Awash in conflicting reports from unstable battlefronts, [President Gerald] Ford wanted a firsthand appraisal [on the situation in Vietnam] from someone he could trust. General [Frederick] Weyand was his chosen emissary. "You are not going over to lose," he instructed Weyand, "but to be tough and see what we can do." Ford conceded that any military options were severely limited. "I regret I don't have the authority to do some of the things President Nixon could do," he remarked wistfully. As the Oval Office emptied, photographer David Kennerly stayed behind. "You know, I would really like to go with the General," he said. Ford needed no persuading. As a journalist, and a friend, with extensive knowledge of the region from his two-year stint as a combat photographer for UPI, Life and Time, Kennerly could be counted on for an honest assessment of events -- more honest, perhaps, than that of diplomats and military men -- and with it, the pictures to back him up. Kennerly returned to his first-floor office with a sign dangling from his neck. GONE TO VIETNAM. BACK IN TWO WEEKS.

That evening the irreverent photo hound dubbed Hot Shot by the Secret Service appeared in the upstairs family quarters to say goodbye. Ford threw a protective arm around the young man's shoulders.

"You be careful. You have everything you need?"

As a matter of fact, Kennerly's pockets were empty. Local banks were closed and he could use some cash. Ford opened his wallet and handed over its contents, $47, as Betty Ford gave Kennerly a hug. He was striding toward the door when the President called out his name. "Here," said Ford, tossing Kennerly a quarter. "You might as well clean me out."

-- Richard Norton Smith, on White House photographer David Hume Kennerly's interactions with President Gerald Ford after Kennerly asked to accompany a General on a fact-finding mission to Vietnam in March 1975, shortly before the Fall of Saigon, An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

Elizabeth Taylor, Halston, Betty Ford and Liza Minnelli at Studio 54 in New York City, 1977.

original caption

JACKIE GREETS FORD

The President and Mrs. Ford are greeted by Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis at the John F. Kennedy center where they attended a benefit performance on Sunday. It was only the second time Mrs. Onassis had visited the center.

January 26th, 1976

Kristine Froseth in The First Lady - Episode 3 “Please Allow Me”

On 7 July 1976, the Queen and Prince Philip danced with President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford, respectively, during the State Dinner at the White House.

Betty Ford, "So I took off my shoes, hopped up there, and struck a pose."

January 19, 1977

"....I passed by the empty Cabinet Room and thought, 'You know, I've always wanted to dance on the Cabinet Room table.'"

Photographer, David Hume Kennerly: "When she voiced her idea about dancing on the Cabinet Room table to him, he recalls, "I said, 'Well, nobody's around.'"

“They may never have worn crowns, but new world ladies like Eleanor Roosevelt, Ava Perron, Betty Ford, are queens regardless. 🩵” - Submitted by Anonymous

Performer at the Gibbon (MN) "Polkafest" - "four days of dancing to both German and Polish polkas." DOCUMERICA/EPA 1974. NARA ID 558284NARA ID 558287.

First Lady Betty Ford watches dancers at Milwaukee Oktoberfest, 9/26/1976. Ford Library, NARA ID 45644243 NARA gif.

OKTOBERFEST, POLKA & PROST! By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs. Special shoutout to #1 Oktoberfest musical star/Polka King/master accordionist Mike Surratt!

Grab an accordion, lederhosen/dirndl, and a beer stein - it's almost time to celebrate OKTOBERFEST!

“I’ve never been to an Oktoberfest, but I knew Milwaukee was the place to come. I love German food from pigs knuckles to sauerkraut, and I love your spirit and warmth.” First Lady Betty Ford

Members of the Concord Singers, New Ulm, MN 1974. DOCUMERICA/EPA 7/1974. NARA ID 558262.

President Ronald Reagan celebrates Oktoberfest at The Old Heidelberg Park in Milwaukee WI, 9/26/1984, Reagan Library, NARA ID 75853635.

"Polkafest" at the Gibbon (MN) Ballroom, "four days of dancing to both German and Polish polkas." DOCUMERICA/EPA 1974. NARA ID 558284.

Christy Hengel, "one of a few manufacturers of concertinas in the U.S. ... The concertina is the prime musical instrument for old time polkas and waltzes." DOCUMERICA/EPA, 1974. NARA ID 558359.

F. Goetze and D. Muller Accordions patent 10/28/1873, Records of the Patent and Trademark Office. NARA ID 196007775.

See also: Beer = mc2, Pieces of History Spirited Republic: Alcohol in American History, NARA exhibit

Betty Ford Quotes

"I don't look at what I've lost. I look instead at what I have left."

On her birthday, 10 Betty Ford Quotes:

March 14, 1975 - WWD Page 5 Rtw’s new stars Drawings by Steven Stipelman WWD photos

Thirty-one-year-old Albert Capraro, of Jerry Guttenberg, Ltd. hit the headlines recently when he paid a creative call on Betty Ford at the White House. Overnight success? Hardly. Capraro’s been behind the design scene for 11 years.

After Parson’s (where he picked up a Fernando Sarmi Gold Thimble), he worked briefly for Lilly Dache’s custom salon but left because, “I wanted to produce a series of ideas, not one thing for one person,” then went on to design evening clothes for the now defunct Jobere.

In 1966, Capraro became Oscar de la Renta’s better ready-to-wear assistant and, within two years, was doing the Boutique collection, but without design credit. “I was with Oscar eight years, and that’s a long time. I had grown as much as I could there and couldn’t afford to pass up this opportunity.

The “opportunity” was a partnership last July (with Jerry Guttenberg, Ben Shaw, and Tony Siano) and vice-presidency in Jerry Guttenberg, Ltd. to say nothing of having his own name on the label.

Capraro, a native New Yorker, combines the attitudes of a “hopeless romantic” (“When I see something lovely — a film, a gallery, a person — I try to get that into my clothes”) and a tough self-critic (‘I go over something again and again until it looks right to my eye”). The result is a summer collection, priced from $32 to $89, that swings from soft posh peasant looks to clean, crisp chintzes.

Capraro credits Mrs. Ford with “launching” him — “She even had some of my old La Renta Boutique clothes” — but claims that even before the White House publicity, “The business was in the black within six months.”

“I like to think of fashion as an art,” he adds, “because I approach it that way. But the supply and demand principle makes it a craft.”

Janet Reis, Saks Fifth Avenue Shop buyer, comments: “I’ve always believed in Capraro as a designer. His collection is fashion at a price, along with unusual fabrics, and that’s what people are looking for today.”

1976.

Betty Ford’s disgraceful dance with Tony Orlando made Nancy Reagan a wallflower. 

At a time when success in the Presidency was defined by not being Richard Nixon, journalists put their usual skepticism on hold to celebrate "Grand Rapids homespun...a man who toasted his own English muffins for breakfast" -- a custom, it must be said, born less of Trumanesque simplicity than of Betty Ford's lifelong aversion to rising early ("I can't imagine anything worse than starting off the day with conversation"). "An unabashed lowbrow," according to Newsweek, [Gerald] Ford read the sports page before the rest of the paper. His personal tastes ran to double-knit suits, the Dallas Cowboys, Edgeworth pipe tobacco and bourbon and water. He addressed visitors as "sir" and took copious notes while conversing with Oval Office visitors. A reporter trailing Ford watched as Marines standing outside the West Wing snapped to attention at his approach. One of them opened the door and stood wordlessly by the threshold.

"Hi, I am Jerry Ford," said the President, extending his hand in friendly greeting. "I am going to be living here. What is your name?"

-- Richard Norton Smith, on the dramatic differences in the personalities of Presidents Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon and immediate change of atmosphere around the White House following Nixon's resignation, as recounted in Smith's An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

First Lady Betty Ford photographed by Horst P. Horst for American Vogue, April 1975.

This has to be one of the best books I have ever read this year!

If you like audio biographies and famous people, this is the book for you! It's well written with tons of research on each person in just under 300 pages.

(I picked it up because I found the title to be humorous and I'm glad I did)

Betty Ford.