly after becoming president in 1974, Ford said, "I am indebted to no man and to only one woman, my dear wife.". [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". As our nation's first lady, she was a powerful advocate for women's health and women's rights. His wife, Betty, was the first lady during this time period. Betty Ford dies at 93; former first lady. Ford reads her husband's 1976 presidential concession speech to the press. Because of her leadership, many lives were saved.". She became an advocate for breast cancer research and early detection. For more, click here: http://abcn.ws/BettyFordRIP LOS ANGELES (AP) Betty White, whose saucy, up-for-anything charm made her a television mainstay for more than 60 years, whether as a man-crazy TV hostess on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" or the loopy housemate on "The Golden Girls," has died. In a tribute, Mark Updegrove, Director of the LBJ Library, who wrote much about the Ford family, said: Betty Ford was a thoroughly modern first ladyand among the most progressive we've ever had in the White House. I embrace it, not only for me, but all the many others who are here to participate." . "[21][24] The Fords had planned to make a diplomatic trip to European nations after the midterm elections. You see, Betty (played on The First Lady by Michelle Pfeiffer and Kristine Froseth) was married to William before she wed former President Gerald Ford (Aaron Eckhart). She died peacefully, surrounded by her family, at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. One of the major strengths of authentic leadership is that it fulfills and expressed need for trustworthy leadership in society. Afterwards, Ford stated she was impressed with the conduct of the refugees. This meant that Gerald Ford was away from home for roughly half the year, placing a great burden on Ford to raise their children. [19] In her 1987 memoir she reflected on these addictions, writing, "I liked alcohol, it made me feel warm. Ford's transparency was praised by experts in drug abuse treatment, who predicted that it would make a major and positive impact. Betty Ford Birthday and Date of Death. She died in her sleep, in her. I think its time to bring abortion out of the backwoods and put it in the hospitals, where it belongs. Disregarding criticism to her stance, Ford would remark, Maybe I shouldnt have said it, but I couldnt lie. [20] Such talk was due to Gerald Ford, following the Republican Party's failure to win a majority in the 1972 United States House of Representatives elections, seeing it as unlikely that he would ever fulfill his ambition of becoming speaker of the House. [3], Between Labor Day and election day, for the general election campaign, Ford conducted multi-stop speaking tours, during which she visited western states (including California, Colorado, Texas, and Utah) as well was northern midwest states including Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Betty Ford was portrayed as an ideal patient within a success narrative that presented the key sequences of her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in a progressive, linear fashion that inspired optimism. The former, then in her 90s, sent the latter a letter in 2009, shortly after Barack Obama's presidential inauguration. The state dinners that Ford planned as first lady made a deliberate effort to showcase American ingredients. The LA County death . "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. [117], Second Lady of the United States (19731974), First Lady of the United States (19741977), Ranking in Gallup's annual poll of "Most Admired Women", Recovery from alcoholism and prescription drug addiction, Steinhauer, Jennifer (December 31, 2006). [61] Her active political role prompted Time to call her the country's "Fighting First Lady" and was the reason they profiled her, among several others, to represent the "American Women" as the magazine's 1975 Person of the Year. What many don't know is that she was also a talented modern dancer. During her stay at the White House, her dependency on these drugs seemingly dissipated. Weeks after Ford became first lady, she underwent a mastectomy for breast cancer on September 28, 1974, after having been diagnosed with the disease. [3], Spiro Agnew resigned as vice president on October 10, 1973. [7] Early into her time in the White House, during a televised tour of the White House she once again noted that she and her husband shared the same bed. Some women protested Ford's lobbying for the ERA by carrying placards outside of the White House reading "Betty Ford, Get Off the Phone". She became well known for her openness. [84] In 1991, Ford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H. W. Bush[3][97] She and President Ford jointly received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. She was working in a fashion job in Grand Rapids where Gerald lived. In April 1974, she made her first official solo trip as second lady when she spent two-days visiting the states of Georgia and Tennessee to help in publicizing the "ARTRAIN", which was a traveling exhibit of art, visual displays, and performance pieces housed in six railway cars, and which was to travel through small towns across the southern United States. She joined Graham's auxiliary troupe and eventually performed with the company at Carnegie Hall. [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. "Jerry did not want this," she wrote. Tennessee Ernie Ford, as he came to be known, was an ordinary man but his overwhelming success later led to his downfall. Throughout her post-Washington life, she established herself as one of the nation's first public advocates for women's self-examination, a prodigious fund-raiser for arthritis research, and, most important, a tireless campaigner for the rights and dignity of those afflicted with the disease of substance abuse. Betty underwent a radical mastectomy at Bethesda Naval Hospital and inadvertently destigmatized breast cancer by addressing her illness publicly during a White House press conference. In fact, when Mrs . Ford, who died Friday at age 93, was not intimidated by the public spotlight, and used her position to passionately promote causes important to her. [54] She placed first in 1975. [7], Ford supported numerous charities as first lady. She served as the honorary president of the National Lupus Foundation, regarding lupus as a disease which impacted women, yet received minimal public attention. This prospect elated Ford. [106] In both the 1993 and 2003 Siena Research Institute surveys, Ford was similarly ranked the 5th-highest in historians' assessment of first ladies' courage. During these two years, she lived upstairs while he was nursed downstairs[3] She worked jobs in order to support both herself and Warren. Showtime's "The First Lady" flips the camera's focus to the women who brought about transformational change from the East Wing of the White House. After leaving the White House in 1977, Ford continued to lead an active public life. A month after moving into the White House, Betty Ford was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. [3] Ford also broke from the administration in giving her support to federally-funded child daycare, which the Nixon administration opposed. 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. She involved herself in the Los Angeles AIDS Project. Ford was the most prominent national supporter of the project. Betty: A Glad Awakening. As it turns out, Betty Ford did send a letter to Michelle Obama. [99] In 2003, Ford was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award by the Woodrow Wilson Center of the Smithsonian Institution. 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. Since the 1960s, even before she was the first lady, Betty took prescription opioid painkillers for a pinched nerve and severe arthritic pain. One day in 1934, when she was 16, Betty came home and her father, a traveling salesman who had recently lost his job, had. "[29] She was regarded to be the most politically outspoken first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt. She received an award from Parsons The New School for Design in recognition of her style. [67] 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". [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. Betty Ford was known as a vivacious activist for women's rights. Kalb shares a few things you may not know about the 38th . Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation History. Thus, Michelle Obama did, in fact, receive a letter from Betty Ford soon after she moved into the White House. By not being the "political wife" of self-sacrificing legend, she both reflected and advanced public views about women in politics. CNN . Phyllis Schlafly accused Ford of acting improperly by intervening in state affairs. [3], On August 9, 1974, after the resignation of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford ascended to the position of president of the United States,[12] and Betty Ford became the first lady of the United States. The Fords' children often also attended the dinners they hosted. Shortly after she decided to file for divorce, Warren fell into a coma. Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness following her 1974 mastectomy. 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. And I loved pills. 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