how did betty ford die

As first lady, she was active in social policy and set a precedent as a politically active presidential spouse. 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. 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. She was raised by her parents William and Hortense Bloomer. Established in 1949 on lakeside acreage in Center City, Minnesota, the Hazelden Betty Ford . YouTube. She decided to establish the Betty Ford Center with gender specific treatment for men and women (Northouse, 2013) Northouse, P. G. (2013). Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness following her 1974 mastectomy. Betty Ford is awarded the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President George H. W. Bush, 1991. Ford had weekly meetings with a psychiatrist approximately between August 1965 and April 1967. The series lovers highly anticipate the show and are peculiar to know about Betty Ford's first husband. The official cause of death listed on the Los Angeles County document obtained by CNN . [71] As previously mentioned, the Fords had hosted a state dinner for King Hussein months earlier, during Gerald Ford's vice presidency, on March 12, 1974, after president Nixon asked then-Vice President Ford to take over for him in hosting a planned dinner for the King. [107][108] In the 2014 Siena Research Institute survey, historians ranked Ford 3rd-highest among 20th and 21st century First Ladies in the greatness of post-White House service, 3rd-highest in advancement of women's issues, and 4th-highest in creating a lasting legacy. Betty Ford was portrayed as an ideal patient within a success narrative that presented the key sequences of her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in a progressive, linear fashion that inspired optimism. In addition, she was a passionate supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Article continues below advertisement. [33], Steinhauer of The New York Times described Ford as "a product and symbol of the cultural and political timesdoing the Bump dance along the corridors of the White House, donning a mood ring, chatting on her CB radio with the handle First Mamaa housewife who argued passionately for equal rights for women, a mother of four who mused about drugs, abortion and premarital sex aloud and without regret. Ford, a Rancho Mirage resident who died in July 2011, had told The Desert Sun that she opposed the idea of national expansion. ", Gregory Knight, Myra. Rancho Mirage, California, USA; Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. One of the major strengths of authentic leadership is that it fulfills and expressed need for trustworthy leadership in society. [16], The Fords lived in Washington, D.C. after his election, until the spring of 1955, when the Fords moved into a house they constructed in the D.C. suburb of Alexandria, Virginia. "When other women have this same operation, it doesn't make any headlines," she told Time. She involved herself in the Los Angeles AIDS Project. Betty Ford. At 8:49 p.m. local time, President Ford's wife of 58 years, Betty Ford, issued a statement that confirmed his death: "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather . White's death was confirmed Friday by Jeff Witjas, her longtime agent and friend. It amounted to as aestheticization of breast cancer and her coverage became the major discursive model for looking at all breast cancer survivors. Bush. 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. [79] In September of that year, Ford traveled to Moscow for a television program taping and to serve as hostess for The Nutcracker. [3] Ford also held active membership in groups such as the 81st Congress Club and National Federation of Republican Women. Betty Ford became the first lady of the United States when her husband, Gerald Ford, assumed the office following President Richard Nixon's resignation. The week she entered rehab, Ford disclosed her addiction to prescription medication. 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. [81][82], Ford had suffered from a dependency on prescription medication and from alcoholism prior even to her husband's presidency. [37] Ford ultimately played an important role in the 1976 election campaign. [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. [33], Ford was also unapologetically pro-abortion rights. During these two years, she lived upstairs while he was nursed downstairs[3] She worked jobs in order to support both herself and Warren. In private, she triumphed over serious personal adversity. Her philanthropic support additionally placed a specific focus on charities serving children with special needs. They took away my tension and my pain". [7][38][37], In 1975, when Time named the "American women" as its "Person of the Year",[39] the magazine profiled Ford as one of eleven women selected to represent "American women". Betty Ford wanted to be a professional dancer ", Tasha N. Dubriwny, "Constructing breast cancer in the news: Betty Ford and the evolution of the breast cancer patient.". In the 1950s Bette Ford turned heads and raised eyebrows when she became a model-actress-bullfighter. The Betty Ford Center board endorsed the merger Tuesday. "[19], Ford avidly supported the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. Betty Ford was at his side. [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. [7], Ford supported numerous charities as first lady. This large number of state dinners was, in part, due to great interest from foreign dignitaries in visiting the United States for a state dinner amid the United States bicentennial celebrations. [7] Due to conservative backlash from Ford's comments on premarital sex, marijuana use, and abortion in a 1975 60 Minutes interview, President Ford initially quipped to her that her comments had lost him a large number of votes. [24] The Carters would, ultimately be the Fords successors as president and first lady after Carter defeated Ford in the 1976 United States presidential election. [63], Ford's involvement in political issues received some conservative criticism. "[66] Her openness about her cancer and treatment raised the visibility of a disease that Americans had previously been reluctant to talk about. [66], According to Tasha N. Dubriwny, the massive media coverage of Ford's mastectomy was constrained by stereotypical gender roles, particularly the need for breast cancer patients to maintain their femininity. 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. During her stay at the White House, her dependency on these drugs seemingly dissipated. Throughout her post-Washington life, she established herself as one of the nation's first public advocates for women's self-examination, a prodigious fund-raiser for arthritis research, and, most important, a tireless campaigner for the rights and dignity of those afflicted with the disease of substance abuse. Leadership: Theory and Practice. The November 12, 1974 state dinner for Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky saw the first instance in which a wine from the Fords' home state of Michigan was served at a White House state dinner, with wine from the Tabor Hill Winery being served. [76] In her remarks, Mrs. Cheney noted that July 14 would have been Gerald Ford's 98th birthday. She died Friday at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. and her cause of death was not immediately clear. Betty and Gerald Ford embrace in the White House in 1974. Weeks after Ford became first lady, she underwent a mastectomy for breast cancer on September 28, 1974, after having been diagnosed with the disease. [50] In 1974, Ford placed second in the poll. 'Not at all,' he replied. Elizabeth Bloomer, who was known from childhood as Betty, was born in 1918 in Chicago and grew up in Michigan. [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. Ford assisted in fundraising for the little-known Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, D.C., whose patients were predominantly African American. [3], During the primaries, Ford recorded radio advertisements on behalf of the campaign that were broadcast in New Hampshire. [3][19] Ford took doses of this medication in excess of her prescription. All the way there I was telling myself how it would not change anything. [61], Ford successfully lobbied her husband to, in 1975, sign an executive order to establish the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. [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. [55] After her tenure as first lady ended, she would top the poll for a second time in 1978, the year she had established herself as an advocate for people with drug and alcohol dependence. Betty Ford was born on April 8, 1918 and died on July 8, 2011. President Obama noted how Betty Ford "distinguished herself through her courage and compassion. The cause given for her death was "natural. "This is not a lack of willpower, this is a disease," she said at the time. Because of her leadership, many lives were saved.". Ford reads her husband's 1976 presidential concession speech to the press. As it turns out, Betty Ford did send a letter to Michelle Obama. Her candor in talking about and dealing with substance abuse and treatment helped led to an improvement in how Americans talk about such matters. ", President George H.W. Betty was 93 years old at the time of death. The IMDb credits for the May 1 episode, "Please Allow Me," show that Thomas E. Sullivan an actor who has had recurring parts on . 4 Mrs. Ford later reasoned, "I thought that there are women all over the country like me. She was the wife of President Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States. [3][97] In 1999, she and President Ford were jointly awarded Congressional Gold Medals. [102] After the service, Betty Ford was buried next to her husband on the museum grounds. Betty Ford, the outspoken and much-admired wife of President Gerald R. Ford who overcame alcoholism and an addiction to pills and helped found one of the best-known rehabilitation centers in. He was a Bristol, Tennessee, native who had a 40-year career as a music . [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. [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. . The Los Angeles lair, as well as her home in Carmel, were known to have stuffed-animal rooms. Betty White's cause of death has been revealed.. [5] At the time they married, Warren worked for his own father in insurance sales. [3], Ford's busy life took a toll. She regularly drove her children around to their activities, such as her sons' Little League Baseball games and her daughter's dance classes. During the general election, her busy campaign activity saw the reigniting of her pinched nerve. [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. Shortly after becoming president in 1974, Ford said, "I am indebted to no man and to only one woman, my dear wife.". Would not change anything looking at all breast cancer awareness following her 1974 mastectomy, the... In 1918 in Chicago and grew up in Michigan Ford ultimately played important! Husband 's 1976 presidential concession speech to the press of her pinched nerve 's involvement in political issues some... Her 1974 mastectomy pain '' as well as her home in Carmel were... 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