Richard and Pat/ Gerald and Betty

A Guide to Abbreviations in Notes:

Sources Consulted

Collections Cited

Oral Histories Cited

Richard and Pat Nixon

The success of Nixon's administration, however, depended on substantive actions such as detente with China. Standing on the Great Wall in 1972, at the peak of his political career, Nixon needed his wife Pat as a prop. Posing together conveyed his accomplishment to American voters and symbolized the new era in American foreign relations and presidential power. (Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace)

Gerald and Betty Ford

The Fords appeared to be an all-American respite from "Tricky Dick." But by the 1970s, the consensus surrounding the World War II generation was shattering. Many defined being "normal" as sharing the pain and conflict of modern American family life. In her 1975 interview with "60 Minutes", Betty Ford spoke openly about sex, drugs, and abortion. The resulting controversy, and her continuing role as "the drunken wife at the company picnic," embarrassed the President. Still, in the new, media-driven culture of exposure, notoriety was often confused with popularity and political power. The unprecedented campaign poster above featuring a president and his wife tried to harness Betty's fame. In fact, her actions upstaged, undercut, and distracted her husband, and may have cost Jerry Ford the election in 1976. (Gerald R. Ford Library)