Sad news to pass along today … after a very long 93 years, former First Lady Betty Ford passed away while surrounded by family and friends at the Eisenhower Medical Center. The cause of death has not yet been announced but one certainly hopes she passed away peacefully. Even tho she is a former First [...]
Sad news to pass along today … after a very long 93 years, former First Lady Betty Ford passed away while surrounded by family and friends at the Eisenhower Medical Center. The cause of death has not yet been announced but one certainly hopes she passed away peacefully. Even tho she is a former First Lady, Betty Ford is more famous for her work with substance abuse therapy. The Betty Ford Clinics are credited with helping countless people (including celebrities) overcome their addictions. It is for her work with addiction therapy that she will be forever remembered and sorely missed.
Betty Ford, the widow of President Gerald Ford and a co-founder of an eponymous addiction center in California, has died.
She was 93. Ford died at the Eisenhower Medical Center Friday evening, according to Matt McLogan, a spokesman with the Gerald R. Ford Foundation.
A family member said she was surrounded by relatives at her bedside. No other details were immediately available. The family is expected to release a statement later, said Elaine Didier, director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Condolences began pouring in soon after news broke about her death — including from celebrities who sought treatment at the Betty Ford Center. “As far as I’m concerned, Betty Ford saved my life,” Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks said. Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, who revealed in his recent autobiography that he was treated at the Betty Ford Center for drug addiction, also praised Ford’s work. “Betty Ford took a risk at one of the worst times of her life and came forward to share a message of recovery in order to serve others,” Tyler said. “Her vision, passion and amazing heart led to the Betty Ford Center, the gold standard of treatment facilities. She will be missed, but her work in recovery will live on.” President Barack Obama remembered the former first lady as a “powerful advocate for women’s health and women’s rights” and someone who “helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction” … Some of the many others offering praise and sympathy included Nancy Reagan (calling Ford “an inspiration”), and former presidents George H. W. Bush (describing her as a “wonderful wife and mother, a great friend and a courageous first lady) and Jimmy Carter (saying she was “a close personal friend” and “a remarkable political spouse.”) … Betty Ford became first lady when her husband was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States. Gerald Ford took office after Nixon resigned in the wake of his impeachment following the crisis and cover-up of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington. Betty Ford soon made headlines, holding news conferences and publicly discussing her diagnosis with breast cancer. The first lady talked about abortion, pre-marital sex and equal rights in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” in 1975 — the same year Newsweek named her its “Woman of the Year.” Her candidness initially drew some criticism, but in a short time, 75% of Americans approved of her in public opinion polls, according to the Ford library and museum’s website. But in 1978, just over one year after leaving the White House, Ford made headlines of a different kind. She entered the Long Beach Naval Hospital to seek treatment for alcohol and prescription painkiller abuse. That same year, she published the first of two autobiographies, entitled “The Times of My Life.” Ford would go on to become a high-profile example of substance abuse issues and was a tireless advocate for drug- and alcohol-abuse treatment. “My addiction was a combination of alcohol and the prescription drugs that … both were a part of my life, but they did not become a problem until they overrode my common sense,” Ford told CNN in 2003. “I didn’t know what was happening, I just knew that I felt great and the pain was gone.” Her work paid dividends in October 1982 when, along with Leonard Firestone, she opened the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California. To this day, the center remains one of the most well-known and respected places nationwide for treatment of alcoholism and other drug dependencies. Ford also fought to promote awareness and research on breast cancer, with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation eventually naming an award in her honor.
Betty Ford was an amazing woman and a First Lady way ahead of her time. She managed to turn her personal tragedy into triumphs not only for her but for so many other people in need. While I was never a Gerald Ford fan at all, I have always respected and admired Betty Ford for being such an incredibly strong and brave woman. Her impact on modern society is stunning and the work done in her name to save the lives of others will live on, hopefully, forever. Betty Ford will be sorely missed and loved, again, forever. Rest well, Betty.
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Nicole Scherzinger
Katie Cassidy
Arielle Kebbel
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