| Interment Location | Visited | |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids, MI | April 12, 2023 |
Betty Ford’s time on the world stage was anything but orthodox. In August 1974, she became first lady when her husband, Gerald Ford, ascended to the presidency because of the unprecedented resignation of Richard Nixon. The following month, Mrs. Ford underwent a radical mastectomy to head off malignant breast cancer. Prior to the Women’s Liberation period which began in the 1960s, the discussion of female health issues tended to be taboo. The public disclosure of the first lady’s procedure increased awareness about breast cancer among women, thousands of whom learned how to perform self-examinations or scheduled appointments with physicians. In April 1978, a year after her White House residency ended, Ford announced that she was seeking treatment for addiction to alcohol and pain medication. After her recovery, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center, a non-profit treatment facility for people with substance use disorders. Ford used her personal medical experiences to help reduce stigmas and help others monitor and improve upon their health, a legacy which outlasted her death in 2011.
Born Elizabeth Bloomer in 1918, as a young adult the future first lady studied dance under choreographers Martha Graham and Hanya Holm, legends of modern dance. Bloomer worked as a dancer, a fashion model, and a dance instructor prior to her marriage in 1942. Her spouse was William Warren, a sickly insurance salesman. Betty Warren was dissatisfied with her home life and began divorce proceedings against her husband in 1945, but then William fell into a coma. Betty halted the process and cared for William until he was well again. Their divorce was finalized in 1947, and a year later Betty married congressional candidate Gerald Ford. They were wed for 58 years, until Gerald Ford died in 2006. The language on their tomb describes their lives as ones “Committed to God, Country and Love.”
Thirteen years separated my first and second visits to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Betty Ford was living in California at the time I visited her then-future gravesite in Michigan in April 2010. She died the following year at age 93, after which she was laid to rest with her late husband. In April 2023, I was able to pay my respects to the first lady and president jointly.
My father and I were at the Ford Museum in 2023 to attend the book launch for An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford by historian Richard Norton Smith. The event was held after museum hours, and thus the gates to the gravesite park were locked by the time we arrived. The two of us returned the following morning to see the tomb up close, so that I could officially check Mrs. Ford off on my list of graves to visit. That a.m., laborers were in the process of installing a new security camera by the tomb. The Fords’ final resting place was vandalized in 2019 when a 19-year-old pried a metal letter off the back wall, and security footage led to the suspect and his companion turning themselves in to the authorities.
Fast Facts
Born: April 8, 1918 in Chicago, Illinois
Spouses: William Warren (m. 1942-1947); Gerald Ford (m. 1948-2006)
Second Lady Tenure: 1973-1974
First Lady Tenure: 1974-1977
Presidential Medal of Freedom: Awarded by George H.W. Bush (1991)
Congressional Gold Medal: 1998
Died: July 8, 2011 in Rancho Mirage, California
Cause of Death: Natural Causes
Age: 93
Interment: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan
"Lying in the hospital, thinking of all those women going for cancer checkups because of me, I’d come to recognize more clearly the power of the woman in the White House. Not my power, but the power of the position, a power which could be used to help."
- Betty Ford
in her 1978 memoir, The Times of My Life, on the positive impact made on women by the public disclosure and media coverage of her breast cancer treatment
Sources Consulted and Further Reading
Ford, Betty with Chris Chase. The Times of My Life. New York: HarperCollins, 1978.
Gerald R. Ford Foundation. “#8 – First Lady Betty Ford’s Breast Cancer.” Accessed April 15, 2023. https://geraldrfordfoundation.org/40th/40-points-first-lady-betty-fords-breast-cancer/.
McCubbin, Lisa. “Betty Ford’s Trailblazing Legacy.” History. Updated September 21, 2018. https://www.history.com/news/betty-ford-legacy-center-cancer-womens-rights.
Silverstein, Jason. “Suspects who allegedly vandalized Gerald Ford’s grave turn themselves in.” CBS News. Updated April 4, 2019. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suspects-who-allegedly-vandalized-president-gerald-fords-grave-turn-themselves-in/.
