Presidential Biographies | Ford Administration - Family Life

Family Life

Gerald Ford was discharged from the army in 1946 after serving four years. He returned to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he met, courted, and married Elizabeth "Betty" Bloomer Warren in 1948, just before Ford took his seat in Congress for the first time. It was Warren's second marriage. By 1957 the couple had four children—Michael, John, Steven, and Susan—and had moved to a home in Alexandria, Virginia.

Betty Ford—an intelligent, vivacious woman who was very interested in dance and culture—was a smash as a hostess in Washington. The Ford White House was greatly admired for the varied entertainments provided, the interesting guests from all walks of life in the United States, and the elegant themes and decor that highlighted everything from Native American traditions to Art Deco.

As first lady Betty Ford was a strong advocate of equal economic and civil rights for women and spoke out in favor of the...