Happy anniversary, Gerald and Betty Ford!In August 1947, Gerald Ford was introduced to Elizabeth (Be

Happy anniversary, Gerald and Betty Ford!

In August 1947, Gerald Ford was introduced to Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer Warren by mutual friends and a few months later they were engaged. The couple had to delay the wedding while Ford planned his first congressional campaign because they were unsure how voters would feel about him marrying a divorced ex-dancer. They were finally married on October 15, 1948 at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Betty wore a sapphire blue satin dress and a matching hat with a piece of lace from a parasol belonging to her husband-to-be’s grandmother, while Gerald had mud on his shoes from campaigning before the ceremony. “My mother was furious,” he recalled, “but Betty pretended not to notice.”

Image: “Photograph of Gerald and Betty Ford on Their Wedding Day at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan,” 10/15/1948.