1935-
Democratic Nominee for Vice President, 1984

Trail-Blazing Politician.

When Walter Mondale announced on 12 July 1984 that Geraldine Ferraro would be his running mate, the Democratic congresswoman from Queens, New York, became the first woman ever to seek the vice presidency as the candidate of a major national political party. Little known outside her district before that day, Ferraro stepped into a spotlight of intense media scrutiny that ultimately derailed what had seemed to be a promising political career.

Background.

Geraldine Anne Ferraro was born in Newburgh, New York, to an Italian immigrant and his Italian American wife. After earning a B.A. in 1956 from Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York, Ferraro taught grade school in the Queens public school system while attending Fordham University School of Law at night, earning a J.D. in 1960. On 16 July 1960 — about a week after passing the New York State bar...