Betty Ford: First Lady
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“she is like champagne”: Myra McPherson, “The Blooming of Betty Ford,” McCall’s, September 1975.
“Betty Ford, in the first month of her stay”: Sally Quinn, “Betty Ford: Speaking Out Without Speaking Up,” Washington Post, September 18, 1974.
“They’ve asked me everything”: McPherson, “Blooming of Betty Ford,” 120.
“And so, I went up there”: Betty Monkman, interview, 12.
“in the beginning”: TTOML, 179.
Privately, Betty was very spiritual: Elizabeth Peer, Jane Whitmore, and Lisa Whitman, “Free Spirit in the White House, Woman of the Year,” Newsweek, December 29, 1975.
“I think Nixon has suffered enough”: implied conversation, ATTH, 162.
“she felt enormous sympathy for his family”: ibid.
“I’ll support whatever you decide”: ibid.
one month after Gerald Ford took the oath: ibid., 180.
We were all a little reluctant: Betty Ford to Mary Lou Logan, letter, September 12, 1974, courtesy of the Logan family; used with permission.
14: Going Public with Breast Cancer
At one point, Betty commented: TTOML, 236.
“Come along with me”: Sheila Weidenfeld, interview by Richard Norton Smith, April 14, 2010, Oral History Project, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, 8, https://geraldrfordfoundation.org/centennial-docs/oralhistory/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Sheila-Weidenfel.pdf.
“There’s something I need to tell you” . . . “It was devastating”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
“a woman’s disease”: ibid.
“They want to operate immediately” . . . “they can’t operate immediately”: TTOML, 183.
“I’m sure everything’s going to turn out”: ATTH, 190.
“I want to go through my activities”: TTOML, 183.
“She was adamant about going public with it”: Kennerly, discussion, March 30, 2017.
“The purpose of the surgery”: Office of the White House Press Secretary, “Statement by Ron Nessen,” news release, September 27, 1974, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI, 1, www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0248/whpr19740927-006.pdf.
“We were all scared to death” . . . “I need to talk about this”: Michael Ford, discussion, October 26, 2017.
“She showed no apprehension”: ATTH, 190.
Dearest Mom: Gerald and Betty Ford Special Materials Collection, box B2, folder: “Ford, Gerald R,” Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI.
“Here’s one for Women’s Wear Daily”: United Press International, “Malignancy Verified: Mrs. Ford’s Breast Removed,” Leader-Times (Kittanning, PA), September 28, 1974.
“She was the strong one, holding us all up”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
“No fear”: David Kennerly, discussion, March 30, 2017.
“Throughout this ordeal”: Office of the White House Press Secretary, “The White House Press Conference of Dr. William Lukash . . .” news release, September 28, 1974, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI, 1, www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0248/whpr19740928-008.pdf.
“We all sat around and prayed”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
“Go ahead and cry”: ATTH, 191; also Cannon, Gerald R. Ford, 273.
“Bob, I just don’t know what I’d do”: ibid.
“How am I going to live the rest of my life without my mom?”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
In 1974 Betty Ford was one of more than ninety thousand women: Nancy G. Brinker, Promise Me: How a Sister’s Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer (New York: Crown Archetype, 2010), 215.
75 percent chance of surviving: “Fact Sheet: Breast Cancer,” National Institutes of Health online, last modified October 2010, https://report.nih.gov/nihfactsheets/Pdfs/BreastCancer(NCI).pdf; also Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and information provided by Barbara Schwarz, founder of Oklahoma Project Woman.
“Even before I was able to get up”: TTOML, 186.
“ringing off the hook”: Frances Lewine, Associated Press, “Messages to First Lady ‘Thrill’ Her,” Oakland Tribune, October 4, 1974.
“One Sunday, I was sitting at home” . . . “People saw in Mrs. Ford a woman who was so relatable”: Nancy Chirdon Forster, in discussion with author, August 22, 2017.
“This was a revelation”: Nancy Brinker, in discussion with author, October 16, 2017.
“I will even go so far as to say” . . . “You’re just a super lady”: White House Social Office Central Files, box 24, “First Lady: Health,” Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI; samples of letters written to Betty Ford following her breast cancer surgery, viewed by author, October 24–27, 2016.
“She had Dad walk into her hospital room”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
“Don’t be silly”: TTOML, 192.
Every time I look at these pills: ibid., 187.
“Shh!”: Hartwig, discussion, September 16, 2016.
“What are you doing out here?” . . . “Here, catch!”: ibid., TTOML, 188; also Kennerly, discussion, March 30, 2017.
“Oh, Susan, it’s beautiful”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
“When is it going to stop?”: ibid.
“I knew that if she died”: ibid.
“The people are a friendly middle-aged couple”: David Hume Kennerly, Shooter (New York: Newsweek Books, 1979), 155–56.
“We Love You, Betty” and “Welcome Home”: photos from contact sheets, digital archive, “White House Photographs: October 11, 1974,” Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI.
“I had no words for the joy I was feeling”: TTOML, 191.
15: A Reluctant Role Model
“Come on out on the balcony”: TTOML, 192.
“It was a fantastic anniversary”: ibid.
“From that moment on”: Forster, discussion, August 22, 2017.
“Neither of us had any idea” . . . “to get the first lady off the social page and onto the front page”: Weidenfeld, discussion, December 8, 2016.
“The Christmas parties started, and I didn’t think they’d ever stop”: TTOML, 199.
“She was obviously in great pain”: Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady: With the Fords at the White House (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1979), 89.
“Who skis?” . . . “mountain familiarization”: Larry Buendorf, in discussion with author, November 11, 2016.
“I guess I’ll have to keep the drapes pulled”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 53.
“I knew them before her dad became vice president” . . . “something she did not have to do”: Barbara Yardley Manfuso Appleby, in discussion with author, August 1, 2017.
“She was a mother I never had”: Sheika Gramshammer, in discussion with author, November 10, 2016.
“We were always included” . . . “Hey, yellow bird!”: ibid.
“We were concerned because you could spot him”: Buendorf, discussion, November 10, 2016.
“Mrs. Ford Goes Shopping,” Associated Press, Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL), December 24, 1974.
“Susan’s mom came out and made a cup of tea” . . . “like I was part of the family”: Appleby, discussion, August 1, 2017.
“Hey, Dick,” the president said. “You guys did an excellent job” . . . “Yes, sir, Mr. President”: Buendorf, discussion, November 10, 2016; also Richard Keiser, in discussion with author, July 20, 2017.
16: The First Lady Speaks Out
“it had moral force”: TTOML, 202.
“legal inequities between sexes”: ibid.
“Before I sign this” . . . “I don’t quite know how to respond to that”: “Signing Ceremony Establishing a National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year,” January 9, 1975 (Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library online, video, 7:16), www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=62&v=9-WDtJCa0Rc.
“pil
low talk at the end of the day”: TTOML, 201.
“are extremely well treated”: Marlene Cimons, “First Lady Sticks to Her Guns on ERA,” Los Angeles Times, February 18, 1975.
“It just isn’t right that we pay so much”: ibid.
“Frankly, I enjoy being a mother”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 90.
“I’m going to stick . . . I’m not bothered by it”: Cimons, “First Lady Sticks to Her Guns.”
“Betty Ford Is Trying to Press a Second-Rate Manhood on American Women”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 90.
“Why don’t I have any flags?”: Hartwig, discussion, September 16, 2016.
“We should make Mrs. Ford a flag”: ibid.
In bold white letters on top: ibid.
“She really got a kick out of it”: ibid.
Capraro, who had just gone into business: Marji Kunz, “First Lady’s Order Makes Capraro a Fashion Name,” Lifestyle, Salt Lake Tribune, January 31, 1975.
“Mr. Capraro? This is Betty Ford” . . . “Those are my designs!”: ibid.
“She loved helping someone new”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
“perfect model: size six”: Kunz, “First Lady’s Order.”
“We always had fun with Albert”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
“I called her the palace guard”: Weidenfeld, discussion, December 8, 2016.
“the only White House staffer” . . . “tickled”: Betty Beale, “Nancy Howe Handles Key Role for First Lady,” Indianapolis Star, October 6, 1974.
“It’s not a good time”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 18, 2017.
“She interfered with our relationship”: ibid.; also TTOML, 180.
“Betty Ford’s Best Friend”: Frances Spatz Leighton, “New Job at the White House: Betty Ford’s Best Friend,” Family Weekly, March 2, 1975.
“She was hysterical”: Weidenfeld, discussion, December 8, 2016.
“She is not my best friend!”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 90.
“Oh, David!” she exclaimed. “We heard your helicopter was shot at!”: David Kennerly, telephone discussion with author, November 17, 2017.
“Cambodia is gone”: ibid.
“babylift”: President’s Speeches and Statements, box 7, folder “4/3/75—Opening Statement at Press Conference at San Diego, California,” Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI, available at www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0122/1252273.pdf.
“I have directed that money”: ibid.
“Well, I didn’t fire Nancy Howe”: TTOML, 235.
“It broke my heart”: ibid.
Tongsun Park would eventually be indicted: Phil McCombs, “Tongsun Park’s Club,” Washington Post, October 16, 1977.
“The South Vietnamese forces were inadequate”: Kennerly, Extraordinary Circumstances, 73.
“They were only nineteen and twenty-two” . . . “Yes. Yes, I will”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 129.
“Schedule”: ibid., 139.
“there wasn’t any time to come into a city and ask which way to the beauty salon”: ibid.
“My health is good and I’m having a ball!”: United Press International, “Betty Says She ‘Had a Ball,’ ” Columbus (NE) Telegram, June 4, 1975.
“Be good”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
Susan nearly didn’t have a date: ibid.
“I was willing to take on four more years”: TTOML, 255.
“She was my teacher” . . . “We’re just good friends”: Anna Kisselgoff, “Martha Graham Is Paid Tribute by Betty Ford,” New York Times, June 13, 1975.
“I had never met her before” . . . “Look”: Arthur Unger, “Frankness and Informality Mark Betty Ford’s Style as First Lady,” Grand Rapids (MI) Press, August 12, 1975.
“enthusiastic, excellent camera presence” . . . “So was she”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 162.
“Elizabeth Ann Bloomer was her name” . . . “You know, everybody can’t be perfect”: Morley Safer, “The First Lady,” 60 Minutes, aired August 10, 1975, on CBS. Video provided to author by Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI, WHCA-F388; also, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, discussions with author, July 21, 2017.
“Well?” . . . “thirty million votes!”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 172; also corroborated by Cheney, discussion, July 21, 2017, and Rumsfeld, discussion, July 21, 2017.
“All hell broke loose”: Matson, interview, 9.
“Betty Ford said today”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 172.
“My stock with the public did not go up”: TTOML, 206.
“Even though Mrs. Ford had said more”: Unger, “Frankness and Informality Mark Betty Ford’s Style.”
“I don’t know which was more tasteless” . . . “I move Betty Ford be retained as first lady”: “The First Lady,” 60 Minutes, viewer response, aired August 17, 1975, on CBS. Video provided to author by Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI, WHCA F396.
“I had a little trouble with Donald and Dick”: TTOML.
“We think Betty needs to lay low”: Dick Cheney, in discussion with author, July 21, 2017.
“If you want Betty to tone it down”: ibid.
“had long ceased to be perturbed by his wife’s remarks”: Mary Campbell, Associated Press, “Women Made Big Headlines in 1975,” December 25, 1975.
Thank you for writing about my appearance: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 177.
“the perfect letter”: ibid., 170.
“Keep Speaking Out, Betty”: ibid.
The reaction to Mrs. Ford’s remarks: ibid.
Dear Morley: ibid., 182.
17: Two Assassination Attempts
“I think I have learned over the past months”: Natalie Gittelson, “Is Betty Ford Too Frank?” McCall’s, February 1976.
“And while she acknowledged a loss of privacy”: ibid.
“Mrs. Ford, I have an emergency call from Mr. Keiser”: Keiser, discussion, July 20, 2017.
“Hello, Mrs. Ford. Not to worry”: ibid.
“But I had never worried about them”: ATTH, 310.
“Ernie, it’s such a beautiful day”: ibid.
“Of course, Mr. President”: ATTH, 310.
“Suddenly he shoots across the street”: ibid.
“The pistol was loaded with four rounds” . . . “Well, I didn’t think it would be very polite”: Buendorf, discussion, November 10, 2016.
“I remember Mom telling us” . . . “You know, that was a great thing about Mom and Dad”: Steve Ford, discussion, November 23, 2016.
“I’m so thankful you were there, Larry”: Buendorf, discussion, November 10, 2016.
“Everyone did the right thing”: ibid.
“It was very scary”: TTOML, 236.
“handshaking” . . . “I was appalled”: Weidenfeld, discussion, December 6, 2016.
“Move Pinafore to Angel with all possible speed” . . . “You tell her, Rummy”: Hartwig, discussion, September 15, 2016.
“Quite a few martinis were consumed on the flight back”: Edward Epstein, “Ford Escaped 2 Assassination Attempts—Both in California,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 27, 2006.
“We had two televisions in there”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, February 17, 2017.
“Shots were fired at your father”: Steve Ford, discussion, November 23, 2016.
“While many new opportunities are open to women” . . . “Freedom for women to be what they want”: “First Lady Betty Ford’s Remarks to the International Women’s Conference,” October 25, 1975. Video provided to author by Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI.
“They loved her”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 207.
“The wife of a president could never do that”: Weidenfeld, discussion, December 8, 2016.
“she had trouble remembering her dialogue”: Mary Tyler Moore, Growing Up Again: Life, Loves, and Oh Yeah, Diabetes (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2010), 67.
“Nineteen-seventy-six is a jumble in my head”: TTOML, 255.
“busy being president”: Kennerly, discussion, March 30, 2017.
“chaperone”: Susan Ford Bales, discussion, October 6, 2016.
“Oh, are you two girls getting excited” . . . “Of course, I got in trouble”: ibid.
“scatter blitz”: Weidenfeld, discussion, December 8, 2016; also Joan Secchia, October 28, 2016.
“Keep on talking for President Ford”: ibid.
“No tribute could be more spectacular”: Weidenfeld, discussion, December 8, 2016.
“most glamorous”: TTOML, 225.
“the social event of the century”: ibid., 224.
“You’re never going to be ready”: TTOML, 225.
“Mrs. Ford wanted guests to have a good time”: Matson, interview, 7.
“Jack came flying in, still fiddling with his shirtfront”: TTOML, 226.
“I have one just like it at home”: ibid.
“We had violinists stationed along the paths”: ibid., 225.
The US Marine Band had a set list: David G. Wright (saxophonist, US Marine Band), “When Protocol Was Trampled at the White House,” Washington Post, Letters to the Editor, June 15, 2012.
“If I hadn’t kept mixing up”: TTOML, 225.
“Eat your hearts out, girls!”: Patricia J. Matson interview by Donna Lehman, January 16, 2015, transcript, Oral History Interview, Gerald R. Ford Library, Ann Arbor, MI.
“That gives you a sense of a certain playfulness”: ibid.
“Mrs. Ford used to be visited periodically” . . . “She didn’t seem to be there”: Forster, discussion, August 22, 2017.
“looked exhausted and sounded as though she were having trouble concentrating” . . . “Where do you draw the line”: Weidenfeld, discussion, December 8, 2016; also Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 306.
“We figured it was the medication”: Forster, discussion, August 22, 2017.
“I just think there’s something wrong here . . . He didn’t say ‘It’s none of your business’ ”: ibid.
“Is Mrs. Ford all right?” . . . “The pills are for her pinched nerve and arthritis”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 313.
“Who would make a better president”: Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 303.