Ford’s vocal support of the ERA was equally well known. She spent a great deal of her time making calls to states debating ratification; protesters outside the White House carried signs that read “BETTY FORD, GET OFF THE PHONE.” This caused some strain between the East and West Wings of the White House, but the president refused to submit to pressure to quiet his wife and instead joked, “I say one wrong thing about women’s rights and the next state dinner is at McDonald’s.”
