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 U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976, he was the Democratic Party's 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, U.S. Representative Geraldine Ferraro from New York, was the first female vice-presidential nominee of any major party in U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. Senate by Governor Karl Rolvaag upon the resignation of Senator Hubert Humphrey following Humphrey's 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.

In 1976, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic presidential nominee, chose Mondale as his vice-presidential running mate. The Carter–Mondale ticket defeated incumbent president Gerald Ford and his running mate, Bob Dole. Carter and Mondale's time in office was marred by a worsening economy and they lost the 1980 election to Republicans Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In 1984, Mondale won the Democratic presidential nomination and campaigned for a nuclear freeze, the Equal Rights Amendment, an increase in taxes, and a reduction of U.S. public debt. Mondale and Ferraro lost the election to the incumbents Reagan and Bush.

After his defeat, Mondale joined the Minnesota-based law firm Dorsey & Whitney and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (1986–1993). President Bill Clinton appointed Mondale U.S. Ambassador to Japan in 1993; he retired from that post in 1996. In 2002, Mondale became the last-minute choice of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party to run for Senate after Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash less than two weeks before the election. Mondale narrowly lost the race to Saint Paul mayor Norm Coleman. He then returned to working at Dorsey & Whitney and remained active in the Democratic Party. Mondale later took up a part-time teaching position at the University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Mondale was the oldest living former U.S. vice president from 2018 to 2021, following the death of George H. W. Bush.

## Post-vice presidency (1981-2021)

### Death

Walter Mondale died on April 19, 2021, in his home in Minneapolis at age 93 from natural causes during his sleep. The day before his death, Mondale had several phone conversations with Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Sherlock Johnson, Amy Steiner, and Minnesota governor Tim Walz. Mondale also emailed a final message to his staff, as he and his family had come to the conclusion that "his death was imminent". At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former U.S. vice president (upon his death, Dick Cheney, who was Vice President under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, became the oldest living former U.S. vice president).

Former President Carter, under whom Mondale served as vice president from 1977 to 1981, stated: "Today I mourn the passing of my dear friend Walter Mondale, who I consider the best vice president in our country's history [...] Rosalynn and I join all Americans in giving thanks for his exemplary life, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family." Carter had last seen Mondale in person at the Carter Center in June 2019.

President Johnson gave tribute to Mondale in a public statement calling Mondale a "dear friend and mentor." On April 20, 2021, Johnson ordered all flags at government properties, office buildings and public grounds to be held at half-staff until that Tuesday evening in honor of Mondale.