Why We Still Love Betty Ford

Why We Still Love Betty Ford

     I was just talking with a friend in Palm Springs, California about our former First Lady, Betty Ford.   She is a heroic figure, having taken alcoholism and drug abuse out of the realm of shame, and placing it front and center as a medical problem rather than a weakness, a self-imposed illness, or a character defect.

     One of her greatest achievements was establishing the Betty Ford Clinic for alcohol and drug abuse in California.  The Clinic was founded in _____ and has helped ____ toward recovery.  In fact, Betty was the first woman to bring alcoholism out of the closet and into the twentieth century as a major health problem that is treatable.

Her history with alcohol and drugs.   I recall when Mrs. Ford made the announcement that she had a drug problem.  This took so much courage.  One of the biggest challenges to treatment had always been the reluctance of people to come forward and admit they had a problem.  When Mrs. Ford made headlines with her announcement, it gave many other Americans the courage to be honest.  If the President's wife could make such a claim, this serious disease could affect anyone.

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     While her husband, President Gerald Ford, hoped that his Administration would be most admired for candor and transparency, his wife actually brought this to fruition.  An early supporter of the Equal Right Amendment, she consistently ranks as one of the most outspoken First Ladies, next to Eleanor Roosevelt   (Candor and Courage, John Robert Greene).  But it was her open declaration of being an alcoholic that will make her endure as the great campaigner for health advances in the field of addiction.

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