The U.S. Postal Service revealed the design of a commemorative stamp celebrating the life of former First Lady Betty Ford at the White House Wednesday.
The design was unveiled by First Lady Jill Biden, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Susan Ford Bales, the daughter of former President Gerald R. Ford and former First lady Betty Ford.
According to the USPS website, the stamp art is a detail from the official 1977 White House portrait by Felix de Cossio showing Betty Ford dressed in a pale blue chiffon dress.
The dedication ceremony for the stamp will take place on April 5 − three days before what would have been her 106th birthday − at the Annenberg Health Sciences Building located at Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage, California, according to a news release from the USPS. It will begin at 11 a.m. local time.
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The stamps will be available for purchase starting April 5 for 68 cents each. Customers can also get a sheet of 20 stamps for $13.60, according to the USPS website.
Elizabeth Anne Bloomer Ford was first lady from 1974-1977 and, according to a news release from the USPS, "impressed the American public in interviews by showing her humor and frankness about controversial issues facing the country."
“Betty Ford changed the role of first lady,” DeJoy said at the unveiling. “She used the role not just as a platform to represent the nation and advance and support her husband, she used it to speak openly and honestly about issues she cared about, and about personal issues she faced.”
USPS called Ford "the most politically outspoken first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt" as she helped mold the position's role.
According to the news release, Betty Ford underwent a mastectomy in 1974 after being diagnosed with breast cancer. While medical issues of previous first ladies wasn't always disclosed, she chose to share the story of her treatment.
Betty Ford also developed a substance use disorder after she began taking prescription pain pills for a pinched nerve in her neck in 1964, the release states. In 1978, after an intervention, she entered the Naval Regional Medical Hospital in Long Beach, California, for treatment.
As with her breast cancer, she publicly acknowledged her substance use disorder, "changing its perception and putting a face to the disease," according to the USPS.
In 1982, Betty Ford and former ambassador and close family friend Leonard Firestone established the Betty Ford Center for substance dependency. She lent her name to the center with the hope of destigmatizing substance use disorder treatment at a time when it wasn't spoken about openly.
“Mom would be humbled and grateful beyond words for the extraordinary tribute of her commemorative stamp,” said daughter Susan Ford Bales at the White House event.
“To Mom, the stamp would be a heartwarming reminder of joys of millions of breast cancer and substance use disorder survivors who have overcome their diseases and individually added to her legacy of candor and courage," Bales added.