Betty Ford , the accidental First Lady to an accidental President, died at age 93 yesterday. Her second husband, Congressman Gerald Ford, succeeded to the Vice Presidency in 1973 with forced resignation of Spiro Agnew (for being a typically corrupt Maryland politician of the era) under the 25 Amendment. He succeeded to the presidency after Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate Scandal, and is the only President never to have been elected either as President or Vice President.
Betty is best known for two things. First her public battle with breast cancer at a time when cancer in general, and breast cancer in particular was a hush hush personal issue (people most commonly passed away after a "long illness"). This opened up the public discourse, and led to better diagnosis and treatment Second, her personal battle with alcohol and prescription drugs, which led her to found the Betty Ford Centers.
In a time of intense partisanship, I don't believe I ever heard a bad word said about her. A good life, well, if imperfectly, lived. The world is a better place because of her.
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