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Elizabeth Anne Bloomer Ford (April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011) was the first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 as the wife of the 38th president of the United States, Gerald Ford.[1] Before becoming first lady, she was the second lady of the United States from 1973 to 1974 when her husband was vice president.
Betty Ford | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, August 1974 | |
| First Lady of the United States | |
| In role August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Pat Nixon |
| Succeeded by | Rosalynn Carter |
| Second Lady of the United States | |
| In role December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974 | |
| Vice President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Judy Agnew |
| Succeeded by | Happy Rockefeller |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Elizabeth Anne Bloomer April 8, 1918 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | July 8, 2011 (aged 93) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children |
|
| Parents |
|
| Education | Bennington College |
| Profession |
|
| Signature |  |
During her husband's presidency, she kept high approval ratings and was considered to be an influential first lady. Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness after her mastectomy. She was also a strong and passionate supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.
As a supporter of abortion rights and a leader in the women's rights movement, she advocated and spoke on issues such as feminism, equal pay, sex, drugs, and abortion. Historians have ranked Ford as one of the best first ladies in American history.[2]
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Early life and education
Elizabeth Anne Bloomer was born on April 8, 1918, in Chicago, Illinois. She is the third child and only daughter of Hortense Neahr and William Stephenson Bloomer. After the family lived briefly in Denver, Colorado, she grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she graduated from Central High School.[3]
When Bloomer was 16, her father died of carbon monoxide poisoning, while working in the family's garage.[4][5]
Career
At an early age, Bloomer developed a passion for dance. Upon graduation from Central High School in 1936, she attended the Bennington School of Dance, in Vermont for two summers. While studying there she met and began her long association with choreographer Martha Graham.
Bloomer continued her studies with Graham in New York City and later became a member of the Auxiliary Performance Troupe and performing at Carnegie Hall.
She became fashion coordinator for Herpolsheimer’s, a local department store, and continued her interest in dance, forming her own performance group. She also worked with children with disabilities, helping them experience the joy of rhythm and movement in dance.
Marriage and children
In August 1947, she was introduced by mutual friends to Gerald Ford, a lawyer and World War II veteran.[6][7][8] They married on October 15, 1948, at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids. They had four children named Michael, Steven Jack and Susan Ford.
Congressional spouse activities
While her husband was in Congress, the Fords lived in Alexandria, Virginia. Ford began serving her congressional spouse activities where she supervised the home, did the cooking, undertook volunteer work, and taught Sunday school.
She volunteered for local charitable organizations, including serving as the program director of the Alexandria Cancer Fund Drive.[9] Ford also held active membership in groups such as the 81st Congress Club and National Federation of Republican Women.[9]
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Ford became the second lady of the United States when her husband was sworn in as the 40th vice president on December 6, 1973.
As second lady, Ford made her first official solo trip in April 1974, where she spent two-days visiting the states of Georgia and Tennessee to help in publicizing a traveling exhibit of art, visual displays, and six railway cars.
She met on the two-day trip was Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn.[10] On May 31, 1973, Ford made her first major speech when she gave a commencement address to the graduates of the Westminster Choir College.[11] In addition to the arts, Ford also started projects that helped disabled people during her time as second lady.[12]
In June 1974, Ford attended the funeral of Alberta Williams King, the assassinated mother of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.[13][14]
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Ford became the first lady of the United States when her husband was sworn in as the 38th president on August 9, 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned from office.
As the new first lady, Ford held her first press conference on September 4, 1974. She answered questions about women in politics, abortion rights, and a proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.
As first lady, Ford addressed public issues that were important to her. She was an outspoken advocate of women’s rights, encouraged the appointment of more women to government posts, supported the U.N. International Women’s Year in 1975, and supported passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Ford was an advocate of the arts. She successfully lobbied her husband to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to choreographer and dancer Martha Graham in 1976. She received an award from Parsons The New School for Design in recognition of her style.[15]
On the CBS show 60 Minutes, She shared her opinions on issues as abortion rights, pre-marital sex, and marijuana use. She was the most politically outspoken first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt.[16] Active in social policy, Ford broke a record as a politically active presidential spouse.[17]
Ford supported many charities. She assisted in fundraising for the little-known Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, D.C., whose patients were mostly African American.
She also fundraised for No Greater Love, in appreciation of its work benefiting children of Vietnam War and prisoners of war. She served as the honorary president of the National Lupus Foundation, regarding lupus as a disease which impacted women.[18]
Weeks after Ford became first lady, she underwent a mastectomy for breast cancer on September 28, 1974, after having been diagnosed with the disease.[19] Ford decided to be open about her illness because. Her openness about her cancer and treatment raised the visibility of a disease that Americans had previously been reluctant to talk about.
The Fords were observed as one of the affectionate presidential couples in American history. Neither was shy about their love and showed each other equal respect, and they were known to have a strong personal and political partnership.
Early into her time in during a televised tour of the White House, Ford once again stated that she and her husband shared the same bedroom.
Diplomatic trips
Ford accompanied her husband abroad on several diplomatic trips. She accompanied her husband to were China, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia.[20]
Ford did not take any solo trips abroad as first lady. She became the second first lady after Lady Bird Johnson who did not takes solo trips by herself.
1976 United States presidential election
Ford was heavily her husband's 1976 presidential campaign. She made campaign appearances and delivered speeches across the United States.[21]
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During the campaign, many Ford supporters wore campaign buttons with phrases like "Betty's Husband for President in '76" and "Keep Betty in the White House".[22]
After her husband was defeated by Jimmy Carter in the election, she delivered her husband's concession speech because he had lost his voice while campaigning.[21][23]
On January 19, 1977, her last full day as first lady, Ford used her training as a Martha Graham dancer to jump up on the Cabinet Room table.The photo was published and is regarded as an iconic photograph of Ford's time as first lady.[24]
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After leaving the White House, the Fords moved to Rancho Mirage, California. Ford continued to lead an active public life. She remained active in women's issues, taking on numerous speaking engagements and lending her name to charities for fundraising.[25]
The Betty Ford Center
In 1982, Ford established the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, for the treatment of addiction treatment and including treating the children of alcoholics.[26] In 2005, Ford gave up her chair of the center's board of directors to her daughter Susan Ford.[27]
Women's movement
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ford to the second National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year.[28] Ford continued to be an outspoken supporter of equal pay for women, breast cancer awareness, and the ERA throughout her life.[29] She was an active member of the Junior League.[30]
Ford continued to advocate for the ratification of the ERA. In November 1977, Ford and First Lady Rosalynn Carter joined together to advocate for its ratification at the National Women's Conference in Houston.[31]
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In 1985, Ford received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged and the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
In 1987, Ford was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.[32]
In 1991, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H. W. Bush.[33][34]
In 1999, Ford and her husband were awarded Congressional Gold Medals.[35]
In 2000, the Lasker Foundation awarded Ford thr Mary Woodard Lasker Public Service Award.[36]
In 2003, Ford received the Woodrow Wilson Award.[33]
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Ford died of natural causes on July 8, 2011, at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.[37]
Funeral services were held in Palm Desert, California, on July 12, 2011, with more than 800 people in attendance. After the service, she was buried next to her husband on the museum grounds.[38]
- Ford, Betty; Chase, Chris (1978). The Times of My Life. New York City, New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-011298-1.
- Ford, Betty; Chase, Chris (1987). Betty, a Glad Awakening. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-23502-0.
- Ford, Betty; Betty Ford Center (2003). Healing and Hope: Six Women from the Betty Ford Center Share Their Powerful Journeys of Addiction and Recovery. New York City, New York: Putnam (Penguin Group). ISBN 978-0-399-15138-5.
"Betty Ford". The White House.
"Betty Ford". White House Historical Association.
"Betty Ford". Gerald Ford Presidential Foundation.
"Betty Ford". Miller Center. 4 October 2016.
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