I wouldn't be surprised if the writers of Mad Men loosely based the character of Betty Draper on Betty Ford. Both women had been fashion models living in New York City before they traded in their independence to settle down in a post-WW II suburban lifestyle to raise families and create homes for their husbands. Just like Draper is depicted on the show, Ford said that she felt as though her identity was lost in her new and limiting role as a wife and a mother. She began drinking to deal with the depression, and continued to take pain meds she'd been prescribed for a pinched nerve in the early '60s.

The lack of fulfillment felt by these two Bettys mirrors that of the women profiled in the book of another Betty: Betty Friedan's seminal The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963, which argues that women are victims of a social structure that dictated that the importance and meaning of their lives be identified through their husbands and children.

In the documentary, Ford says that once her husband became Vice President, and then later President, she had a podium and an audience, and she took the opportunity to unleash the voice within now that there were people listening. She says, "I was amazed that I was this important person."

Ford worked to ratify the ERA and, after being diagnosed with breast cancer, was open about her disease in a way and at a time that many women weren't; in fact, she became an activist for breast exams and early detection.

In this clip, she speaks candidly about premarital sex and being pro-choice.

After her husband lost the election in 1976, and she no longer had such a public platform, depression set in again and her addictions became worse, until her family staged an intervention and she sought treatment in 1978.

Interestingly, when she established the Betty Ford Center in 1982, she insisted upon gender-specific treatment for addictions, because she noticed that women were able to speak more openly about their problems when men weren't in the room.

Betty Ford: The Real Deal [PBS]

Related: The Feminine Mystique [Amazon]

John Pitney Jr. a professor of American Politics at Claremont, says that SNL unfairly maligned Gerald Ford in the 70s, and perhaps Chevy Chase's satirical portrait of Ford as a bumbling loser affected the American imagination. "People remember Gerald Ford through the prism of Chevy Chase. Ford was among our most athletic presidents, and he had a wide-ranging knowledge of public-policy issues. But because of 'SNL,' many came to think of him as a buffoon." Um, maybe they think of him as a buffoon because he pardoned Nixon, and hired both Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney as his Chiefs of Staff, not because Chevy Chase played him as someone who fell down a lot.

Anyway! Another professorial pundit, Lauren Feldman of American University, tells UPI that even if Palin does appear on SNL as has been rumored, it probably wouldn't help her political career. "Appearances on late-night comedy shows are useful for candidates as a means to project their non-political personas, to make them seem more 'human' and in-touch with voters. Palin is not necessarily lacking in these areas," Feldman says. "She would benefit more from a strong, substantive performance in a more serious setting."

Tina Fey's impressions may have "swift-butted" Palin's career, but they've been gangbusters for Fey's public profile. The New York Times wonders why the season premiere of Fey's 30 Rock is being held until October 30th, and NBC Entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman says, “If we knew [when we were planning the network schedule] what we know today about how hot Tina was going to be, would we do it differently? Maybe." See we thought Sarah Palin wasn't good for anything, but she might have inadvertently saved the critically acclaimed 30 Rock from the ratings basement.

Palin Falls Prey To Fey [NY Post]
Tina Fey's Impersonations May Have Impact [UPI]
It’s Easy To Find Tina Fey On TV, But Not Her Show [NY Times]