Walter Mondale, who transformed the role of U.S. vice president while serving as Jimmy Carter and was the Democratic presidential candidate in 1984, died Monday at age 93, according to a family spokesman.
The big picture: President Biden, who was mentored by Mondale over the years, said in 2015 that the former vice president gave him a “roadmap” to successfully take on the job.
- He was the first vice president to have an office in the White House and was deeply committed to both U.S. and foreign policy, working closely with the president.
- “I took Fritz’s roadmap. In fact, he gave me a note, the classic Fritz, he gave me a note on what I should look for and what kind of commitments I should have in order to be able to do the job the way I did. Fritz thought he should do it, “Biden said at a ceremony in honor of Mondale in 2015.
Background history: Mondale spoke by phone Sunday with President Biden and former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, as well as Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said his friend and former campaign staffer Tom Cosgrove. Although he and his family believed his death was imminent, after these calls he was “encouraged.”
- In a final farewell email to 320 employees over four decades, Mondale told his employees what they meant to him, adding that he knew they would keep “the good fight” and that “Joe in the White House would certainly help “. The email, which was shared with Axios, was ready to be sent to his death.
- Cosgrove said Mondale was deeply concerned about the impact of a potential second term of Donald Trump on American democracy. “There was a difference after the inauguration: he let go,” Cosgrove said. “There was a great exhalation of relief.”
Mondale and Carter were the longest-lived post-presidential team in US history.
- In her 1984 presidency, Mondale appointed New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as her running mate, making her the first female candidate for vice president of any major American party.
- He received the Public Leadership in Neurology award from the American Academy of Neurology in 2015 for raising awareness about brain health, after losing his wife, Joan, and daughter, Eleanor, to brain disease.
- Mondale served as Minnesota’s U.S. senator from 1964-1976. He was also former President Clinton’s ambassador to Japan.