Betty Ford
First Lady, Women's Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer
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- €15.99
Publisher Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Five Presidents and The Kennedy Detail comes the definitive biography of Betty Ford, tracing the extraordinary journey of a First Lady who transformed personal struggle into national change and reshaped how America talks about women’s health, addiction, and equality.
Raised as a Midwestern girl far from the spotlight, Betty Ford was thrust onto the world stage when her husband, Gerald Ford, unexpectedly assumed the presidency. As First Lady, Betty defied convention, speaking openly about issues that had long been considered taboo—breast cancer, depression, abortion, and sexuality—while championing the Equal Rights Amendment and women’s rights at a time when few public figures dared to do so.
Behind the scenes, Betty faced her own private crisis. After a family intervention, she confronted her addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs and made the unprecedented decision to speak publicly about recovery. Her honesty sparked a national conversation and led to the founding of the Betty Ford Center in 1982, forever changing the treatment of addiction and the cultural understanding of recovery.
Drawing on intimate interviews with her children, Susan Ford Bales and Steven Ford, as well as friends, colleagues, and family members, this deeply researched biography also illuminates Betty’s enduring love story with Gerald Ford—a partnership built on mutual respect, loyalty, and devotion that lasted a lifetime. Vivid, compassionate, and deeply human, this book captures the life of a First Lady whose courage left an indelible mark on American history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this meticulously researched and delightful biography, McCubbin (Mrs. Kennedy and Me) skillfully chronicles the life of former first lady Betty Ford, both in and out of the White House. Born Elizabeth Ann Bloomer in 1918, Betty the youngest of three kids and the only girl was raised largely in Grand Rapids, Mich. After performance school in Bennington, Vt., "Betty felt like she had been born to dance,' " writes McCubbin, and in 1936 she moved to New York City where she studied with the Martha Graham Dance Company. She returned home and in 1942 married William G. Warren, who worked in her father's insurance company, but divorced in 1947. The following year she met and married Gerald Ford Jr., who in 1974 became the 38th president of the U.S. In Washington, D.C., the Fords raised three sons and a daughter and after an old dance injury flared up, Betty became addicted to painkillers and alcohol. Her decision to publicly share her story, McCubbin explains, led to the 1982 opening of the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, and her openness about her diagnosis with and recovery from breast cancer allowed a generation of women to speak about a disease once viewed as shameful. McCubbin writes with great tact and sensitivity in this insightful and beautifully told look into the life of one of the most public and admired first ladies.
