Betty Ford's August 1975 60 Minutes interview

Betty Ford, the first lady of the United States, filmed an interview with Morley Safer for the television news program 60 Minutes,[1] which was broadcast on August 10, 1975.

After it aired, a number of Ford's remarks on hot-button issues generated particularly great media attention.

[6] In the interview, Ford was characteristically candid in her answers to questions covering a variety of topics.

[11] In her answers to such questions, Ford essentially expressed that she trusted her children to make wise decisions, and that she would be there for them even if they made unwise ones.

[6] Ford also spoke in the interview about being tolerant and respectful of unwed couples who opted for premarital cohabitation, comments that she would later feel had been taken out of context by the public.

[5] However, Ford was also asked if she found some women's liberation advocates "a little bit hard to take", to which she responded that she did, and that she was not personally, "the type that's going to burn my bra or do something like that.

[11] This question came on the heels of a demanding trip Ford took with her husband visiting Eastern Europe in which she showed clear signs of physical exhaustion at several points.

[2] After it aired, a number of Ford's remarks in this interview on hot-button issues generated particularly great media attention.

[13] Within a day of the airing, President Ford was fielding press conferences about the interview, and attempted to take a neutral stance on what his wife had said.

[10] An October 1975 opinion poll by the New York Daily News found that 60% of New Yorkers approved of her discussing the topics of premarital sex, marijuana use, and abortion, while 32% opposed.