She was 93 years old. She was the co-founder of an eponymous addiction center in California.
"She was a powerful advocate for women’s health and women’s rights," said President Obama in a statement. "After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction and inspired thousands to seek much-needed treatment."
As First Lady, Ford focused her attention on handicapped children, women's issues and the arts, having studied modern dance at Bennington College in Vermont. She also strongly supported the Equal Rights Amendment.
After undergoing radical surgery for breast cancer in 1974, she advocated for increased public awareness of the disease. "Maybe if I as First Lady could talk about it candidly and without embarrassment, many other people would be able to as well," she said.
Similarly, in the second of her two memoirs, Betty: A Glad Awakening, Ford revealed in candid detail her own recovery from chemical dependency in the 1970s. She helped establish the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., where she and her husband spent their retirement years.
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