Betty Ford, the former first lady whose honesty about her views and struggles endeared her to the nation, died yesterday at age 93. According to CNN, her family was at her side in California. Former first lady Nancy Reagan said, "She was Jerry Ford’s strength through some very difficult days in our country’s history, and I admired her courage in facing and sharing her personal struggles with all of us."
Those struggles included the 1974 discovery that she had cancer, so she underwent a radical mastectomy, which inspired women to go to their doctors for breast exams, and her addictions to prescription pills and alcohol. In 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, which treats people for alcohol and drug dependencies. Many celebrities have sought treatment there; Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks said, "As far as I'm concerned, Betty Ford saved my life."
The Washington Post's obituary notes, "To the surprise of some and the consternation of others, Mrs. Ford evolved as an activist first lady whose non-threatening manner coupled with her newfound celebrity provided the women’s movement with an impressive ally. Undaunted by critics, she campaigned for ratification of the ill-starred Equal Rights Amendment, championed liberalized abortion laws and lobbied her husband to name more women to policymaking government jobs." In 1994, Ford explained, ""Perhaps it was unusual for a first lady to be as outspoken about issues as I was, but that was my temperament, and I believed in it. I don’t like to be dishonest, so when people asked me, I said what I thought."
And the NY Times reminds that she also "endorsed legalized abortion, discussed premarital sex and revealed that she intended to share a bed with her husband in the White House. When her husband’s voice failed him the morning after he was defeated by Jimmy Carter in 1976, it was she who read the official concession statement with smiling grace."
Ford, born in 1918 in Chicago as Elizabeth Anne Bloomer, grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. According to the Times, "At 20, she was in New York, living on the fringes of Greenwich Village and attending dance classes with Martha Graham. She also joined her troupe... Her mother persuaded her to return to Grand Rapids in 1941, but not before she had modeled on Seventh Avenue and for the John Robert Powers modeling agency."
She married rising politician Gerald Ford in 1948—it was her second marriage— they had four children. She once said, "From the outside, our life looked like a Norman Rockwell illustration," but she started seeing a psychiatrist in 1962, I’d lost my feeling of self-worth... I think a lot of women go through this. “Their husbands have fascinating jobs, their children start to turn into independent people and the women begin to feel useless, empty."
Ford never expected to become First Lady, but when President Richard Nixon resigned, she was shoved into the spotlight (later she admitted she was "terrified"). She advised her husband against pardoning Nixon, explaining she thought "it would be very detrimental. I saw the anger as far as Watergate was concerned and the anger at President Nixon. I said, ‘It’s not going to be popular, it’s not going to look good.’ And I wanted him to look good." But she went along with her husband's decision because he wanted to “get the country going" since impeachment "would have taken months in court, and he didn’t think the country could stand that kind of thing. When you’re trying to turn things around because of the distrust and all that was out there, you’ve got to do something. And sometimes you have to do something extreme."
President Obama issued a statement, "Throughout her long and active life, Elizabeth Anne Ford distinguished herself through her courage and compassion. As our nation's First Lady, she was a powerful advocate for women's health and women's rights. After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction and inspired thousands to seek much-needed treatment. 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."
