Betty Ford (born 1918) was thrust into the public eye when her husband succeeded Richard Nixon as the 38th president of the United States. After leaving the White House in 1977, Ford battled alcoholism and drug dependency. Following her recovery, she co-founded a drug and alcohol treatment facility in Rancho Mirage, California., where she continues to serve as chairman of the board.

Betty Ford wanted to be a dancer, a wife and a mother. But she became much more. When her husband was appointed 38th president of the United States, she suddenly became a celebrity. She used her notoriety to promote humanitarian causes and to raise awareness of breast cancer, alcoholism and drug addiction, battles that she personally fought and was compelled to publicly acknowledge.

Betty Ford was born Elizabeth Ann Bloomer on April 8, 1918 in Chicago. She was the third child and only daughter of Hortense Neahr and William Stephenson...