The Social Poets: First Lady Betty Ford: Remembered Dancing On White House Table: "From Denny: Betty Ford. What a lady. She hails from a time when people didn't hate each other in politics; they only disagreed. She was a great lady of humble attitude, practical in how she approached life and graceful in how she danced through life - no matter the obstacles.
Betty Ford was best known for her pioneering candor of bringing cancer out of the creeping shadows and on to the national stage. Back then absolutely no one talked about a cancer diagnosis because so often it was considered a death notice. She spoke about it publicly when it was also a social norm that doing so was in bad form.
Yet, it was her stalwart candidness that won her the support of women on both sides of the political aisle. Women started going in droves to their doctors to get breast cancer check-ups. Women picked up her call to actively address their own health issues rather than waiting to get patted on the head by a patronizing doctor to whom they would obediently acquiesce."
