FLOTUS: First Ladies of the United States

FLOTUS: Elizabeth "Betty" Ford Part I

Elizabeth Anne Ford (née Bloomer; formerly Warren; 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. As first lady, she was active in social policy and set a precedent as a politically active presidential spouse. Ford also was the second lady of the United States from 1973 to 1974 when her husband was vice president.

Throughout her husband's time in the office of the presidency, she maintained high approval ratings and was considered to be an influential first lady. Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness following her 1974 mastectomy. In addition, she was a passionate supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). As a supporter of abortion rights and a leader in the women's rights movement, she gained fame as one of the most candid first ladies in history, commenting on the hot-button issues of the time, such as feminism, equal pay, the Equal Rights Amendment, sex, drugs, and abortion. Surveys of historians conducted by the Siena College Research Institute have shown that historians regard Ford to be among the best and most courageous American first ladies.

Following her White House years, she continued to lobby for the ERA and remained active in the feminist movement. Soon after leaving office, she raised awareness of addiction when she sought help and publicly disclosed her long-running struggle with alcoholism and substance abuse. After recovering, she founded and served as the first chair of the board of directors of the Betty Ford Center for Substance Abuse and Addiction. Ford also became involved in causes related to HIV/AIDS. For years after leaving the White House, Ford continued to enjoy great influence and popularity, continuing to rank in the top ten of Gallup's annual most admired woman poll every year through 1991.

Ford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush in 1991. She was also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal as a co-recipient with President Ford in 1998.

Early life and career

Ford was born Elizabeth Anne Bloomer in 1918 in Chicago, Illinois, the third child and only daughter of Hortense (née Neahr; 1884 – 1948) and William Stephenson Bloomer Sr. (1874–1934), who was a traveling salesman for Royal Rubber Co. She was called Betty as a child.

Hortense and William married on November 9, 1904, in Chicago. Betty's two older brothers were Robert (d. 1971) and William Jr. After the family lived briefly in Denver, Colorado, she grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she graduated from Central High School.

In 1926, when she was eight years old, her mother, who valued social graces, enrolled her in the Calla Travis Dance Studio in Grand Rapids, where Ford was taught ballet, tap dancing, and modern movement. Dance developed into a passion for her, and she decided she wanted to seek a career in it. At the age of 14, she began modeling clothes and teaching children popular dances, such as the foxtrot, waltz, and big apple, to earn money in the wake of the Great Depression. She worked with children with disabilities at the Mary Free Bed Home for Crippled Children. She studied dance at the Calla Travis Dance Studio, graduating in 1935. While she was still in high school, she started her dance school, instructing both youth and adults.

Growing up, she was subject to teasing about her surname, with other kids in school calling her "Betty Pants" (a play on "bloomers" being a name for a type of lower-body garment). Bloomer disliked the surname.

When Ford herself began the process of recovering from her alcoholism, she disclosed to the public that both her father and her brother Bob had suffered from alcoholism as well.

When Bloomer was 16, her father died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the family's garage while working under their car, despite the garage doors being open. He died the day before his 60th birthday. It was never confirmed whether his death had been accidental or a suicide. 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. Her mother's actions in the wake of her father's passing are said to have been formative for her views in support of equal pay and gender equality.