Walter Mondale, who changed the role of US vice president while serving under Jimmy Carter and was the Democratic candidate for president in 1984, died Monday at the age of 93, according to a family spokesman.
The big picture: President Biden, who has been mentored by Mondale over the years, said in 2015 that the former vice president had given him a “roadmap” for successfully taking the job.
- He was the first vice president to have an office in the White House and was deeply involved in both US and foreign policy, working closely with the president.
- “I took Fritz’s roadmap. He actually gave me a memo, classic Fritz, gave me a memo about what to look for and what kind of obligations I should be in order to do the job the way Fritz thought I should. be done, ” Biden said at an event in honor of Mondale in 2015.
Backstory: Mondale spoke by phone on Sunday with President Biden and former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, as well as Vice President Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, his friend and former campaign staff member Tom Cosgrove said. While he and his family thought his death was imminent, he was “resurrected” after those phone calls.
- In a final farewell email to 320 staff members spanning four decades, Mondale told his staff how much they meant to him, adding that he knew they would “get on with the good fight” and “Joe in the White House is sure to help.” The email, shared with Axios, was ready to be sent after his death.
- Cosgrove said Mondale was deeply concerned about the impact of a possible second Donald Trump term on American democracy. “There was a difference after the inauguration – letting go,” Cosgrove said. “There was a great exhalation of relief.”
Mondale and Carter were the surviving team after the presidency in US history.
- During his 1984 presidential run, Mondale nominated New York congressman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, making her the first female vice president nominee of a major American party.
- He received the American Academy of Neurology’s Public Leadership in Neurology Award in 2015 for raising awareness about brain health after losing his wife Joan and daughter Eleanor to brain diseases.
- Mondale was the United States Senator from Minnesota from 1964-1976. He also served as President Clinton’s former ambassador to Japan.