![]() ![]() Over the years Humphrey had become his political mentor and idol, so the new senator arrived in Washington with a deep sense of loyalty towards his predecessor. The complexities of the Johnson presidency soon coiled round Mondale. The choice was vigorously confirmed by the electorate in 1966. When Johnson then picked Humphrey, by now a senator for Minnesota, as his running mate, Mondale was designated by the state’s governor to complete Humphrey’s Senate term. Mondale burst on to the national scene at the Democrats’ 1964 nominating convention through his adept handling of a serious rebellion by southern Democrats opposed to President Lyndon Johnson’s civil rights platform. His rigorous approach to law enforcement made him one of the most influential politicians in Minnesota and later within the wider Democratic party, an influence reinforced by his next re-election campaign. When he faced the voters in November 1960 they confirmed him in office. ![]() Skulduggery in a local charity fortuitously thrust the new attorney general into the headlines, and this publicity continued as he evolved into a relentless legal activist, particularly on issues of consumer protection. Mondale found his TV appearances daunting. President Ronald Reagan, left, and his Democratic challenger Walter Mondale, right, during their televised presidential debate in Kansas City in 1984. Two years later, when the state’s attorney general unexpectedly retired, Freeman appointed Mondale to fill the post until the next election, making him the youngest person to hold that position in the US. At the age of 30 he was asked to manage the governor’s re-election campaign and, when Orville Freeman won by a thumping two-thirds majority, Mondale’s career prospects soared. Since he had little interest in litigation, he immersed himself in Minnesota’s Democratic politics. In 1955 he married Joan Adams, and the following year started in private practice. After two years’ army service he qualified for a government-subsidised course, and returned to the university to take a law degree. Wallace’s refusal to condemn that February’s Communist coup in Czechoslovakia turned Mondale against him, and he volunteered to undertake political work for the mayor of Minneapolis, Hubert Humphrey – an association that coloured Mondale’s political life.įrom Macalester College, St Paul, he went to the University of Minnesota, where he gained a degree in political science (1951). ![]() Local Democrats had split between rightwing supporters of President Harry Truman and leftwingers backing the maverick Henry Wallace, who intended to run against Truman in 1948. Mondale became fascinated with his state’s Byzantine politics in his teenage years. His friends saw this increasing political involvement as a response to the excessive piety of his upbringing, though his parents imprinted their insistence on straight-dealing and absolute honesty. Jeopardising an already meagre contribution to the family income, he took part in a strike for better working conditions. It was on this production line that his lifelong fascination with politics emerged. He delivered newspapers, served in a local grocery and worked in a nearby canning factory checking harvested peas for lice. Theodore’s annual stipend could not support a family, so Walter Frederick – universally known as Fritz – sought odd jobs to boost the family’s finances. Born in Ceylon, in rural southern Minnesota, he was the son of Theodore, a Methodist minister whose own grandfather, Frederick Mundal, had come from Norway, and Claribel (nee Cowan), a part-time music teacher. The plain talking that scuppered Mondale had deep roots. Mondale significantly helped to redefine the difficult post of vice-president. He served as US vice-president from 1977 to 1981. President Jimmy Carter, right, with Walter Mondale in 1978. Mondale’s gaffe prompted George HW Bush’s infamous sound bite of 1988: “Read my lips: no new taxes.” It certainly had its impact on Reagan’s vice-president, already planning his own assault on the White House. To a nation basking in the sunshine politics and tax reductions of Reagan’s first four years, Mondale’s declaration was seen as an appalling blunder. In his acceptance speech to the Democratic nominating convention in San Francisco, Mondale assured its 4,000 startled delegates that: “Mr Reagan will raise taxes and so will I. Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro was the first female vice-presidential candidate from a major party, but lost credibility when her family finances eventually came under scrutiny. His working relationship with President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981 set a pattern that helped his successors find a more meaningful role.Īs a presidential candidate, Mondale largely engineered his own defeat. What Mondale did achieve, in addition to his productive years in state politics and the Senate, was to significantly redefine the difficult post of vice-president. ![]()
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