WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL FILES: BULK MAIL FILES, 1974-76

The White House Social Files contain materials that relate to the activities of First Lady Betty Ford and her staff. They were maintained in a designated filing scheme under the supervision of the Chief of Files and the White House Central Files staff. Included was over 500 cubic feet of mail addressed to Mrs. Ford, or both President and Mrs. Ford, from the general public that became the White House Social Files Bulk Mail File. White House staff sorted this mail into boxes by general category or topic, but it remained unorganized within each box. Mail was usually acknowledged with a form letter, card, or other item that was developed by White House staff. The Bulk Mail Responses series contains examples of items that were sent to the public in response to this mail.

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library determined that there were two categories of material: mail that could be sampled and mail that should be retained in its entirety.

Sampled Mail

Ford Library determined that for many of the categories of mail only a representative sample was needed to reflect the character of the materials due to the miscellaneous character of the mail and the lack of arrangement. The Library preserved an appropriate sample of mail, minimally one or two percent, from each of the major bulk mail subject areas. The sample items retained can be found in Bulk Mail Sample series and illustrate the type, quantity, quality, and sentiments of the whole.

The majority of the mail sampled by the Library consists of simple requests for presidential greetings for special occasions. The White House received approximately 180,000 requests for birthday, anniversary, graduation, bar mitzvah, wedding, birth, and holiday greetings.

Mrs. Ford received over 55,000 letters and cards from the general public in the space of a few weeks after it was revealed that she had breast cancer in September 1974 and underwent a radical mastectomy. The First Lady used the occurrence of her illness and operation to promote awareness of breast cancer and encourage women to visit their doctors for an exam. Her approach prompted a substantial response from women across the country.

The Fords received approximately 56,000 Christmas and New Year's holiday cards while in the White House. Most were greeting cards, but they included are a small amount of correspondence, Christmas letters, and handmade cards. There is no indication that the greetings from the general public received an acknowledgement.

Other sampled topics include requests for information on how to make Christmas decorations similar to those at the White House, Mrs. Ford's ("First Mama") participation in Citizen's Band (CB) radio, and requests sent to Susan Ford or "Liberty," the Ford family dog, asking for a "paw-tograph."

Mail Retained in Entirety

Several topics were determined to be of particular importance and a manageable quantity and they were therefore retained in their entirety. The Ford Library retained all the mail received related to the Nixon pardon, Betty Ford's 60 Minutes television interview, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), letters relating to a prayer for Dr. Maurice Sage, and VIP Christmas and New Year's greetings to the Fords.

Betty Ford's interview with Morley Safer on the CBS television program 60 Minutes garnered a great deal of public reaction. During the interview she discussed premarital sex, divorce, drug use, and abortion. According to Marba Perrott, Director of Correspondence for the First Lady, the White House acknowledged over 10,000 letters of support (pro) and 23,000 letters of disapproval (con) in the weeks and months following the interview. The pro letters often praise Mrs. Ford on her openness, honesty and refreshing candor rather than a detailed opinion of the content of her interview. The con letters usually focus on the contents of the interview, frequently relying on religious arguments to explain their disapproval. There is also series of letters that were written directly to Susan Ford, letters that were written to Mrs. Ford in response to her acknowledgement, and acknowledgements that were returned to the White House because they were undeliverable.

Betty Ford strongly supported the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). She made speeches, wrote letters and called legislators urging their support in passing ERA in their state. The White House received approximately 15,000 letters, cards and telegrams regarding Mrs. Ford's stance on ERA, with nearly 10,000 in support. The pro letters primarily stated their full support for Betty Ford and her public stand on the issue. The con letters often commented on the possible evils of unisex restrooms, drafting of women for combat duty, cited passages from the Bible to bolster their position, and included informational flyers and newspaper clippings.

Also, on June 22, 1976 Betty Ford attended a Jewish National Fund (JNF) fundraising dinner in New York City for an American Bicentennial Park in Israel. At the dinner JNF President Dr. Maurice Sage suffered a heart attack, and Mrs. Ford stepped to the microphone and led the audience in a prayer for Dr. Sage. Mrs. Ford received approximately 500 letters and notes expressing approval of her thoughtful action and commenting on her grace and poise. These letters were acknowledged by a short form letter from Mrs. Ford.

RELATED MATERIALS
Additional correspondence written to Mrs. Ford can be found in the White House Social Files, a filing system maintained and shared by the East Wing staff. The White House Central Files is a comparable system used by the West Wing staff for the President, and its Subject File includes material related to social affairs (SO) and Betty Ford and the Ford family (PP 5). Public opinion mail written to President Ford can be found in the White House Central Files Bulk Mail File.

Material related to Mrs. Ford's activities as First Lady can be found in the individual files of staff members Russell Armentrout, Maria Downs, Elizabeth O'Neill, Susan Porter, Frances Pullen, and Sheila Weidenfeld. The Library also holds the personal papers of Maria Downs, Peter Sorum and Sheila Weidendfeld (currently unprocessed).