Tribute to Betty Ford
It was sad news to hear of the passing of Betty Ford earlier today. Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford (April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011) better known as Betty Ford was the wife of former United States President Gerald R. Ford. She served as First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977. As a First Lady, she was a force to be reckoned with, and actively involved in social policies of the day. She helped restore dignity to the office and perhaps not since Eleanor Roosevelt has a First Lady ever had more of an impact in history in culture.
To say that the 1960’s and 1970’s were turbulent times in United States history is probably an understatement. I was old enough to be aware of things and events, but way too young to fully grasp the meaning of a lot of it. Between the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, The Equal Rights Movement, Watergate, etc…..the times they were-a-changing. Thankfully people like Betty Ford were in a position to bring about change, and were brave enough to do so as well! It couldn’t have been that easy! Her strength and courage to buck-the- trend and be candid and outspoken I am sure helped positively alter the lives of many, whether it be in woman’s rights, cancer awareness, drug dependency.
Her 1974 mastectomy weeks after becoming First Lady, helped raise awareness for the breast cancer. Her openness and willingness to talk about her disease raised visibility to a disease that America had been reluctant to talk about. As First Lady, she knew that the experience she was going through would be news. Rather than shy away, she brought her plight public, knowing that by amplifying public awareness, she could help educate and save women from the disease. Breast cancer had now gone from being hush-hushed to a problem that needed to not only be talked about but solved. Women needed to become more aware, cures and preventions needed to be found. And women with the disease needed to have help understanding, dealing with, and support in fighting it. A breast cancer survivor, she became a pioneer in bringing the disease to the forefront.
As First Lady, she was outspoken, candid and was a passionate supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), lobbying state legislatures to ratify the amendment and openly battled against those who were opponents. Even after her time as First Lady, she worked tirelessly for ERA ratification. She led marches, parades, rallies and helped rejuvenate the ERA movement by inspiring women throughout the country and was appointed the co-chair of the ERA Countdown Campaign in 1981 (Alan Alda was the other chair! )
In addition to being a leader in the Woman’s Movement of the 1970’s, she was Pro-Choice on abortion, and fought for equal pay for women. This mother of four, had a voice and was willing to use it on issues from feminism, sex, drugs, abortion, gun control, premarital sex, and even the benefit of psychiatric treatment…..she was well ahead of her time. She helped clear the way for future First Ladies and women everywhere.
If this wasn’t enough, she also raised awareness of addiction when she announced her long running battle with alcoholism and pills in the 1970’s. After her release from the Long Beach Naval Hospital, she and Leonard Firestone created the Betty Ford Center, which offers inpatient, outpatient, and day treatment for alcohol and other drug addictions. Betty Ford’s goal of creating a treatment center that not only emphasized treatment, but offered prevention and education programs for family and children was realized. She again realized that knowledge and awareness was power, and co-authored two books…one in 1987, chronicling her treatment Betty: A Glad Awakening, and another in 2003, Healing and Hope: Six Women from the Betty Ford Center Share Their Powerful Journeys of Addiction and Recovery.
My thoughts go out to her children, not only for having lost their mother, but to thank them for sharing her with the rest of the world. Betty Ford, by allowing us to see her strengths as well as her flaws, made sure we all learned from them. She helped create a better world. May her legacy live on as proudly as the woman who created it!
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