From the Archives: Betty Ford at the Beverly Wilshire hotel

First Lady Betty Ford was on her way a news conference at the Beverly Wilshire. According to the May 7, 1976, Los Angeles Times, “She said neither she nor the President was upset by his losses in the recent primaries.”

President Ford had just lost Republican primaries in Texas, Georgia and Indiana to Ronald Reagan. Ford won the GOP nomination only to lose the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter.

This image accompanied a March 7, 1976, Los Angeles Times article on the Beverly Wilshire’s success at attracting celebrities and heads of state. Staff writer Dorothy Townsend reported, ”Rank counts at the Beverly Wilshire, of course, and an eminent guest may be bumped to make way for the preeminent.”

“To put up President Ford’s wife in the suite she prefers … the management discreetly had to bump Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman and his wife ...”