Betty Ford Has Died

Former First Lady Betty Ford, wife of President Gerald Ford, has passed away at the age of 93. Ford was a courageous survivor of both alcohol addiction and breast cancer who went on to champion such issues as the Equal Rights Amendment. She famously founded The Betty Ford Center, a world-renowned treatment clinic for substance abuse. She had been ailing in recent years, but no official cause of death has been released.

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  Betty Ford, 1918-2011

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  This Aug. 11, 1975 photo released by CBS-TV shows first lady Betty Ford as she appeared on "60 Minutes." Ford, the former first lady whose triumph over drug and alcohol addiction became a beacon of hope for addicts and the inspiration for her Betty Ford Center, has died, a family friend said Friday, July 8, 2011. She was 93. (AP Photo/CBS-TV)

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  In this Sunday, April 23, 2006 file picture, former President Gerald Ford and former first lady Betty Ford smile from the front of their home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. as President Bush, not pictured, leaves after a visit. On Friday, July 8, 2011, a family friend said that Betty Ford had died at the age of 93. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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  In this Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 file picture, Betty Ford reaches out to touch the casket of her husband former President Gerald Ford in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Behind her is her son Steve Ford. Betty Ford, the former first lady whose triumph over drug and alcohol addiction became a beacon of hope for addicts and the inspiration for her Betty Ford Center, has died, a family friend said Friday, July 8, 2011. She was 93. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, Pool)