Secrets & Scandals Of America’s First Ladies

The Less-Than-Conservative Republican

Before her husband was elected president, Betty sought therapy. She openly struggled with dependence on pain medication and alcoholism, becoming the first First Lady to do so. Those issues made her a “less-than-conservative” republican but she ended up capturing the attention of moderates and liberals, which made her husband’s presidency more relatable and noteworthy. As First Lady, The New York Times described her as “a product and symbol of the cultural and political times — doing the Bump dance along the corridors of the White House, donning a mood ring… a housewife who argued passionately for equal rights for women, a mother of four who mused about drugs, abortion and premarital sex aloud and without regret.”

Sharing a Bedroom

While she struggled with her own personal demons, Betty Ford was seen as vulnerable and likable. The Fords were the first executive couple since the Coolidges to openly share a bedroom. While this is expected of married couples, this was a fact that drew shock and awe from around the country. The Fords were viewed as completely unorthodox and progressive. A 1975 interview with McCall’s revealed that Ford was asked about everything, save for how often she and President Ford got intimate in the bedroom, saying that “And if they’d asked me that I would have told them,” with her response being, “As often as possible.”