The first female candidate on a major party ticket has died. Geraldine Ferraro, a former New York Congresswoman and vice presidential candidate in 1984, died of blood cancer. She was 75.
Ferraro was a feisty running mate for Walter Mondale in his doomed run for president in 1984. She had spent more than a decade in Congress before being plucked from obscurity by the desperate Mondale to bring the woman's vote to the Democrats. Reagan narrowly carried that vote anyway.
Fox News:
Delegates in San Francisco erupted in cheers at the first line of her speech accepting the vice-presidential nomination."My name is Geraldine Ferraro," she declared. "I stand before you to proclaim tonight: America is the land where dreams can come true for all of us."
Her acceptance speech launched eight minutes of cheers, foot-stamping and tears.
Ferraro sometimes overshadowed Mondale on the campaign trail, often drawing larger crowds and more media attention than the presidential candidate.
But controversy accompanied her acclaim. Frequent, vociferous protests of her favorable view of abortion rights marked the campaign.
Ferraro's run also was beset by ethical questions, first about her campaign finances and tax returns, then about the business dealings of her husband, John Zaccaro. Ferraro attributed much of the controversy to bias against Italian-Americans.
She answered questions about those ethics charges at one of the most memorable press conferences in recent history. For nearly 3 hours she faced hostile, sometimes sneering questions from a media who smelled blood in the water, thinking that Mondale would be forced to kick her off the ticket. Her responses were direct, complete, and quietly confident. It was a bravura performance and earned her near universal praise from both parties for forthrightness.
But the ethics questions from her family would follow her for the rest of her political career. She lost senate bids in 1992 and 1998.
Sarah Palin, who had appeared with Ferraro on Fox News on election night, remembered her fondly:
When I had the honor of working alongside Geraldine on election night last year, we both discussed the role of women in politics and our excited expectation that someday that final glass ceiling would be shattered by the election of a woman president. She was an amazing woman who dedicated her life to public service as a teacher, prosecutor, Congresswoman, and Vice Presidential candidate. She broke one huge barrier and then went on to break many more. The world will miss her. May she rest in peace and may her example of hard work and dedication to America continue to inspire all women.
Ferraro is survived by her husband of 50 years, three children and their spouses, and 8 grandchildren.
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