Walter Mondale, who served as Jimmy Carter’s vice president before running for the top office in 1984, died on Monday according to a family spokesperson. He was 93.
Mondale died at his home in Minneapolis. No cause of death was given.
According to Axios, Mondale spoke on the phone just yesterday with President Biden and former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, as well as Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Mondale’s family said they knew his death was coming but that he “perked up” after the calls.
Former President Jimmy Carter released a statement that read, “Today I mourn the passing of my dear friend Walter Mondale, who I consider the best vice president in our country’s history. During our administration, Frit used his political skill and personal integrity to transform the vice presidency into a dynamic, policy-driving force that had never been seen before and still exists today. He was an invaluable partner and an able servant of the people of Minnesota, the United States, and the world. Frig Mondale provided us all with a model for public service and private behavior. Rosalynn and I join all Americans in giving thanks for his exemplary Ife, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family.”
Walter Mondale was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1964 to fill the vacancy left by Hubert Humphrey after he was elected to be vice president. He would serve in that position until 1976, when he was chosen to be Jimmy Carter’s running mate. Carter went on win the presidential election and Mondale served as his vice president from 1977 to 1981.
After Carter lost re-election to Ronald Reagan, Mondale won the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 1984 election and he chose New York congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, the first woman to be chosen as the nominee for vice president of a major political party in the U.S.
Mondale would go on to lose the 1984 election in what was considered a historic landslide. He would return to practicing law and later served as former President Clinton’s ambassador to Japan.
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