365 Days of Facts

Walter Mondale (born January 5, 1928) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He served as Vice President of the United States under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 – 1981. He was also the Democratic Party’s nominee for President in 1984 against Ronald Reagan.

Walter Frederick “Fritz” Mondale was born in Ceylon, Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1951 after attending Macalester College. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War before earning his law degree

Walter 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 assumed the office of the vice presidency in 1977.

While a US Senator he was a vocal supporter of consumer protection, fair housing, tax reform, and the desegregation of schools. He was also a member of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, better known as the Church Committee.

Vice President Walter Mondale

In 1976, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic nominee for President, chose Walter Mondale as his vice-presidential running mate.

The Carter–Mondale ticket defeated incumbent president Gerald Ford and his vice presidential running mate, Bob Dole. Carter and Mondale’s time in office was marred by the Iran Hostage Crisis and an economy suffering both high unemployment and high interest rates.

The Carter-Mondale ticket would go on to lose 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. His vice presidential nominee was Geraldine Ferraro, a Congresswoman from New York, the first female vice-presidential nominee of any major party. 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 (1986–93).

President Bill Clinton appointed Mondale United States Ambassador to Japan in 1993; he retired in 1996. In 2002, Mondale ran for his old Senate seat, agreeing to be the last-minute replacement for Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone, who 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.