Betty Ford Forever Stamps, 2024 Sheet – Cards, Letters and Stamp Collecting

The stamp art is a detail from the official 1977 White House portrait by Felix de Cossio (1913–1999). The oil-on-canvas portrait shows Mrs. Ford dressed in a pale blue chiffon dress. The seated portrait was cropped to accommodate the stamp format.

Mrs. Ford married Gerald R. Ford on October 15, 1948, while he was running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Two weeks later, he won, and the couple would spend the next 28 years in Washington, DC.

Betty Ford embraced the role of first lady, becoming the most politically outspoken first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt and helping mold the position’s modern role. In 2014, The Betty Ford Center merged with substance use disorder treatment center Hazelden, and there are now 15 Hazelden Betty Ford clinics across the country, continuing Mrs. Ford’s legacy of inspiring and helping others.

Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.