Walter Mondale

Walter Frederick Fritz Mondale January 5 1928 April 19 2021 was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter A US senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976 he was the Democratic Partys nominee in the 1984 presidential election but lost to incumbent Ronald Reagan in an Electoral College and popular vote landslide Reagan won 49 states while Mondale carried his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia His vice presidential nominee US Representative Geraldine Ferraro from New York was the first female vicepresidential nominee of any major party in US history Mondale was born in Ceylon Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1951 after attending Macalester College He then served in the US Army during the Korean War before earning a law degree in 1956 He married Joan Adams in 1955 Working as a lawyer in Minneapolis Mondale was appointed Minnesota Attorney General in 1960 by Governor Orville Freeman and was elected to a full term as attorney general in 1962 with 60 of the vote He was appointed to the US Senate by Governor Karl Rolvaag upon the resignation of Senator Hubert Humphrey following Humphreys election as vice president in 1964 Mondale was elected to a full Senate term in 1966 and reelected in 1972 resigning in 1976 as he prepared to succeed to the vice presidency in 1977 While in the Senate he supported consumer protection fair housing tax reform and the desegregation of schools he served on the Church Committee