Years after the 2002 defeat, Mondale returned to the Senate to stand beside Democrat Al Franken in 2009 when he was sworn in to replace Coleman after a drawn-out recount and court battle.
Mondale started his career in Washington in 1964, when he was appointed to the Senate to replace Humphrey, who had resigned to become vice president. Mondale was elected to a full six-year term with about 54% of the vote in 1966, although Democrats lost the governorship and suffered other election setbacks. In 1972, Mondale won another Senate term with nearly 57% of the vote.
His Senate career was marked by advocacy of social issues such as education, housing, migrant workers and child nutrition. Like Humphrey, he was an outspoken supporter of civil rights.
Walter Mondale, who asserted himself as an activist vice president under Jimmy Carter before losing a bid for the presidency in one of the worst routs in U.S. political history, Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election landslide, has died. He was 93. He died on Monday at his home in Minneapolis, according to the New York Times, citing Kathy Tunheim, a spokeswoman for the family. No cause was given. Even after naming Geraldine Ferraro as his Democratic running mate making her the first woman on a major U.S. party’s presidential ticket Mondale managed to win only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia in the 1984 election, as Reagan cruised to a second term with almost 59% of the popular vote and 98% of the Electoral College vote.
Long after the loss, Mondale s liberal legacy still relevant
WALTER MEARS and KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press
April 19, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail 17
1of17FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 5, 1984, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale and his running mate, Geraldine Ferraro, wave as they leave an afternoon rally in Portland, Ore. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost the most lopsided presidential election after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday, April 19, 2021. He was 93.Jack Smith/APShow MoreShow Less
2of17FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 19, 2007, file photo, former Vice President Walter Mondale speaks at a reception in his honor at the Carter Presidential Conference at the University of Georgia, in Athens, Ga. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost the most lopsided presidential election after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday, April 19, 2021. He was 93. (Briana Brough/Athens Ba
In this Jan. 21, 1977, photo, Vice President Walter Mondale and his wife, Joan Mondale, pose with President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter in the White House Blue Room in Washington. (AP file photo: Peter Bregg)
MINNEAPOLIS Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost one of the most lopsided presidential elections after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday. He was 93.
The death of the former senator, ambassador and Minnesota attorney general was announced in a statement from his family. No cause was cited.
Mondale followed the trail blazed by his political mentor, Hubert H. Humphrey, from Minnesota politics to the U.S. Senate and the vice presidency, serving under Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.
pandemic, and now as
vaccines become more widely available, we are reporting on how our local schools, businesses and communities are returning to a more normal
future. There s never been more of a need for the kind of local, independent and unbiased journalism that The Day produces.
Please support our work by subscribing today.
Walter Mondale, Carter s vice president, dies at 93
In this Wednesday, Sept. 5, 1984, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale and his running mate, Geraldine Ferraro, wave as they leave an afternoon rally in Portland, Ore. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost the most lopsided presidential election after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday, April 19, 2021. He was 93. (AP Photo/Jack Smith, File)