Betty's Ordeal

Again, remarkable courage

Two weeks ago Gerald Ford suddenly broke off a speaking tour in Rochester, N.Y., to take care of his wife Betty at their new $600,000 home in Rancho Mirage, a city eleven miles from Palm Springs, Calif. She was tense and anxious, and needed his help. Soon afterward, Betty decided that she had "overmedicated" herself with a combination of painkilling drugs for arthritis and a pinched nerve in her neck.

Last week, two days after her 60th birthday, the former First Lady entered the U.S. Naval Hospital in Long Beach, Calif. for a two-to three-week stay, displaying the same remarkable courage that she showed when her right breast was removed because of cancer in 1974. Said she of her current problem: "It's an insidious thing, and I mean to rid myself of its damaging effects. There have been too many things that I have overcome to be forever burdened with this."

Betty Ford checked in alone at the hospital's alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. Reason: a day earlier, her husband had left for a series of college lectures in Alabama and golf with Pro Arnold Palmer and Football Coach Paul ("Bear") Bryant. Thus, even at a time of family crisis, the Fords stuck to the pattern of their nearly 30 years in politics: despite concerns at home, he hits the road to build support for the G.O.P. Last month Ford spent nearly half his time traveling, speaking at seven G.O.P. fund-raising affairs, three business conventions and three college campuses. The Ford children have left home, though Susan, 20, lives near by in her own condominium.

Ford is concerned about Betty's plight, but election-year pressures make it difficult for him to stay in Palm Springs. As his 1976 running mate, Kansas Senator Robert Dole, says, "His old juices are starting to flow." When off the banquet and cap-and-gown circuits, Ford can most probably be found on the golf links. Among his partners are three millionaires: Rubber Magnate Leonard Firestone, Publishing Baron Walter Annenberg and Comedian Bob Hope. One benefit from his links dedication: Ford has lowered his handicap by three strokes, to a respectable 15.

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