Former Vice President and Senator (D-MN) Walter Mondale has died at age 93, at his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to a family spokesperson, he was in the company of his family.
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale was born in Ceylon, Minnesota to Methodist minister Theodore Mondale and Claribel Cowan Hope, a part-time music teacher. He attended Macalester College for two years before transferring to and graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1951. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served at Fort Knox during the Korean War. Aided by the G.I. Bill, he enrolled in the University of Minnesota Law School and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1956. In 1955, he married Joan Adams.
Mondale was a campaign worker for Senator Hubert Humphrey and Governor Orville Freeman, the latter appointing him Minnesota Attorney General in 1960 after the previous incumbent resigned. He was elected to the office in his own right in 1962. Governor Karl Rolvaag appointed Mondale to Humphrey's Senate seat after he successfully campaigned to become vice president as President Lyndon Baines Johnson's running mate. He was elected Senator in his own right in 1966 and was reelected in 1972. Mondale successfully campaigned for vice president in 1976 as the running mate of Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, who was elected president. They were defeated for reelection in 1980 by former California Governor Ronald Reagan and former Texas congressman George H.W. Bush. In 1984, Mondale ran for president against Reagan in 1984, but was soundly defeated, carrying only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia. His ticket, however, made history by including the first female vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, who was a congresswoman from New York. Mondale served as Ambassador to Japan from 1993 to 1996, being appointed by President Bill Clinton. Eleven days before the 2002 election, Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) was killed in a plane crash, and Mondale was nominated to replace him. He lost to Republican candidate Norm Coleman, who had been mayor of St. Paul. In 2008, Mondale initially endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for president, but later endorsed the eventual winner, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).
Mondale was predeceased by his daughter Eleanor, who died of brain cancer in 2011. He is survived by his wife Joan and their sons Ted and William.
Read more at CNN, Reuters, AP News, Politico and the Star Tribune.
No comments:
Post a Comment