A First Lady who had a far greater impact on history than her husband.

[TheBigotBasher]

Republicans hated her because of her liberal positions on social issues. Betty Ford was a passionate supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. She was pro-choice on abortion rights and became a leader in the Women's Movement of the United States.

She was one of the most candid first ladies in history, commenting on every controversial issue of the day, including feminism, equal pay, ERA, sex, drugs, abortion, and gun control.

She also raised awareness of addiction when she announced her long-running battle with alcoholism in the 1970s.

Following her White House years, she continued to lobby for the ERA and remained active in the feminist movement.

She founded the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse and addiction and received the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

President Carter appointed Betty Ford to the second National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year (the first had been appointed by President Ford). That same year, she joined First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson and Rosalynn Carter to open and participate in the National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas where she endorsed measures in the convention's National Plan of Action, a report sent to the state legislatures, the Congress, and the President on how to improve the status of American women. Ford was an outspoken supporter of equal pay, breast cancer awareness, and the ERA throughout her life.

Betty Ford passed away today in California, her battles not yet won but by no means defeated.

[lunatica]

1. That's debatable. Ford pardoned Nixon

Which started the precedent that continues to this day. All previous administrations are pardoned or never prosecuted so any administration can do exactly what it pleases. They're untouchable.

But Betty Ford did do a great thing for this country.

[hlthe2b]

2. Exactly... taking nothing from Betty, but that pardon will impact us

(and HAS impacted us)for decades to come.

[TheBigotBasher]

3. Other than that

he was forgettable, she was not.

[Unvanguard]

12. Ford didn't start that precedent. It's an unofficial tradition of sorts in republics.

You don't want to make your opposition think that if they leave power peacefully, they will be prosecuted.

[AnnieBW]

4. Goddess Bless Her

I got a mammogram today because of her advocacy for breast cancer research. How many lives did she save because she spoke up about addiction and breast cancer?

[Fearless]

5. Greater as in better... definitely! n/t

[Rhiannon12866]

6. K&R! Excellent post...

I admired Betty Ford, as well, outspoken on the issues before it was fashionable and her courageous voice inspired countless others. Farewell to a great lady, whose work lives on... :patriot: ;(

[Paladin]

7. And The Right-Wing Ideologues Hated Her Guts For Her Social Stances.

Never forget that. They hated her back then, and they probably hate her to this very day. Bill Murchison, of the far right-wing Dallas Morning News editorial page, virtually established what passes for a career by non-stop spewing against Betty Ford, back in the 70's.

RIP.

[JNelson6563]

8. Smartest thing Ford ever did was to marry her.

She was one great lady.

Julie

[Zynx]

10. I wouldn't disagree, but Ford himself was no dummy.

He came off as awkward and confused once in a while, but having watched interviews with him, he had a fairly deep intellect.

[JNelson6563]

11. I agree, he wasn't stupid

I know how he was portrayed by the media and how it was really a caricature of him.

Julie

[great white snark]

9. Well said and spot on. K&R.

RIP Betty Ford.

[Kaleva]

13. I don't know if it's accurate to say Repubs hated her. At least not in Michigan.

She's one of many Rockefeller Republicans that used to dominate that party what seems like way back then in the Great Lakes state. Former Governors Bill Milliken and George Romney (Mittens dad), and George's wife, Lenore Romney were the more prominent ones.

While Bill Milliken endorsed McCain in the 2008 republican primaries, he had this to say later during the general election:

""He is not the McCain I endorsed," said Milliken, reached at his Traverse City home Thursday. "He keeps saying, 'Who is Barack Obama?' I would ask the question, 'Who is John McCain?' because his campaign has become rather disappointing to me.

"I'm disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign, when he ought to be talking about the issues."

Milliken, a lifelong Republican, is among some past leaders from the party's moderate wing voicing reservations and, in some cases, opposition to McCain's candidacy."

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2008/10/former_governor_milliken_backs.html

[BigDemVoter]

14. Yeah, she'd be a liberal Dem in today's world.

The only thing I read that disturbed me about her is that she curbed her criticisms of the rethug party Re: women's rights & abortion rights--during the 1984 presidential election. She should have been consistent, regardless of who was running. It makes me question her dedication to women's & reproductive rights.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. She was a cool lady.

In the sixties, Happy Rockefeller talked about having breast cancer, when Nelson was Governor of New York. But I don't remember a big media splash.

Betty Ford brought breast cancer and addiction out of the closet, and they needed to be talked about. I can't imagine a Republican wife now being in favor of abortion rights and the ERA.

I thought Gerald Ford was stupid because Chevy Chase portrayed him as clumsy on SNL. Turns out he had bad knees from football injuries. I saw him make a speech on TV after he was out of office and he sounded intelligent.

He probably got rewarded with the Presidency b/c he was on the Warren Commission along with Snarlin' Arlen of the magic bullet theory.