I'll never forget the day that I was told I would have to have a mastectomy. My reaction to the words was total denial.

Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness following her 1974 mastectomy and was a passionate supporter of and activist for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren "Betty" Ford (April 8 1918 – July 8 2011) was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during the presidency of her husband Gerald Ford.