Former First Lady Betty Ford dies

The former First Lady died at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Springs according to family spokeswoman Barbara Lewandrowski.

During and after her years in the White House, 1974 to 1977, Mrs Ford won acclaim for her candour, wit and courage as she fought breast cancer, severe arthritis and the twin addictions of drugs and alcohol. She also pressed for abortion rights and women’s rights.

While her husband served as president, Mrs Ford’s comments weren’t the kind of genteel, innocuous talk expected from a First Lady, and a Republican one no less.

Her unscripted comments sparked tempests in the press and dismayed President Gerald Ford’s advisers, who were trying to soothe the national psyche after Watergate.

But to the scandal-scarred, Vietnam-wearied, hippie-rattled nation, Mrs. Ford’s openness was refreshing. And 1970s America loved her for it.

Fellow former first lady, Nancy Reagan, said: “I was deeply saddened this afternoon when I heard of Betty Ford’s death.”

Mrs Ford’s husband, Gerald, died in December 2006, also aged 93. They had been married in 1948, the same year Gerald Ford was elected to Congress.

First Lady’s legacy

The Betty Ford Center – although most famous for celebrity patients like Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Cash and Lindsay Lohan – keeps its rates relatively affordable and has served more than 90,000 people.

Candour worked for Betty Ford, again and again. She would build an enduring legacy by opening up the toughest times of her life as public example.

In an era when cancer was discussed in hushed tones and mastectomy was still a taboo subject, the first lady shared the specifics of her breast cancer surgery.

The publicity helped bring the disease into the open and inspired countless women to seek breast examinations.

I was deeply saddened this afternoon when I heard of Betty Ford’s death. Nancy Reagan

Her most painful revelation came 15 months after leaving the White House, when Mrs Ford announced that she was entering treatment for a long-time addiction to painkillers and alcohol. She underwent surgery for an undisclosed ailment in April 2007, and details of her death were not immediately available.

Family spokeswoman said Lewanbrowski the family expects to organize a service in Palm Springs over the next couple of days.

Mrs Ford’s body will be sent to Michigan for burial alongside former President Gerald Ford, who is buried at his namesake library in Grand Rapids.