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Joyce Yeh
Author's Bio
John Robert Greene is a Professor of History and Humanities at Cazenovia College. Interested in post-Watergate presidents, he has written biographies on Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.
The Hidden Activist
Chronicling both the splendor of Betty Ford as a public figure and her struggle with depression, drugs, and alcohol, John Robert Greene's Betty Ford: Candor and Courage in the White House weaves together the courageous, outspoken Betty Ford known to the public with the lonely and reserved Betty Ford known only to her family. He argues that Gerald Ford's popularity owes much to the well-loved Betty Ford who brought honesty, humor, and depth to Ford's short presidency.
Betty Ford, born Elizabeth Ann Bloomer, was strongly influenced by her early years. Growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she was brought up in an affluent family in the 1920s--a family that fir in with the "idyllic midwestern stereotype." 1 Bloomer's father, Bill Bloomer, was a traveling salesperson, selling conveyor belts to factories in an era of assembly lines and automobiles. Behind the perfect appearance of the Bloomers, however, was a broken family. Bill only provided financially for his family. His job requirements limited his time with his family and his children grew up with no strong father figure. In 1934, when Bloomer was sixteen, her father was reported to have died due to asphyxiation in his garage but some suspected he had committed suicide. His death also revealed his addiction to alcohol--a fact that her mother and his absence had shielded from her. Her mother became her only influence--a strong influence, as she fostered Bloomer's independence, encouraged her freedom, and motivated her to strive for perfection. As a child of the 1920s and 1930s, Bloomer grew up to become what historians term "the first 'modern woman.'" 2 With World War I a war of the past, women longed for independence and ignored old values. Bloomer stepped past the more conservative values and took to partying, flirting, smoking and drinking, all by the age of fourteen. She also developed a passion for modern dance, which was "free-flowing, athletic, and extemporaneousĦ [which] paralleled the freedom of the spirit felt by the younger women in the interwar years." 3 After graduating from high school, Bloomer began teaching the innovative dance moves she learned in New York to the more conservative town and was, consequently, criticized for her free spirit as well as her tolerance of teaching black students. Despite the town's disapporval, she developed into a career woman and married William Warren in 1942. He was a salesman and an alcoholic like her father, and while he traveled the road, she longed for a strong, dependable husband. She divorced him in 1947. Betty Bloomer Warren was intent on settling down when the rest of the country was looking to break free.
Beginning a relationship in 1947 with Gerald Ford, Bloomer cautiously stepped into a second relationship. However, who she thought to be a small town lawyer slowly transformed into a politician. Ford decided to run for the House of Representatives from Michigan's Fifth Congressional District. His political advisers held off his proposal to Bloomer until after the preliminary election to avoid bad publicity over a relationship with a woman who was only a dance instructor. The couple waited until after Ford won the preliminary election in 1948 to announce their engagement and Bloomer entered the realm of being a politician's wife. As Ford established himself as a serious politician, Betty Ford was forced to become the wife of a Congressman. She met constituents, became an active member in the Congressional Club, and set out to learn about the American government. Ford's growing popularity forced him to travel and campaign, leaving Betty at home with the children. Betty had entered upon another relationship where she was alone, stating, "the Congress got a new Minority Leader, and I lost a husband." 4 In 1964, following the Republican convention, Betty Ford was diagnosed with an inoperable pinched nerve in her neck that would cause her excruciating pain and temporary paralysis as well as osteoporosis. She was prescribed pain-killing drugs and as Ford spent increasing time on the road, she began taking her painkillers with alcohol. Her marriage to Gerald Ford had taken away her freedom; she was forced to live in her husband's shadow. She had lost "the pleasure of being looked upon as a leader in my own community" as in Grand Rapids "and losing that caused buried resentment." 5 During these years, she developed an addiction to painkillers and alcohol, a condition that her husband treated second to campaigning. By the spring of 1973, as Nixon's Vice President Spiro T. Agnew was convicted of tax evasion and bribery, Nixon nominated Ford as his new vice president. The Ford family was now in the public eye and they were known as the perfect American family. Betty managed to conceal her drug and alcohol addiction from the public and took on public activism. Outspoken, she supported the legalization of abortion, believing that "having babies is a blessing, not a duty" and fought for equal salary for women. In 1974, Ford rose again on the political ladder and became president following the Watergate Scandal and Nixon's resignation. 6 On the day of Ford inauguration, Betty Ford knew that she had lost her husband to the country, describing it as "the saddest day of [her] life." 7 Betty inherited a life of entertaining guests, hosting parties, making appearances during White House tours, and supporting her husband.
As the First Lady, Betty Ford had her own agenda supporting the arts and helping mentally retarded children. Unlike her predecessors, instead of supporting the Washington Children's Hospital, she concentrated on the Washington Hospital for Sick Children, a hospital consisting predominantly of black patients. In 1974, when her diagnosis of breast cancer was made public, national sentiment over mammograms grew. NBC reported in 1975 "that since her surgery, six times as many women were now seeking breast screening." 8 Grateful for her early diagnosis, Mrs. Ford rallied for mammograms and educated the nation. However, her most passionate cause was Equal Rights Amendment. She personally wrote letters and made phone calls to state legislators to rally for its passage. Despite her efforts, she had no real impact on the issue and was criticized for her use of lobbying. What Ford's advisers considered a "political liability" actually helped him in the polls. 9 Betty had the highest polls of all the first ladies up to date. In 1976, when Ford decided to run for a second term against Jimmy Carter, Betty Ford accompanied her husband on the road. When Carter won the election, it was Betty Ford who read the traditional telegram of concessions and congratulations, as Ford had lost his voice. The Ford family, to Betty's delight, exited the political spotlight.
With her husband relinquished of his political duties, Betty Ford finally got what she had wished for over four decades ago. However, what should have been the happiest years of her life, with her husband by her side, was not as Gerald Ford embarked on fundraising and lecturing, constantly on the road. Betty Ford again came to rely on alcohol and drugs and her family did nothing. As she later said, "When a family is living with alcoholism, it's like having an elephant in the living room: everybody walks around the beast, but nobody does anything." 10 However, when Betty began alienating her family, an intervention was called that led to her sobriety where she took control of her life once again and stepped out from behind the shadows of her husband. Free from her alcohol and drug addictions, she began planning a program to help others with substance abuse in the Eisenhower Hospital. She set out to fundraise for her program in 1978 and by 1981, she had raised $3 million. Betty Ford was no longer just the wife of Gerald Ford. Her program which helped thousands fight chemical dependency helped her become the leading spokesperson against alcoholism, drug addictions, and cancer. She continued to lobby for the ERA, supported abortion and spoke out against the inaction of the Reagan and Bush administration against AIDS. Three decades after her husband had been president, she has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H.W. Bush, the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton, and countless others for her efforts as a political activist.
Recognized for her accomplishments to the public as well as to herself, Betty Ford is well-known but never assessed until Greene analyzed her character and her decisions. He argues that she was more than a figurehead during her husband's presidency. Her values and personality were well-loved by the American public and "she succeeded in areas where her husband had tried and failedĦ [developing] into much more than had been expected of a traditional first lady."11 Attempting to reveal the character behind the actions, Greene portrays Betty Ford as more than just an accomplished activist. He details her search for a dependable man, her failed first marriage, her medical conditions, and her suffering and loneliness. With no prior biographies on Betty Ford, Greene, a historian interested in post-Watergate presidents, became interested in how Betty Ford influenced Gerald Ford's presidency and sought to write the first biography. He holds Gerald Ford as one of the great presidents, one who climbed the political ladder through his loyalty to the Republican Party. As a result, he glorifies Ford's wife, who was a driving force behind President Ford. He portrays her as an outspoken first lady in a time where the public wanted answers. She not only overcome her flaws but also used them to help others as well. His high appraisal of the Ford family describes them as an honest, open family that appeared to be just another normal American family raised in Grand Rapids. Greene's biography, written in 2004, praises the Ford's sincerity, especially after the Watergate Scandal when the public wanted to hear facts. The circumstances of the year 2004, with the controversy over the war in Iraq and the criticism of the Bush administration, makes Greene more prone to praise Betty Ford for her courage to speak out against political figures in her own party and support causes that she felt were important rather than following ideals merely due to obligation. He supports her campaign for issues that may have been too radical for a conservative public and admires her free-spirit and candor. Greene highlights both Ford's triumphs and imperfections--both culminating to the renowned character of Betty Ford.
The "candor and courage" of Betty Ford was exhibited through her popularity, her influence, and even her flaws. Greene glorifies Ford as one of the most influential first ladies and argues that her flaws were merely stepping stones to her prominence. Historian Gil Troy praises Greene for his "well-paced, insightful, and sympathetic account," believing that he does justice to a woman who rivals Hilary Clinton and Eleanor Roosevelt. 12 Greene believes that Betty Ford helped her husband's popularity, despite the fact that President Ford's advisers viewed her as a political liability; Troy, however, argues that Mrs. Ford's reputation harmed her husband's popularity as her ideals undermined the conservative view held by Republicans. Despite their difference in ideas, Troy commends Greene's production of a biography worthy of the woman who set the standard for a first lady. Publishers Weekly also applauds Greene for his "wealth of carefully researched detail."13 Greene's specificity and insight into Betty Ford's life develops her as an individual who acted upon her desires. Though Greene's work meets the basic requirements of a well-written biography, Publishers Weekly notes that "Greene hasn't dug up anything earth-shattering, but his account is frank enough and thorough." 14 As the first and only biography on Betty Ford, Greene manages to give the complete overview of Betty Ford's life, while carefully making her sound as flawless as she was believed to be.
Although Greene does a nice job of bringing together Betty Ford's life in an easy-to-read book, I think that Greene loses his focus on Mrs. Ford's life. He lapses into descriptions of such things as the possibility of alcoholism as a hereditary disease and what future research will be conducted on this matter as a way of explaining that Mrs. Ford had been more susceptible to alcoholism due to her alcoholic father. Following the description of her father's death he notes that "scientists have yet to isolate a genetic component that will establish once and for all the hereditary nature of [alcoholism]. Nevertheless, it has clearly been established by these studies that alcoholism is a family diseaseĦ"15 He gives details of political events for pages at a time without mentioning Betty Ford and her role in these events. Despite the few off-topic discussions, Greene crafts an overall portrait of Betty Ford and the reader is left with a better understanding of the person who stood with a transfixed smile next to President Gerald Ford.
Because the Ford family entered the political spotlight after the Watergate Scandal in 1974, the public expected them to be open and honest. The credibility of the American government was lost beneath the corruption and lies following the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal brought them over the edge. Greene credited Ford's original nomination to his loyalty; Time magazine had described Ford as "the immense asset of a corruption-free reputation." 16 The American public was weary of dishonesty and conspiracy and Betty Ford epitomized what the people were looking for. She helped change the atmosphere of the American government from secretive to direct, giving press conferences where she freely gave details from her personal life. Her open nature helped restore confidence in the American government. During Ford's presidency, the press no longer held back on questions as the American public was still hurt from the deceit of their government and few topics were off limits. Thirty years later, the media still continues to ask the tough questions and the public expects the answers.
While Greene argues that Ford was "a breath of fresh air" as she opened up an honest environment between people and government "in a post-Watergate world, where Americans longed to have the nylon curtain of secrecy removed from their government," Betty Ford's legacy also lies in the affairs that she involved herself in. 17 She raised awareness on issues that had not been stressed before. Her support for abortion, equality, cancer, AIDS, and drug rehabilitation has led to increased awareness today. When she entered the political arena, these issues were never discussed because of the public's conservative opinion regarding those problems. However, Ford freely showed her support and encouraged others to do so. As a result, America has opened up on issues ranging from presidential scandals, abortions, equality, cancer, and AIDS. She lobbied for the Equal Women's Right Amendment just as Hilary Clinton would lobby to pass her husband's health reform proposal. She gave her confidence to matters that she believed in and worked effortlessly to pass them. Ford set the standard for the role of the first lady, inspiring public activism and involvement. Transforming the job of first lady to leader, Ford is the predecessor to the first lady who is publicly active.
Although Gerald Ford had been president for a little over two years, it didn't stop Betty Ford from emerging as an outspoken, modern first lady who made television appearances, supported issues that mattered to her, and answered all public questions honestly. While her husband's administration tried to restore the dignity of the American government, Betty Ford won the hearts of Americans, who considered her "candor refreshing" and perhaps even won support for her husband. She struggled through tough times and gracefully overcame these obstacles to help others. 18
Endnotes
1. Greene, John Robert. Betty Ford: Candor and Courage in the White House. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2004, 2.
2. Greene, John Robert 5.
3. Greene, John Robert 7.
4. Greene, John Robert 23.
5. Greene, John Robert 25.
6. Greene, John Robert 32.
7. Greene, John Robert 37.
8. Greene, John Robert 49.
9. Greene, John Robert 83.
10. Greene, John Robert 103.
11. Greene, John Robert xiv (preface).
12. Troy, Gil. "Greene, John Robert Betty Ford: Candor and Courage in the White House." Rev. of Betty Ford: Candor and Courage in the White House, by John Robert Greene. History: Review of New Books 33 (2005): 93.
13. "Betty Ford: Candor and Courage in the White House." Publishers Weekly 20 Dec. 2004: 51.
14. Publishers Weekly 51.
15. Greene, John Robert 3.
16. Greene, John Robert 27.
17. Greene, John Robert. 117
18. Greene, John Robert. 117
ski, Yanek. 354.
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