On October 15, 1948, future President Gerald R. Ford married Elizabeth Anne “Betty” Bloomer Warren at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford was in the midst of his first campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, and the couple married just two weeks before he won election to Congress.
Their honeymoon was characteristically intertwined with politics. After a brief stay in Ann Arbor and a University of Michigan–Northwestern football game, the Fords drove to Owosso, Michigan, to attend a rally for Republican presidential nominee Thomas E. Dewey.
The marriage became a defining partnership in American public life. As First Lady, Betty Ford became known for her openness on difficult subjects and her advocacy on issues including breast cancer awareness, women’s rights, and addiction recovery. This photograph captures Gerald and Betty Ford at the start of a journey that would eventually lead them to the White House.
