[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. Because she suffered, there will be more healing. Betty Ford died in 2011 at age 93, having overcome her addictions and founding the Betty Ford Center in 1982 to help other addicts recover. [19], During a January 1984 address in Michigan to a crowd of individuals who were in the early stages of alcohol and drug dependency treatment, Ford declared that the six years since she began her treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, "have been the best years in my life from the standpoint of feeling healthier and feeling more comfortable with myself". This experience has been credited with further cementing Ford's understanding of gender-based income inequalities between individuals doing the same work. She continued to strongly advocate and lobby politicians and state legislatures for passage of the ERA. [3], On March 12, 1974, the Fords hosted a state dinner for King Hussein of Jordan after president Nixon, with a week's notice, asked Vice President Ford to take over for him in hosting the already-scheduled state dinner. Born in Lake View Hospital, Betty Ford spent the first weeks of her life with her parents and brother in an apartment in the East Rogers Park suburb of Chicago, but the family shortly after relocated to Denver, Colorado. However, even after this, Ford continued with her planned campaign schedule. 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. By February 1948 the couple was engaged to be married. 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. [25] The first of these came only a week into Ford's presidency, hosting King Hussein of Jordan on August 16, 1974. Since 1982 Siena College Research Institute has conducted occasional surveys asking historians to assess American first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president. [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. [53] In 1977, the year her husband left office, she placed fourth. 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. [8], When Bloomer was 16, her father died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the family's garage while working under their car, despite the garage doors being open. [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. [99] In 2003, Ford was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award by the Woodrow Wilson Center of the Smithsonian Institution. This is the only time that a major United States presidential candidate's spouse has delivered their concession on their behalf. Days later, Ford also disclosed to the public that she had come to realize that she was additionally an alcoholic. [3], Ford's busy life took a toll. 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. 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. She was also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal as a co-recipient with President Ford in 1998. [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. [92] In November 1981, Ford stated that Governor of Illinois James R. Thompson had not done enough in support of the ERA as well as her disappointment with First Lady Nancy Reagan not being in favor of the measure, though also relayed her hopes to change the incumbent First Lady's mind in further encounters with her. After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction and inspired thousands to seek much-needed treatment. In 1964, a pinched nerve on the left side of Ford's neck sent her to the hospital for two weeks. Ford took these stances despite recognizing that they created a political risk of conservative backlash against her husband. She was 93. Gerald Ford was in the middle of his campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. Your cross will be his work. 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. Ford was credited with rejuvenating the ERA movement and inspiring more women to continue working for the ERA. Actress Betty White died after suffering a stroke six days prior, according to her death certificate. She was a remarkable political spouse, whose courageous candor helped forge a new era of openness after the divisiveness of the Vietnam War and Watergate. The Betty Ford Center board endorsed the merger Tuesday. But the main point was, it was best for the country.". "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. [91], In 1978, the deadline for ratification of the ERA was extended from 1979 to 1982, resulting largely from a march of a hundred thousand people on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. [24] However, by the spring of 1974, Ford was seen as embracing her position as second lady, becoming less reclusive and more active. [5], In 1936, after graduating from high school, Bloomer proposed continuing her study of dance in New York City, but her mother refused on account of the relatively recent loss of her husband. Ford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush in 1991. Take a look at images from Betty Ford's years in the White House. In her September 4, 1974 press conference, Ford declared her support for it. Betty Ford. 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. This prospect elated Ford. "Jerry did not want this," she wrote. Ford's failure to conduct a solo trip is not all that extraordinary, however. Ford had weekly meetings with a psychiatrist approximately between August 1965 and April 1967. By her second birthday, however, she was living in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the city she always considered her home. Her own battle with breast cancer led to her advocacy for early breast cancer detection. As we told you back in 2020, Betty rarely left her home once the COVID-19 pandemic began.. 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). "When other women have this same operation, it doesn't make any headlines," she told Time. In contrast, there was tremendous organic excitement for Betty Ford among supporters of the campaign. [3], Ford had an extremely busy schedule by July 1974. She instead attended the Bennington School of Dance in Bennington, Vermont, for two summers, where she studied under director Martha Hill with choreographers Martha Graham and Hanya Holm. [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. Betty Ford, whose husband, Gerald, died in December 2006, had undergone surgery for an undisclosed ailment in April 2007. [49], Ford ranked as one of the top-10 most admired women in the results of Gallup's annual most admired man and woman poll every year from 1974 (the year her husband first became president) through 1991,[50][51][52] with the exception of Gallup having failed to conduct such a poll in 1976 (the final full year of her husband's presidency). Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation History. [40], In 1985, Ford received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an annual award given by the Jefferson Awards. In an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes," she talked about marijuana, equal rights for women, abortion and the possibility of a premarital affair for her daughter, Susan. [3][16] The speech was delivered on the day after the election. A mutual friend, Peg Neuman, suggested to Gerald that he should ask her out, so he called her. [41], The Fords were among the more openly affectionate first couples in United States history. [78] In June 1977, Ford was a speaker at the Arthritis Association Convention. "Issues of Openness and Privacy: Press and Public Response to Betty Ford's Breast Cancer. Ford also, in a television interview with Barbara Walters, expressed her support for the United States Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision ruling abortion as constitutionally protected. [115] That same year, Ford received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, presented by her husband, President Gerald Ford, an Academy Awards Council member. The Golden Girls star, who passed away on Dec. 31 at age 99, died due to a cerebrovascular accident, according to her death certificate obtained by PEOPLE on Monday. During and after her years in the White House, 1974 to 1977, Mrs. Ford won . The cause given for her death was "natural. It focuses on the middle school teacher Betty Ford's murder. "[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. Married and divorced in her 20s, in 1947 her life changed forever when she met Gerald R. Ford. [3][12] With her husband assuming the office of vice president, Ford became the second lady of the United States. The couple moved frequently because of his work. [61][33] Ford utilized phone calls, letter-writing, and telegrams as means of lobbying in support of the ERA. "And if they'd asked me that I would have told them," she said, adding that her response would be, "As often as possible. During and after her years in the White House, 1974 to 1977, Mrs.. This video contains excerpts from the second ha. [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. [7][36] While President Ford never attempted to silence his wife, some of his senior staff resented her independent candor. Warters, T. Alissa. 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. [7], In May 1975, during a four-day trip,[62] Ford met with former Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam Nguyn Cao K to discuss Southeast Asia refugees. [32] On September 4, 1974, weeks after becoming first lady, Ford conducted 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. 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