This Day in History: 12 July 2020
12 July 1984
36 years ago, today, Walter Mondale announced that he had chosen Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. She became the first female vice-presidential candidate to represent a major political party. Ferraro was the daughter of Italian immigrants and had previously gained recognition as a vocal advocate of women's rights in Congress. Shortly after she was named vice presidential candidate, Governor Mario Cuomo of New York, a Democrat like Mondale and Ferraro, opened the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco with criticism. He began a retort against Republican President Ronald Reagan's contention that the nation was a 'shining city on a hill'. Cuomo described Reagan as oblivious to the needs of his citizens.
Mondale still proved a lacklustre choice for the Democratic presidential nominee. On November 6, President Reagan and Vice President George Bush defeated the Mondale-Ferraro duo in the greatest Republican landslide in American history. Apart from Mondale's home state, Minnesota, the Republicans carried every state. In 1985, Ferraro left Congress, and in 1992 and 1998 made unsuccessful bids for a US Senate seat. During the administration of President Bill Clinton, she became a permanent member on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Her career as a journalist, author and businesswoman was also continued, and she even served in the 2008 presidential campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton. In March 2011, after suffering from multiple myeloma 12 years after being diagnosed, Ferraro sadly died.
Want to find out more about the life of Geraldine Ferraro? Click here for more information, or here for a timeline of women's history milestones.
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