Former First Lady Betty Ford Has Died at Age 93
- Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:56pm by
Naked Emperor News
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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 93, a family friend said late Friday.
Her death Friday was confirmed to The Associated Press by Marty Allen, chairman emeritus of the Ford Foundation. Family spokeswoman Barbara Lewandrowski said later that the former first lady died at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Springs. Other details of her death were not immediately available.
“She was a wonderful wife and mother; a great friend; and a courageous First Lady,” former President George H.W. Bush said in a statement on Friday. “No one confronted life’s struggles with more fortitude or honesty, and as a result, we all learned from the challenges she faced.”
While her husband served as president, Ford‘s comments weren’t the kind of genteel, innocuous talk expected from a first lady, and a Republican one no less. Her unscripted comments sparked tempests in the press and dismayed President Gerald Ford’s advisers, who were trying to soothe the national psyche after Watergate. But to the scandal-scarred, Vietnam-wearied, hippie-rattled nation, Mrs. Ford’s openness was refreshing.
And 1970s America loved her for it.
According to Mrs. Ford, her young adult children probably had smoked marijuana — and if she were their age, she’d try it, too. She told “60 Minutes” she wouldn’t be surprised to learn that her youngest, 18-year-old Susan, was in a sexual relationship (an embarrassed Susan issued a denial).
She mused that living together before marriage might be wise, thought women should be drafted into the military if men were, and spoke up unapologetically for abortion rights, taking a position contrary to the president’s. “Having babies is a blessing, not a duty,” Mrs. Ford said.
“Mother’s love, candor, devotion, and laughter enriched our lives and the lives of the millions she touched throughout this great nation,” her family said in a statement released late Friday. “To be in her presence was to know the warmth of a truly great lady.”
Candor worked for Betty Ford, again and again. She would build an enduring legacy by opening up the toughest times of her life as public example.
In an era when cancer was discussed in hushed tones and mastectomy was still a taboo subject, the first lady shared the specifics of her breast cancer surgery. The publicity helped bring the disease into the open and inspired countless women to seek breast examinations.
Her most painful revelation came 15 months after leaving the White House, when Mrs. Ford announced that she was entering treatment for a longtime addiction to painkillers and alcohol. It turned out the famously forthcoming first lady had been keeping a secret, even from herself.
She used the unvarnished story of her own descent and recovery to crusade for better addiction treatment, especially for women. She co-founded the nonprofit Betty Ford Center near the Fords’ home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 1982. Mrs. Ford raised millions of dollars for the center, kept close watch over its operations, and regularly welcomed groups of new patients with a speech that started, “Hello, my name’s Betty Ford, and I’m an alcoholic and drug addict.”
Although most famous for a string of celebrity patients over the years — from Elizabeth Taylor and Johnny Cash to Lindsay Lohan — the center keeps its rates relatively affordable and has served more than 90,000 people.
In a statement Friday, President Barack Obama said the Betty Ford Center would honor Mrs. Ford’s legacy “by giving countless Americans a new lease on life.”
“As our nation’s First Lady, she was a powerful advocate for women‘s health and women’s rights,” the president said. “After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction and inspired thousands to seek much-needed treatment.”
Mrs. Ford was a free spirit from the start. Elizabeth Bloomer, born April 8, 1918, fell in love with dance as a girl in Grand Rapids, Mich., and decided it would be her life. At 20, despite her mother’s misgivings, she moved to New York to learn from her idol Martha Graham. She lived in Greenwich Village, worked as a model, and performed at Carnegie Hall in Graham’s modern dance ensemble. “I thought I had arrived,” she later recalled.
But her mother coaxed her back to Grand Rapids, where Betty worked as a dance teacher and store fashion coordinator and married William Warren, a friend from school days. He was a salesman who traveled frequently; she was unhappy. They lasted five years.
While waiting for her divorce to become final, she met and began dating, as she put it in her memoir, “probably the most eligible bachelor in Grand Rapids” — former college football star, Navy veteran and lawyer Jerry Ford. They would be married for 58 years, until his death in December 2006.
Two weeks after their October 1948 wedding, her husband was elected to his first term in the House. He would serve 25 years, rising to minority leader.
While her husband campaigned for weeks at a time or worked late on Capitol Hill, she raised their four children: Michael, Jack, Steven and Susan. She arranged luncheons for congressional wives, helped with her husband’s campaigns, became a Cub Scout den mother, taught Sunday school.
A pinched nerve in her neck in 1964, followed by the onset of severe osteoarthritis, led her to an assortment of prescription drugs that never fully relieved the pain. For years she had been what she later called “a controlled drinker, no binges.” Now she began mixing pills and alcohol. Feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated, she suffered an emotional breakdown that led to weekly visits with a psychiatrist.
The psychiatrist didn’t take note of her drinking but instead tried to build her self-esteem: “He said I had to start thinking I was valuable, not just as a wife and mother, but as myself.”
The White House would give her that gift.
In 1973, as Mrs. Ford was happily anticipating her husband’s retirement from politics, Vice President Spiro Agnew was forced out of office over bribery charges. President Richard Nixon turned to Gerald Ford to fill the office.
Less than a year later, his presidency consumed by the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned. On Aug. 9, 1974, Gerald Ford was sworn in as the only chief executive in American history who hadn’t been elected either president or vice president.
Mrs. Ford wrote of her sudden ascent to first lady: “It was like going to a party you’re terrified of, and finding out to your amazement that you’re having a good time.”
She was 56 when she moved into the White House, and looked more matronly than mod. Ever gracious, her chestnut hair carefully coifed into a soft bouffant, she tended to speak softly and slowly, even when taking a feminist stand.
Her breast cancer diagnosis, coming less than two months after President Ford was whisked into office, may have helped disarm the clergymen, conservative activists and Southern politicians who were most inflamed by her loose comments. She was photographed recovering at Bethesda Naval Hospital, looking frail in her robe, and won praise for grace and courage.
“She seems to have just what it takes to make people feel at home in the world again,” media critic Marshall McLuhan observed at the time. “Something about her makes us feel rooted and secure — a feeling we haven’t had in a while. And her cancer has been a catharsis for everybody.”
The public outpouring of support helped her embrace the power of her position. “I was somebody, the first lady,” she wrote later. “When I spoke, people listened.”
She used her newfound influence to lobby aggressively for the Equal Rights Amendment, which failed nonetheless, and to speak against child abuse, raise money for handicapped children, and champion the performing arts.
It’s debatable whether Mrs. Ford‘s frank nature helped or hurt her husband’s 1976 campaign to win a full term as president. Polls showed she was widely admired. By taking positions more liberal than the president’s, she helped broaden his appeal beyond traditional Republican voters. But she also outraged some conservatives, leaving the president more vulnerable to a strong GOP primary challenge by Ronald Reagan. That battle weakened Ford going into the general election against Democrat Jimmy Carter.
Carter won by a slim margin. The president had lost his voice in the campaign’s final days, and it was Mrs. Ford who read his concession speech to the nation.
The Fords retired to a Rancho Mirage golf community, but he spent much of his time away, giving speeches and playing in golf tournaments. Home alone, deprived of her exciting and purposeful life in the White House, Mrs. Ford drank.
By 1978 her secret was obvious to those closest to her.
“As I got sicker,” she recalled, “I gradually stopped going to lunch. I wouldn’t see friends. I was putting everyone out of my life.” Her children recalled her living in a stupor, shuffling around in her bathrobe, refusing meals in favor of a drink.
Her family finally confronted her and insisted she seek treatment.
“I was stunned at what they were trying to tell me about how I disappointed them and let them down,” she said in a 1994 Associated Press interview. “I was terribly hurt — after I had spent all those years trying to be the best mother, wife I could be. … Luckily, I was able to hear them saying that I needed help and they cared too much about me to let it go on.”
She credited their “intervention” with saving her life.
Mrs. Ford entered Long Beach Naval Hospital and, alongside alcoholic young sailors and officers, underwent a grim detoxification that became the model for therapy at the Betty Ford Center. In her book “A Glad Awakening,” she described her recovery as a second chance at life.
And in that second chance, she found a new purpose.
“There is joy in recovery,” she wrote, “and in helping others discover that joy.”
Family spokeswoman Lewanbrowski the family expects to organize a service in Palm Springs over the next couple days. Ford’s body will be sent to Michigan for burial alongside former President Gerald Ford, who is buried at his namesake library in Grand Rapids.
___
Associated Press writers Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles and Mike Householder in Detroit contributed to this report.
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Simonne
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 10:37amShe will be missed by her family & others. She was a very classy lady.
Report Post »fastfacts
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 9:32amALWAYS HONOR THE DEAD…
She was an inspirational woman. Though she had things that were not that conservative she did much to help others and give strength to people around her, especially her husband. Her is a great video of the summary of her life: http://tiny.cc/d6cjt
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 9:04amNice Gonzo. Betty Ford will be remembered as a person who overcame her addiction and helped others overcome theirs. Shes a saint in my book and did more good unselfishly. R.I.P
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 8:25amA nice old age. R.I.P. Betty. Your name will live on in the hearts of Hollywood drunks.
Report Post »Bushie
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 6:30amA real first LADY not what we have now………………………..a real anti-American useless PIG.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 5:05amFirst Lady
Report Post »You were a force for good.
Thanks!
Merrymix
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 3:39amWish she had not been supportive of abortion and other things that offend God so deeply. Then it would be easier to feel serene about her passing.
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 2:23amRIP. Thoughts and prayers to her family. I always liked the Fords.
Report Post »SilentReader
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 12:36amMay Betty Ford RIP.
Report Post »One Man Progressive Wrecking Crew
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 11:38pmBecause of her battles and recovery millions will recover from alcohol and or drug addictions in her and her husband’s name…. May you rest with your great president husband in eternal peace.
Sadly the Betty Ford center has been sullied over the years as it’s become a hiding place for the rich and famous fu** ups of the world. Those deadbeats with too much money who go there to hide from the MSM and their idiot fans so they can pretend they actually care and are going there to sober up
When in actuality, it’s nothing more than a ruse to get their jobs and paychecks back. People like Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, countless rock stars and movie stars and so on. Probably just a small handful of the countless list who actually ‘sobered’ up at the place from their multiple visits in most cases. The rest are now dead or headed there soon enough. Too bad it’s not them instead of her tonight.
Report Post »karenhasfreedom
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 11:34pmMrs. Ford is a very beloved lady here in Grand Rapids, MI. She is deeply admired, as was her husband, for her integrity and how she led her life. She was a wonderful example for all, young women, young people, as well as adults. They raised 4 wonderful kids.
She probably saved tens of thousands of lives with her breast cancer awareness and openness when she got that disease. She was very dignified as she came open with her addiction and created a new standard to treat addiction, again with courage, compassion, and dignity.
I am close to the age of her daughter, and I really admired Susan, as she grew up. I am watching an interview of Susan on the local news here from when they displayed Mrs. Ford’s First Lady wardrobe (beautiful clothes). Susan Ford is as strikingly beautiful now, in her 50′s as she was as a young woman. Lovely family.
A little over 4 years ago, on an unusually bright, sunny, 50 degree day in January, President Gerald R. Ford was laid to rest at his Presidential museum alongside the Grand River here in Grand Rapids. Now Betty will come home to rest beside him. If you ever get a chance to come to Grand Rapids, please set aside time to visit the Presidential Museum here.
This is our little claim to fame here, and we are proud to host this legacy to a man who healed our republic during a time of crisis. I truly believe he was the right man for the time. It is people like these, that really represent American ex
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:48pmCoulter comes on Fox News and has this Bad A$$ attitude and then works the liberal media with this stupid giggly crap. She’s a fraud and Fox shouldnt allow her on their show again
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:44pmDid anybody see Ann Coulter on Bill Mayer tonight act like a moron. What a Dufus
Report Post »ARealCharliesAngel
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:44pmRest in peace with your loved ones….thank you for bringing addiction to the mainstream at great sacrifice to help others!
Report Post »TOPOFTHEGAME
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:26pmIF SHE WERE ALIVE TODAY ::::I would have ,,,,wished Betty Ford enough to keep her attitude bright………..I would have wished her enough rain to appreciate the sun more………I would have wished her enough happiness to keep her spirit alive…….I would have wished her enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appeared much bigger……I would have wished her enough gain to satisfy her wanting………….I would have wished her enough loss to appreciate all that she possess…….Final I would have wished her enough “”"HELLO’S”"“ to get Betty through the final””"”GOOD-BYE”"”".
Report Post »godhatesacoward
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:24pmthey don’t build them like they used do. RIP good lady.
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:14pm93 ? wow she was a tough old girl, and I will miss her
Report Post »class.
Robert999
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:11pmShe was an alcoholic and addict, was pro-abortion, pro-marijuana, supported the Commie ERA, and held general liberal, anti-Christian views. She wasn’t a true Republican or American and I think it will be a long, long time, if ever, before she passes through those pearly gates.
Report Post »I_Object
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:25pmC’mon man…. Have some decency. Show some respect and say RIP or w/e and move on. There is a time for political partisanship and there is a time to shelf it out of deference for the recently passed.
R.I.P. Mrs. Ford
Report Post »Robert999
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:54pmOk, RIP, but I stand by what I posted.
Report Post »I_Object
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 11:06pm@ROBERT Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.
Report Post »Friedrich Nietzsche
Shoot-To-Kill
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 6:32am@Robert999
Report Post »You are exactly right! This woman was one of the primary reasons there have been so many innocent babies killed in this country.Maybe she was too drunk to realize what she was doing.
yooyanks
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 7:53amYep, you beat me to it. I agree.
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:07pmprayers for her family and friends.
Report Post »Marylou7
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:06pmMay God be with her family.
Report Post »johnsell
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:03pmShe was a good lady and may she Rest in Peace…….
Report Post »MrButcher
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:59pmSad news.
Drinks on me.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:57pmIf you died this evening, would you go to Heaven?
Report Post »gabbygirl
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:04pmYes
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:05pmThank you Mrs First Lady for the lives that you haved touched so that they can think better to improve their lives. You will be missed.
Report Post »MrButcher
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:21pmWhich heaven are you talking about?
Christian heaven? no thanks, too much submission and forced praise.
Muslim heaven? at least they’ve got sex in muslim paradise.
Hindu heaven? You mean I’ve got to go back?
Greek heaven? Roman Heaven? Pagen Heaven?
No.
If you died tonight would the people who knew you say you were truly a good person?
THAT is the question you must ask.
That is the existential question you should ponder when thinking of you death. But you must add one more: would those remembering you be right?
Cheers
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:25pmMrs Ford, while the time you have on earth is now finished and bound in heavens books; the love and influence you gave to your family and so many others — may it carry on as the ripples in a great pond into the future and generate much more in return from others doing the same as well.
May peace be given unto her family and friends, may they be comforted by the Almighty, and may the love and memories of good and great times be brought to the fore so all of them will remember her for one of the gems of the earth a parent, a friend, a mother, a grandmother, and such are to all.
Report Post »johnlee
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:49pm“The rich get richer, the poor get pooer” not true. Big Lie! By choice the Poor get pooer, by choice the ‘rich get richer. Yes indeed.
Report Post »PeachyinGA
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:54pmRest In Peace First Lady Ford. Thank you for serving your nation with grace and humility.
Report Post »PeachyinGA
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 11:11pm@ .SUCKS “If you died this evening, would you go to Heaven?” YES. Most assuredly, YES I would! I prepared for the moment :-)
Report Post »jzs
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 11:16pmBetty Ford set a standard for First Ladies that few will ever meet. Her legacy is not support of conservative or liberal causes, but for willingness to give her opinions on the issues of the day (most of which the right would pounce on in today’s world) and her strong support for women’s rights. She was honest about her frailties, something that will many, forever, will appreciate.
She became First Lady and became, in my opinion, more influential that her husband. I appreciated the nice words everyone has said about her. But if she were First Lady in your time, I doubt you’d have been so nice and respectful of her.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 11:26pmIf any of you lacke wisedome, let him aske of God, that giueth to all men liberally, and vpbraideth not: and it shalbe giuen him. But let him aske in faith, nothing wauering: for he that wauereth is like a waue of the sea, driuen with the wind, and tossed. For let not that man thinke that he shall receiue any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is vnstable in all his wayes.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 12:20ampoverty.sucks,
Go to sleep. And when you wake up, post again. Something rational.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 12:31amMore CLASS in Mrs. Ford’s little toe nail, than what we have now.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 8:09amFear God and keep his Commandments. The unbelief is a conscience choice to be deceived.
Report Post »joyfulmom
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 9:44ampoverty.sucks ask:
If you died this evening, would you go to Heaven?
Yes, I would…Not because of anything that is good in me or anything that I have done that is worthy…because I am a sinner. I was born into sin. I have lied, stolen, said God’s name in vain, and even if you have looked upon a man/woman with lust in your heart it is as though you have committed adultery, and I have done that. I am guilty and deserve hell….BUT, because I have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour and He has forgiven me of All of my sins and He has given me His righteousness, I then can enter heaven. Not on my merit, but ONLY in the merit of the spotless lamb of God, who took my sins! There is no other person, than Jesus Christ, where a man can be saved…there is no other way to enter heaven, unless one repents, turns from His sins and puts his faith and trust in Jesus Christ! Jesus, alone! He is worthy! Only God can save a soul, so fall on your knees and cry out for mercy. It is a gift.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 12:52pmWell said Joyful Mom! Speak those words.
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