Betty Ford
Weeks after becoming First Lady in 1974 she had a mastectomy and, unusually for the time, said so publicly. Clinics recorded a surge of women coming for breast examinations.
Betty Ford (1918-2011) was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 1974, a few weeks after her husband Gerald Ford became President. She had a radical mastectomy and chose to discuss the diagnosis and operation openly at a time when breast cancer was rarely mentioned in public. In the following weeks women across the United States sought breast examinations and mammograms in large numbers; among those diagnosed as a result was Happy Rockefeller, wife of the Vice President. Ford went on to speak with equal candour about her treatment for alcohol and prescription drug dependence, founding the Betty Ford Center in 1982. Her disclosure is often credited as the start of open public conversation about breast cancer in America.
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