Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro
Woman in her forties, smiling for portrait, in more relaxed setting than usual for officeholders
Ferraro in 1998
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
In office
March 4, 1993 – October 11, 1996
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byArmando Valladares
Succeeded byNancy Rubin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 9th district
In office
January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1985
Preceded byJames Delaney
Succeeded byThomas Manton
Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus
In office
January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1985
LeaderTip O'Neill
Preceded byShirley Chisholm
Succeeded byMary Oakar
Personal details
Born
Geraldine Anne Ferraro

(1935-08-26)August 26, 1935
Newburgh, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 26, 2011(2011-03-26) (aged 75)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
(m. 1960)
Children3
Education
Signature

Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 – March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice president in the 1984 presidential election, running alongside Walter Mondale; this made her the first female vice-presidential nominee representing a major American political party.[nb 1] She was also a journalist, author, and businesswoman.

Ferraro grew up in New York City and worked as a public school teacher before training as a lawyer. She joined the Queens County District Attorney's Office in 1974, heading the new Special Victims Bureau that dealt with sex crimes, child abuse, and domestic violence. In 1978 she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she rose rapidly in the party hierarchy while focusing on legislation to bring equity for women in the areas of wages, pensions, and retirement plans.

In 1984, former vice president and presidential candidate Walter Mondale, seen as an underdog, selected Ferraro to be his running mate in the upcoming election. In doing so Ferraro also became the first widely recognized Italian American to be a major-party national nominee.[nb 2] The positive polling the Mondale-Ferraro ticket received when she joined soon faded, as damaging questions arose about her and her businessman husband's finances and wealth and her congressional disclosure statements. In the general election, Mondale and Ferraro were defeated in a landslide by incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush.

Ferraro twice ran campaigns for a seat in the United States Senate from New York, in 1992 and in 1998, both times starting as the front-runner for her party's nomination before losing in the primary election. She served as the Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 1993 until 1996 during the presidential administration of Bill Clinton. She also continued her career as a journalist, author, and businesswoman, and served in the 2008 presidential campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton. Ferraro died in 2011 from multiple myeloma, 12 years after being diagnosed.
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