Betty Ford has died.
The former US First Lady – the wife of President Gerald Ford, who sat in office from 1974 to 1977 – passed away at home last night at the age of 93, though further details of her passing have not yet been disclosed.
Betty was most famous for co-founding the world-renowned Betty Ford rehabilitation clinic in California, which opened in 1982, four years after was admitted to Long Beach Naval Hospital for prescription drug and alcohol abuse treatment.
A long line of celebrities have sought treatment from the facility, including Lindsay Lohan, Robert Downey Jr., Kelsey Grammer, Elizabeth Taylor, Ozzy Osbourne, Drew Barrymore, Johnny Cash, Liza Minnelli, Billy Joel, and David Hasselhoff.
Speaking about the clinic, Betty previously said: “People who get well often say, ‘You saved my life,’ and ‘You’ve turned my life around’.
“They don’t realise we merely provided the means for them to do it themselves and that’s all.
“That’s a God-given gift as far as I’m concerned. I don’t take any credit for providing anything that wasn’t provided to me.”
Betty – whose husband passed away in 2006 – underwent surgery for an undisclosed ailment in 2007 and has previously battled breast cancer and severe arthritis.