Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Ford (April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011) was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the wife of the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford. As First Lady, she was active in social policy and created precedents as a politically active presidential wife.

She was born Elizabeth Ann Bloomer in 1918 in Chicago, Illinois, the third child and only daughter of Hortense and William Stephenson Bloomer, Sr., who was a traveling salesman for Royal Rubber Co.

After the 1929 stock market crash, when Bloomer was aged 11, she began to earn money by modeling. She studied dance at the Calla Travis Dance Studio, graduating in 1935.

In 1942, Elizabeth Bloomer married William G. Warren. Warren was an alcoholic and in poor health. Just after Betty decided to file for divorce, he went into a coma. She took care of him for another two years as he convalesced, at his family's home. She stayed upstairs while he was nursed downstairs. After he recovered, they were divorced on September 22, 1947, on the grounds of "excessive, repeated cruelty".

On October 15, 1948, Elizabeth married Gerald Ford, a lawyer and World War II veteran, at Grace Episcopal Church, in Grand Rapids. Gerald Ford was then campaigning for what would be his first of thirteen terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

More Info: en.m.wikipedia.org