CNN.com and MSNBC are reporting this but it is just now developing.

She was 93...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43692691/

:rip: Betty Ford. She had a tough time in the White House but looking back, her husband was one of the finest presidents in my lifetime.

Yea it just came over Fox News. So very sad. she was a classy lady all the way. R.I.P. Mrs. Ford. :(

I'm glad she will be reunited with Gerald in heaven. She seemed like a very brave lady.

:rip: to a woman who used her experiences with breast cancer and alcoholism (at a time when those things were kept behind closed doors) to help others. She was very brave and forthright. God bless her children and grandchildren.

An incredible woman and remarkable First Lady. R.I.P. Mrs. Ford.

We have her rare cameo appearance from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to remember her by.

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I agree with everything said. She was a wonderful woman and will be missed!

:rip: Betty Ford. She had a tough time in the White House but looking back, her husband was one of the finest presidents in my lifetime.i agree he was very underrated and she was one of the most candid first laides that we ever had she pulled no punches and put on no airs she was also the first first lady that i remember from childhood as i really dont remember the nixon;s very well r i p mrs ford

RIP, Betty Ford.

RIP.

I'm very sorry to hear about her passing. She was a classy, feminist icon and we need more people like her.

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110708/NEWS01/110708020/Gerald-Betty-Ford-Love-Story?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cs

10:27 PM, Jul. 8, 2011

Gerald Ford decided his wife had chatted long enough at a McCallum Theatre event.

He leaned to Betty Ford, curled his cheek and gave a clicking sound, like a cowboy telling a horse to giddyap and go.

The former first lady never dropped her pleasant smile. She simply said she had to go.

Desert residents got to share many such private moments with the former first couple.

They saw how one of America's most independent first ladies could respond to a commanding gesture with devout loyalty. They also saw Gerald Ford share public expressions of love, such as telling his wife at the Betty Ford Center dedication, with tears in his eyes, "We want you to know that we love you."

"It was the greatest love story ever told," said friend Leon Parma of Indian Wells. "They were two people totally devoted to each other. ... Whenever we traveled alone he always called in the morning and in the evening every day. It was sweet talk and just a lovely couple."

Friends say Betty Ford hero-worshipped her husband. But her White House press secretary, Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld, said she wanted to be more than a doting wife and mother.

She attained that by building the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage. Their Washington, D.C., friend, Rear Adm. William Narva, called Gerald Ford "Mr. Betty Ford in the desert."

Gerald Ford was as comfortable with that as Betty Ford was in being a first lady.

"You don't go into marriage as a 50-50 thing," she once said on "60 Minutes."

"You go into it, both of you, as a 70-30 proposition."

"They were one terrific couple," said Henry Kissinger, Gerald Ford's secretary of state. "She was irreverent, she was warm-hearted, devoted to her husband, didn't like to hear big words, had a way to get to the heart of the issues, not bossy, not intruding, but you knew she had a lot of influence, especially on the human side."

There was nothing in Gerald or Betty Ford's childhood in Grand Rapids to indicate they would have a model marriage.

Gerald Ford's father abandoned his family shortly after he was born.

Betty's father apparently committed suicide when she was 16.

Betty married insurance salesman Bill Warren at age 24.

They divorced after what Betty called a "five-year misunderstanding."

Gerald was the most eligible bachelor in Grand Rapids in 1947. He was a handsome, 34-year-old lawyer, an All-American football star from University of Michigan and a war hero, although he never talked about that.

A mutual friend suggested he ask Betty out. Betty was working on a fashion show and her divorce wasn't final. She gave him 20 minutes.

It became a 58-year marriage.

They were married Oct. 15, 1948, after he won his first congressional primary. He was elected in November.

"I think there was a very strong bond between the Fords and they certainly were very affectionate," said Helmi Raaska, an archivist for the Gerald Ford Library in Michigan. "She could poke fun and be humorous about it. It wasn't the adoring gaze you sometimes associate with first ladies, (but) there were obviously strong bonds of affection."

Kissinger found them to be an unusual political couple.

"A lot of Washington couples are very conscious of the impressions they make on others and are planning how to get ahead," Kissinger said. "Especially the wife -- how she can promote her husband. Betty didn't think her husband needed promoting that way. They had a loving relationship on the basis of who they were. They didn't care what you thought."

"Jerry never got embarrassed by Betty," said Parma, who met the Fords while serving as chief of staff to San Diego Congressman Clair Burgener in the late 1950s. "He'd say, 'Oh, that's Betty' or (to Betty) 'I'm glad to hear what you think about it.'"

Family always important

The Fords stayed busy after moving to the desert in 1977, but developed favorite places.

They liked to have dinner at the upscale Jillian's on El Paseo, or have casual outings to Marie Callender's in Rancho Mirage. Jack Becker, who owned the Broasted Chicken restaurants, once told The Desert Sun that Gerald Ford called him five times about an order. And he had Betty come and pick it up.

The Fords did have chefs to help them with dinner parties.

"We first came to Palm Springs in 1991," said Narva, "and our first dinner party was at the Ford house. There were 12 couples and the 12th couple that came in was Frank and Barbara Sinatra."

Family was paramount to the Fords. Susan bought a condo in Palm Desert when her parents moved to the desert. Her three siblings visited on holidays or whenever they could.

"Mother" was Gerald's term of endearment for his wife.

He initiated her intervention with that expression of love.

"I had no clue what was coming," Betty wrote in "Betty: A Glad Awakening," "until Jerry sat me down on that couch and said, 'Mother, we've got something to talk to you about, and we want you to listen because we love you.'"

Her family enabled her to recover from her dependency as fast as she did, said longtime Betty Ford Center doctor James West.

"She was very close to everybody in her family," he said. "As a clinician that's all I can say except it was the ideal family.

"They were so close that when this intervention took place, it was effective."

Even though she was 93, and led a long and rich life I am sick. I adored her. IMO she was a lovely and classy lady - it's really tempting to pick her as the best first lady ever, but there have been some other great first ladies too. Like Lady Bird. (And btw, Lady Bird and Betty were good friends - even though of different parties) The only difference is Betty married a terrific and highly principled man while Lady Bird married a pig. (LBJ was a notorious womanizer.)

I liked everything about Betty Ford - her graciousness, her accessibility, her REALNESS - I also think she was a great judge of character. She knew Jerry was the one for her and went for it - we were lucky to have her as a first lady.

I even liked her when I was mad at President Ford for pardoning Nixon. (Hey I was 17 and a liberal of the first order - what did I know THEN) Over time I saw that Pres. Ford made the right decision. In time, he's going to be regarded as one of the best presidents ever (and maybe already is).

Gonna miss Betty Ford. She was a magnificient first lady - and person! RIP Betty!

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110708/NEWS01/110708020/Gerald-Betty-Ford-Love-Story?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cs

10:27 PM, Jul. 8, 2011

Gerald Ford decided his wife had chatted long enough at a McCallum Theatre event.

He leaned to Betty Ford, curled his cheek and gave a clicking sound, like a cowboy telling a horse to giddyap and go.

The former first lady never dropped her pleasant smile. She simply said she had to go.

Desert residents got to share many such private moments with the former first couple.

They saw how one of America's most independent first ladies could respond to a commanding gesture with devout loyalty. They also saw Gerald Ford share public expressions of love, such as telling his wife at the Betty Ford Center dedication, with tears in his eyes, "We want you to know that we love you."

"It was the greatest love story ever told," said friend Leon Parma of Indian Wells. "They were two people totally devoted to each other. ... Whenever we traveled alone he always called in the morning and in the evening every day. It was sweet talk and just a lovely couple."

Friends say Betty Ford hero-worshipped her husband. But her White House press secretary, Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld, said she wanted to be more than a doting wife and mother.

She attained that by building the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage. Their Washington, D.C., friend, Rear Adm. William Narva, called Gerald Ford "Mr. Betty Ford in the desert."

Gerald Ford was as comfortable with that as Betty Ford was in being a first lady.

"You don't go into marriage as a 50-50 thing," she once said on "60 Minutes."

"You go into it, both of you, as a 70-30 proposition."

"They were one terrific couple," said Henry Kissinger, Gerald Ford's secretary of state. "She was irreverent, she was warm-hearted, devoted to her husband, didn't like to hear big words, had a way to get to the heart of the issues, not bossy, not intruding, but you knew she had a lot of influence, especially on the human side."

There was nothing in Gerald or Betty Ford's childhood in Grand Rapids to indicate they would have a model marriage.

Gerald Ford's father abandoned his family shortly after he was born.

Betty's father apparently committed suicide when she was 16.

Betty married insurance salesman Bill Warren at age 24.

They divorced after what Betty called a "five-year misunderstanding."

Gerald was the most eligible bachelor in Grand Rapids in 1947. He was a handsome, 34-year-old lawyer, an All-American football star from University of Michigan and a war hero, although he never talked about that.

A mutual friend suggested he ask Betty out. Betty was working on a fashion show and her divorce wasn't final. She gave him 20 minutes.

It became a 58-year marriage.

They were married Oct. 15, 1948, after he won his first congressional primary. He was elected in November.

"I think there was a very strong bond between the Fords and they certainly were very affectionate," said Helmi Raaska, an archivist for the Gerald Ford Library in Michigan. "She could poke fun and be humorous about it. It wasn't the adoring gaze you sometimes associate with first ladies, (but) there were obviously strong bonds of affection."

Kissinger found them to be an unusual political couple.

"A lot of Washington couples are very conscious of the impressions they make on others and are planning how to get ahead," Kissinger said. "Especially the wife -- how she can promote her husband. Betty didn't think her husband needed promoting that way. They had a loving relationship on the basis of who they were. They didn't care what you thought."

"Jerry never got embarrassed by Betty," said Parma, who met the Fords while serving as chief of staff to San Diego Congressman Clair Burgener in the late 1950s. "He'd say, 'Oh, that's Betty' or (to Betty) 'I'm glad to hear what you think about it.'"

Family always important

The Fords stayed busy after moving to the desert in 1977, but developed favorite places.

They liked to have dinner at the upscale Jillian's on El Paseo, or have casual outings to Marie Callender's in Rancho Mirage. Jack Becker, who owned the Broasted Chicken restaurants, once told The Desert Sun that Gerald Ford called him five times about an order. And he had Betty come and pick it up.

The Fords did have chefs to help them with dinner parties.

"We first came to Palm Springs in 1991," said Narva, "and our first dinner party was at the Ford house. There were 12 couples and the 12th couple that came in was Frank and Barbara Sinatra."

Family was paramount to the Fords. Susan bought a condo in Palm Desert when her parents moved to the desert. Her three siblings visited on holidays or whenever they could.

"Mother" was Gerald's term of endearment for his wife.

He initiated her intervention with that expression of love.

"I had no clue what was coming," Betty wrote in "Betty: A Glad Awakening," "until Jerry sat me down on that couch and said, 'Mother, we've got something to talk to you about, and we want you to listen because we love you.'"

Her family enabled her to recover from her dependency as fast as she did, said longtime Betty Ford Center doctor James West.

"She was very close to everybody in her family," he said. "As a clinician that's all I can say except it was the ideal family.

"They were so close that when this intervention took place, it was effective."

As always, you can be relied upon to come up with some FABULOUS pictures. Thanks Monika! You rock!

Do any of you have Betty Ford's book?

I have G. Ford's book and it was very interesting. He and Biden (I read his book, too) have said one thing in common.. things in politics are now different back then things were better and politicians were nicer to each other.

As always, you can be relied upon to come up with some FABULOUS pictures. Thanks Monika! You rock!

Thanks for the kind words, Rich!! You can just see the love radiating from those photos. Even though the Ford presidency occured before I was born (I was born in the Carter era), it was interesting hearing what others who were around then had to say about the Ford era. Of the First Ladies in my time, my personal favorite is Laura Bush, who, like Betty Ford before her, is nothing but classy and a true lady.

Do any of you have Betty Ford's book?

I have G. Ford's book and it was very interesting. He and Biden (I read his book, too) have said one thing in common.. things in politics are now different back then things were better and politicians were nicer to each other.

I've never read the Fords' books, but I'll see if my library has any of them. Thanks for the recommendations. :cool:

I'm very sorry to hear about her passing. She was a classy, feminist icon and we need more people like her.
I agree!

Do any of you have Betty Ford's book?

I have G. Ford's book and it was very interesting. He and Biden (I read his book, too) have said one thing in common.. things in politics are now different back then things were better and politicians were nicer to each other.

I read it and liked it very much. Found it candid, refreshing and real. Exactly what I expected to come from this classy lady.

I've never read the Fords' books, but I'll see if my library has any of them. Thanks for the recommendations. :cool:

Get it - you won't be disappointed. And I gotta say, it was fascinating growing up in the middle of all this history (I was in my teens then)

Get it - you won't be disappointed. And I gotta say, it was fascinating growing up in the middle of all this history (I was in my teens then)

Cool!! I'll look them up.

She was a wonderful person and a trailblazer. Going public with her substance abuse saved the lives of so many. Very courageous on her part. They made a beautiful couple, from their early years to their final years.

RIP

I'm glad she got to live a nice long life. Rest In Peace Mrs. Ford!

She seemed to be one of the nicest First Ladies in our country...

May she rest in peace with her husband.

I just watched her funeral. It was beautiful. Many of her sucessors as First Lady were there, including Roselynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. Not sure where Barbara and Laura Bush were.

I just watched her funeral. It was beautiful. Many of her sucessors as First Lady were there, including Roselynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. Not sure where Barbara and Laura Bush were.

I think Laura had some timing issues as to getting there.

Perhaps Bar and George couldn't make it.

Nancy looked good for someone who is 90 years old.

Well, at least George W. Bush was there to represent his family.