Betty Ford: The First Lady Who Admitted She Was an Addict. Washington Wanted Her Gone.

Betty Ford was expected to smile, stay quiet, and protect the White House image. Instead, she publicly admitted her battle with alcohol and prescription drug addiction—at a time when Washington considered such honesty a scandal. This is the story of the First Lady they wanted silenced, the private intervention that saved her life, and how her most painful confession became a lifeline for thousands of others.