Betty Ford was a former First Lady of the United States (August 9th, 1974 - January 20th, 1977). For years after leaving the White House, Ford continued to enjoy great influence and popularity, continuing to rank in the top-ten of Gallup's annual most admired woman poll every year through 1991. [31] Active in social policy, Ford broke new ground as a politically active presidential spouse. His wife, Betty, was the first lady during this time period. [16][100] Ford left $500,000 to the Betty Ford Center. Some women protested Ford's lobbying for the ERA by carrying placards outside of the White House reading "Betty Ford, Get Off the Phone". [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. This response proved effective in killing the speculation that she was covering-up her past, and earned her some admiration in the media. 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 . Gena Rowlands won both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Ford. [3], Spiro Agnew resigned as vice president on October 10, 1973. After leaving the White House in 1977, Ford continued to lead an active public life. [33] On June 30, 1976, Ford attended the opening of "Remember the Ladies", a Revolutionary War-era women's exhibit. During her time in the White House, she also admitted to taking Valium. The official cause of death was listed as carbon monoxide poisoning despite the garage door being open, but Betty acknowledged later in her life that her father very likely died by suicide. In attendance were former president Bill Clinton, former vice president Dick Cheney and former first lady Barbara Bush. She desired to have a family with children and was unhappy with the frequent moves between cities she had experienced in her marriage. [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. She involved herself in the Los Angeles AIDS Project. I did not know at the time what was going on. [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. [101], 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. [3], Ford had an extremely busy schedule by July 1974. If she could help women win full equal rights with men under the U.S. Constitution, Betty Ford wanted to give it her all. 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. The President outlined his criteria for the post: quality, confirmability, ageso that the nominee could be there for a whilebreadth on the Court so the Court did not have eight people of any. [3] After the interview aired, a number of Ford's remarks in this interview on hot-button issues generated particularly immense media attention. Read the rest of "Betty Ford, champion of women's rights . In 2003, Ford produced another book, Healing and Hope: Six Women from the Betty Ford Center Share Their Powerful Journeys of Addiction and Recovery. She was working in a fashion job in Grand Rapids where Gerald lived. ABC News' David Reiter and Michael S. James contributed to this report. [40] In 1977, the World Almanac included Ford in its ranking of the 25 most-influential American women. It made a lot of women realize that it could happen to them. Asked about her illness, she said, "I'm very glad that I brought cancer to the forefront.". From a young age, she had a passion for dancing. The organization sought to bring together political spouses and female government federal employees to discuss current party activates and ideas about legislation. It was something the couple neither expected or wanted, Betty Ford recalled in her memoirs. Rancho Mirage, California, USA; Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. [116] She also received that year's "Commitment to Life Award" from the Los Angeles AIDS Project. She was also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal as a co-recipient with President Ford in 1998. She also co-authored with Chris Chase a book about her treatment, Betty: A Glad Awakening (1987). She visited states, including Illinois, where ratification was believed to have the most realistic chance of passing. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? "This is not a lack of willpower, this is a disease," she said at the time. She became well known for her openness. [3], Ford was also used, both by Ford supporters and detractors, as a symbol of liberal Republicanism, with her politics contrasting with the Republican Party's conservative and moderate wings. Betty was 93 years old at the time of death. 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 was 93 years old when she died. Dance developed into a passion for her, and she decided she wanted to seek a career in it. In addition, she was a passionate supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). John Robert Greene. The Betty Ford Center, which already has helped change the lives of thousands of people, will be her lasting legacy of care and concern. Elizabeth Anne "Betty" Bloomer Ford was the widow of former United States President Gerald R. Ford and served as the First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977. July 12, 2011 [5] With her father's passing, her family lost its primary breadwinner, and her mother began working as a real estate agent to support the family. Jacqueline Kennedy, Pat Nixon and Betty Ford all smoked cigarettes but were never photographed doing so. [54] She placed first in 1975. 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. In 1985, Ford received the Los Angeles AIDS Projects "Commitment to Life Award". In 2005, Ford relinquished her chair of the center's board of directors to her daughter Susan. The campaigns of the previous three presidents that sought election to an additional term (Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon) had needed to manufacture campaign publicity involving their first ladies (Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, and Pat Nixon). [40] By late-1975, Harris found Ford to have established herself as one of America's most popular first ladies. Ford also became involved in causes related to HIV/AIDS. [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. "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 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. During and after her years in the White House, 1974 to 1977, Mrs.. [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. What many don't know is that she was also a talented modern dancer. She joined Graham's auxiliary troupe and eventually performed with the company at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The Los Angeles lair, as well as her home in Carmel, were known to have stuffed-animal rooms. As first lady, she was active in social policy and set a precedent as a politically active presidential spouse. 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. Among the nations that Ford accompanied her husband to were China, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. [25][69] Once she became first lady, it fell to Ford to arrange this already-scheduled dinner. Magazines such as Vogue and Ladies Home Journal were planning to publish spreads on Ford in upcoming issues. [45] A Ford family friend said that he "about fell off his chair" when he saw the photo for the first time. [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. 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. Ford, who during her husband's 1974-77 administration had set a new standard for White House candor by speaking openly about her breast cancer and mastectomy, brought addiction out of the closet. [3], After her husband's narrow defeat, there was some anecdotal speculation that Ford may have both have helped to alienate conservative Republicans from voting for her husband and at the same time helped attract him support from liberal and moderate Republicans, Democrats, and independents. Where did Betty Ford die? ", Tasha N. Dubriwny, "Constructing breast cancer in the news: Betty Ford and the evolution of the breast cancer patient.". 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. "And if they'd asked me that I would have told them," she said, adding that her response would be, "As often as possible. What was the location of death? Ford with other U.S. First Ladies at the November 1991 opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. [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. 12/26/2018 05:25 AM EST. "I'm not out to rescue anybody who doesn't want to be rescued," she once said. The Fords' unlikely rise to first family started in 1973, just as they were planning on retiring from Congress. A contrast was publicly drawn between Ford and Nancy Reagan, the wife of Ford's primary election challenger Ronald Reagan. But the approach was almost unheard of decades ago when the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation came to be. [3][24] Ford was the only individual in attendance at the funeral not directly ingrained in the civil rights movement, with the exception of Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. [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. 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