Former first lady Betty Ford dies

Betty Ford said things that first ladies just don't say, even today. And 1970s America loved her for it.

According to Ford, her young adult children probably had smoked marijuana -- and if she were their age, she'd try it, too. She told "60 Minutes" she wouldn't be surprised to learn that her youngest, 18-year-old Susan, was in a sexual relationship. She mused that living together before marriage might be wise and spoke up unapologetically for abortion rights, taking a position contrary to the president's.

The former first lady died at age 93, family friend Marty Allen said Friday. Details of Ford's death were not immediately available.

In an era when cancer was discussed in hushed tones, the first lady shared specifics of her breast cancer surgery. The publicity inspired countless women to seek breast exams.

Her most painful revelation came 15 months after leaving the White House, when she announced she was entering treatment for a longtime addiction to painkillers and alcohol. She used the story of her own descent and recovery to crusade for better addiction treatment. She co-founded the nonprofit Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 1982. She raised millions for the center and regularly welcomed new patients with, "Hello, my name's Betty Ford, and I'm an alcoholic and drug addict."

"People who get well often say, 'You saved my life,' and 'You've turned my life around,' " Ford once said. "They don't realize we merely provided the means for them to do it themselves, and that's all."

Elizabeth Bloomer, born April 8, 1918, fell in love with dance as a girl in Grand Rapids, Mich. At 20 she moved to New York to learn from her idol, Martha Graham. But her mother coaxed her back to Grand Rapids, where Betty married William Warren. They lasted five years.

While waiting for her divorce to become final, she met and began dating former college football star, Navy veteran and lawyer Jerry Ford. They would be married for 58 years, until his death in December 2006.

Two weeks after their October 1948 wedding, her husband was elected to his first House term. Betty Ford was thrust into a role she found unfulfilling: political housewife. While her husband campaigned for weeks or worked late, she raised their four children. A pinched nerve in her neck in 1964, followed by the onset of severe osteoarthritis, led her to an assortment of prescription drugs.

In 1973, as Ford was happily anticipating her husband's retirement from politics, Vice President Spiro Agnew was forced out of office over bribery charges. President Richard Nixon turned to Gerald Ford to fill the office. Less than a year later, Nixon resigned.

On Aug. 9, 1974, Gerald Ford was sworn in.

Betty Ford wrote of her ascent to first lady: "It was like going to a party you're terrified of, and finding out to your amazement that you're having a good time."