Walter Mondale

Walter Mondale, born in 1928, 42nd vice president of the United States (1977-1981).

Walter Frederick Mondale was born on January 5, 1928, in Ceylon, Minnesota. He studied at Macalester College and at the University of Minnesota Law School and practiced law privately from 1956 to 1960. Appointed in 1960 to fill an unexpired term as Minnesota attorney general, he was subsequently twice elected to that post.

When Hubert H. Humphrey resigned from the U.S. Senate on his election as vice president, Mondale, a protégé, was appointed to the seat. He was elected to the Senate in 1966 and 1972 and became known as a liberal humanitarian, concerned with problems of housing, child welfare, aging, and civil rights. He ran briefly for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination, which was won by Jimmy Carter. Carter chose Mondale as his running mate, and the Carter-Mondale ticket triumphed in the November 1976 general election.

As vice president, Mondale expanded the office into that of close presidential adviser and troubleshooter. After running unsuccessfully for reelection with Carter in 1980, he returned temporarily to practicing law. He won the Democratic Party's presidential nomination after a grueling primary battle in 1984. However, he and Geraldine A. Ferraro, his running mate, were resoundingly defeated by the incumbent, Ronald Reagan, in the general election. Mondale served as U.S. ambassador to Japan from 1993 to 1996, after which he returned to practice law in Minnesota.

In 2002 U.S. senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota was killed in a plane crash while campaigning for reelection. The Minnesota Democratic Party chose Mondale to replace Wellstone in the race. Mondale began campaigning for the Senate seat less than a week before Election Day but was defeated by Republican Norm Coleman.