On the Fords’ last day in the White House they had breakfast together and then said farewell to the household staff in the State Dining Room. After that they went to the Blue Room with members of their immediate staff to await the arrival of the Carters. As everyone waited solemnly for the new President-elect and his wife, Mrs. Ford decided to break the tension. She looked over at Sheila Weidenfeld with a mischievous gleam in her eye and cried: “I’ve got some unfinished business to take care of!”
Then she grabbed the press secretary, put her over her knee, and started spanking her. When she finished, the two embraced, and everyone, the out-going President especially, was smiling.
Source:
Boller, Paul F. "Betty Ford." Presidential Wives: An Anecdotal History. New York: Oxford UP, 1988. 432. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Weidenfeld, First Lady’s Lady, 417.
Further Reading:
Leslie Lynch King, Jr. / Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.
Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Ford née Bloomer
There had to be some history behind that event, it had to be a running joke of some sort.