Former First Lady Elizabeth Bloomer "Betty" Ford, who died Friday at the age of 93, was a trailblazer in the least likely of ways, and she was probably the most unorthodox First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt. She did things that would have even made Mrs. Roosevelt blush. Betty Ford broke the stereotype that First Ladies were above everyone else and were as superhuman as the Presidents they were married to. A former dancer who trained briefly with Martha Graham, she married Gerald Ford in 1948 and settled into the life as a congressional spouse when her husband was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She soon found herself seeking psychiatric help after being a housewife with no sense of self-worth for so long and found herself in being outspoken on the realities of modern American life. She discussed her own bout with breast cancer when it was not something brought up in polite company, and she publicly confronted her demons by admitting her addictions to alcohol and pills - which led to the founding of the Betty Ford clinic that has saved so many people's lives.
Betty Ford always spoke her mind on the issues of her day, speaking out for the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. and for abortion rights, the latter position putting herself at opposition with husband. She was always undeterred in speaking out on anything. "I do not believe," she once said, "that being First Lady should prevent me from expressing my views."
She always tried to be true to herself, and she always succeeded, even if the causes she supported (like the Equal Rights Amendment) didn't always do so. R.I.P.
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