Presidents' Children: Susan Ford
First Lady Betty Ford was famous, among other things, for her admission of a personal problem with alcoholism and prescription drug abuse. Following her recovery, she established the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, and was actively involved in its operation throughout most of the remainder of her life. In 2005 she passed on the chair of the center's board of directors to her only daughter and youngest child, Susan.
Susan Elizabeth Ford Bales was born on July 6, 1957 in Washington, D.C. Her parents are former President Gerald Ford and former First Lady Betty Ford. Throughout her childhood her father served in Congress until he became Vice-President in December of 1973 and President in August of 1974. Her father that two attempts made on his life as President, and Susan was also one of three people who were targets for violence by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Because of this she had enhanced Secret Service protection.
She attended high school at the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, and was able to convince her parents to hold her senior prom for the class of 1975 in the East Room of the White House. During that part of her father's Presidency when her mother was hospitalized for breast cancer, she filled in for her mother as White House hostess.
Susan Ford enrolled in Mount Vernon College for Women in northwest Washington, D.C. in 1975, while her father was still in the White House. She later transferred to the University of Kansas.
On February 10, 1979 she married Charles Vance, one of her father's former U.S. Secret Service agents. The couple operated a private security company in Washington. They had two daughters, Tyne Mary (born 1980) and Heather Elizabeth (born 1983). They were divorced in 1988. Ford remarried on July 25, 1989 to attorney Vaden Bales. She and her husband Vaden lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after their marriage. In 1997 they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they lived for nearly 12 years before returning to Tulsa in 2009.
After her second marriage, Susan Ford Bales trained as a photographer. She worked as a photojournalist for the Associated Press, Newsweek, Money Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, the Topeka Capital-Journal, the Omaha Sun and also did freelance work. She was hired to shoot publicity stills for the film Jaws 2.
In 1992 Susan Ford Bales became a member of the board of the Betty Ford Center. In 2005 her mother, then aged 87, resigned as chair of the organization and Susan succeeded her mother, who remained as a board member. In her mother's autobiography entitled "Betty – A Glad Awakening", her mother credits Susan with having orchestrated her successful intervention in 1982 after the Ford family became concerned with her drinking, addictions and behavior. In 1984, Susan and her mother, Betty Ford, helped launch National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a joint appearance in an ad campaign.
Susan Ford Bales has authored a number of books. In 2002, she and Laura Hayden co-wrote a novel entitled Double Exposure: A First Daughter Mystery. It had a contemporary White House setting. In 2005 a sequel was published, entitled Sharp Focus.
In addition to her responsibilities at the Betty Ford Center, Susan Ford Bales has been very active on behalf of her family at numerous events. During the December 26, 2006 – January 3, 2007 state funeral services and ceremonies for her father, she represented the family at a number of events, attending each of the services and ceremonies with her mother. She personally greeted mourners while President Ford's casket lay-in-state on the Lincoln Catafalque in the Capital Rotunda and during the public repose at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She read a passage from the Letter of James during her father's funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, and her daughter Tyne Berlanga offered one of the Prayers during the funeral service at Grace Church in Grand Rapids. On January 1, she assisted her mother in receiving dignitaries and other official visitors who had come to Blair House to pay their personal respects.
On January 16, 2007, Susan Ford Bales spoke at the Pentagon at a Naming Ceremony for the aircraft carrier CVN-78, then under construction, was officially named the USS Gerald R. Ford. On November 14, 2009, she participated in the keel laying for the ship. On November 9, 2013, she christened the Gerald R. Ford with a bottle of champagne.
On June 11, 2007, she delivered remarks in Washington, D.C. at the ceremony unveiling the U.S. Postal Service's image of the commemorative stamp honoring her father. In July 2007, she represented her mother at the funeral service of former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. Also in July 2007, she and her husband Vaden Bales represented Mrs. Ford and the Ford family at the naming of the Gerald R. Ford Post Office in Vail, Colorado.
In 2010, at age 53 Susan Ford Bales went into sudden cardiac arrest while exercising on an elliptical machine. She had no prior medical history of her having heart disease. She later said that she was fortunate that a surgeon was present in the gym at the time of the incident. She was revived with the use of a defibrillator. After her recovery, she was given a heart stent and pacemaker. She spoke of the experience on June 4, 2013 at the American Heart Association's Heart Ball in Grand Rapids.
Susan Elizabeth Ford Bales was born on July 6, 1957 in Washington, D.C. Her parents are former President Gerald Ford and former First Lady Betty Ford. Throughout her childhood her father served in Congress until he became Vice-President in December of 1973 and President in August of 1974. Her father that two attempts made on his life as President, and Susan was also one of three people who were targets for violence by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Because of this she had enhanced Secret Service protection.
She attended high school at the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, and was able to convince her parents to hold her senior prom for the class of 1975 in the East Room of the White House. During that part of her father's Presidency when her mother was hospitalized for breast cancer, she filled in for her mother as White House hostess.
Susan Ford enrolled in Mount Vernon College for Women in northwest Washington, D.C. in 1975, while her father was still in the White House. She later transferred to the University of Kansas.
On February 10, 1979 she married Charles Vance, one of her father's former U.S. Secret Service agents. The couple operated a private security company in Washington. They had two daughters, Tyne Mary (born 1980) and Heather Elizabeth (born 1983). They were divorced in 1988. Ford remarried on July 25, 1989 to attorney Vaden Bales. She and her husband Vaden lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after their marriage. In 1997 they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they lived for nearly 12 years before returning to Tulsa in 2009.
After her second marriage, Susan Ford Bales trained as a photographer. She worked as a photojournalist for the Associated Press, Newsweek, Money Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, the Topeka Capital-Journal, the Omaha Sun and also did freelance work. She was hired to shoot publicity stills for the film Jaws 2.
In 1992 Susan Ford Bales became a member of the board of the Betty Ford Center. In 2005 her mother, then aged 87, resigned as chair of the organization and Susan succeeded her mother, who remained as a board member. In her mother's autobiography entitled "Betty – A Glad Awakening", her mother credits Susan with having orchestrated her successful intervention in 1982 after the Ford family became concerned with her drinking, addictions and behavior. In 1984, Susan and her mother, Betty Ford, helped launch National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a joint appearance in an ad campaign.
Susan Ford Bales has authored a number of books. In 2002, she and Laura Hayden co-wrote a novel entitled Double Exposure: A First Daughter Mystery. It had a contemporary White House setting. In 2005 a sequel was published, entitled Sharp Focus.
In addition to her responsibilities at the Betty Ford Center, Susan Ford Bales has been very active on behalf of her family at numerous events. During the December 26, 2006 – January 3, 2007 state funeral services and ceremonies for her father, she represented the family at a number of events, attending each of the services and ceremonies with her mother. She personally greeted mourners while President Ford's casket lay-in-state on the Lincoln Catafalque in the Capital Rotunda and during the public repose at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She read a passage from the Letter of James during her father's funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, and her daughter Tyne Berlanga offered one of the Prayers during the funeral service at Grace Church in Grand Rapids. On January 1, she assisted her mother in receiving dignitaries and other official visitors who had come to Blair House to pay their personal respects.
On January 16, 2007, Susan Ford Bales spoke at the Pentagon at a Naming Ceremony for the aircraft carrier CVN-78, then under construction, was officially named the USS Gerald R. Ford. On November 14, 2009, she participated in the keel laying for the ship. On November 9, 2013, she christened the Gerald R. Ford with a bottle of champagne.
On June 11, 2007, she delivered remarks in Washington, D.C. at the ceremony unveiling the U.S. Postal Service's image of the commemorative stamp honoring her father. In July 2007, she represented her mother at the funeral service of former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. Also in July 2007, she and her husband Vaden Bales represented Mrs. Ford and the Ford family at the naming of the Gerald R. Ford Post Office in Vail, Colorado.
In 2010, at age 53 Susan Ford Bales went into sudden cardiac arrest while exercising on an elliptical machine. She had no prior medical history of her having heart disease. She later said that she was fortunate that a surgeon was present in the gym at the time of the incident. She was revived with the use of a defibrillator. After her recovery, she was given a heart stent and pacemaker. She spoke of the experience on June 4, 2013 at the American Heart Association's Heart Ball in Grand Rapids.