There was no good evidence one way or the other about what difference it would make to put women on the ticket, says Carroll. Geraldine Ferraro, First Woman VP Candidate, Dies at 75 . and then move on, but decades later, she labelled the medias treatment of her and her family as sexist. Like Joe Biden in 2020, Mondale considered several women as his running mate, including future California Senator Dianne Feinstein. It also produces home textile. Our guests praise the breakfast and the pool in our reviews. [3], In 2007, Ferraro received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sons of Italy Foundation. [53], Mondale selected Ferraro to be his vice-presidential candidate on July 12, 1984. [156] Schumer, a tireless fundraiser, outspent her by a five-to-one margin, and Ferraro failed to establish a political image current with the times. [101] Political observers generally agree that no combination of Democrats could have won the election in 1984. She was a board member of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs,[162] and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. [186] She assisted with fundraising by assuming an honorary post on the finance committee for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. [36][37] The source and nature of these transactions were declared illegal by the Federal Election Commission shortly before the primary, causing Ferraro to pay back the loans in October 1978, via several real estate transactions. [170], Though initially given only three to five years to live, by virtue of several new drug therapies and a bone marrow transplant in 2005,[170] she would beat the disease's Stage1 survival mean of 62months by over a factor of two. [8] She kept her birth name professionally, as a way to honor her mother for having supported the family after her father's death,[1][2] but used his name in parts of her private life. Roberts continued, Maybe thats the wrong thing to do. [88], There was one vice-presidential debate between Congresswoman Ferraro and Vice President George H. W. Bush. She served as one of the deputy chairs for the 1980 Carter-Mondale campaign. The lasting image of that press conference is Ferraro, eyes intent, a swarm of microphones arrayed before her. Ferraro had drawn attention, Sheila Caudle wrote in Ms. Magazines July 1984 issue, because, She is the sort of pragmatic politician that the voting populaceand the men in the back roomscould find most palatable: Attractive, but not beauty-pageant beautifulA modern career woman, but one steeped in Old World values. [129] Ferraro said in response that those two had never met. She stated, "I am absolutely thrilled. In doing so Ferraro also became the first widely recognized Italian American to be a major-party national nominee. How Geraldine Ferraro's 1984 Campaign Broke the Vice-Presidential Glass Instead, the Democrats went down in one of the worst defeats in presidential election history, with Reagan and Bush winning the electoral college by a count of 515-13. She has a profile that many women voters have. Afterward, the press asked whether shed cried when reading the news. ), The Smithsonians National Museum of American History political historian Lisa Kathleen Graddy, who curated the museums exhibit on suffrage, says Ferraros candidacy mirrors the challenges women have faced professionally, in the 80s and today. Her attempts, and even her losses, have accomplished far beyond what others have accomplished by winning. [148] Regarding a previous China motion that had failed, Ferraro had told the commission, "Let us do what we were sent here to dodecide important questions of human rights on their merits, not avoid them. When the 1980 race departed from this normand then state races in 82 again showed women voters breaking more Democratic than menfeminist groups took note and made sure the media did, too. [137][138][139], Following the Senate primary loss, Ferraro became a managing partner in the New York office of Keck, Mahin & Cate, a Chicago-based law firm. "[82][83] Ferraro was criticized by Cardinal John O'Connor, the Catholic Archbishop of New York, and James Timlin, the Bishop of Scranton, for misrepresenting the Catholic Church's position on abortion. Charismatic. Geraldine Ferraro, who in 1984 became the first woman vice presidential candidate on a major U.S. party ticket, died Saturday in Boston, a family spokeswoman said. No, I have confidence in us. [169], Ferraro joined Fox News Channel as a regular political commentator in October 1999. [17] The following year, Ferraro was assigned to the new Special Victims Bureau, which prosecuted cases involving rape, child abuse, spouse abuse, and domestic violence. On July 11, Mondale picked up the phone from his living room. Ferraro quits Clinton campaign after Obama remarks She's pretty. . per night. However, it is made plausible because of the fact that I am an Italian-American. Safire wrote in August 1984 that it would be equally incorrect to call her "Miss Ferraro" (as she was married) or "Mrs. Ferraro" (as her husband was not "Mr. Ferraro", although this is the formulation the Times used), and that calling her "Mrs. Zaccaro" would confuse the reader. She was the wrong woman at the wrong time; she was a Clinton; she hadn't gotten there on her own". [173] Her advocacy helped make the new treatments approved and available for others as well. She adopted, Finally, a tough Democrat, as her campaign slogan in her first campaign for Congress. Gerry was smart, funny, beautiful, compassionate, creative, and a lot of fun. Learn about this complex history and the women who propelled it. Geraldine Ferraro Broke A Barrier For Women, But Roadblocks Remain - NPR [170], After living for many years in Forest Hills Gardens, Queens, she and her husband moved to Manhattan in 2002. Bushs camp wasnt as full of acclaim. The race for the White House was on. [36] Although Ferraro and Zaccaro's finances were often interwoven on paper,[23] with each half partners in Zaccaro's company,[37] Ferraro had little knowledge of his business, or even how much he was worth. "[nb 5], The tax announcement dominated television and newspapers,[71] as Ferraro was besieged by questions regarding her family finances. Enjoy free WiFi, free parking, and breakfast. Team A recruited Eleanor Lewis, Ferraros top aide, to join them as well. [84][85][86] After several days of back-and-forth debate in the public media, Ferraro finally conceded that, "the Catholic Church's position on abortion is monolithic" but went on to say that "But I do believe that there are a lot of Catholics who do not share the view of the Catholic Church". He beamed. O.S.B. | [32] The location for the television series All in the Family, the district, which stretched from Astoria to Ozone Park was known for its ethnic composition and conservative views. [55] Once there, however, doctors discovered she had come down with pneumonia. "[106] Ferraro speculated that the pick might win Republican presidential nominee John McCain the election,[204] but said that she was supporting Obama now due to his running mate selection of Joe Biden having resolved her concerns about Obama's lack of experience in certain areas. In Mississippi, she was asked whether she could bake a blueberry muffin; in one "Meet the Press" interview, moderated Marvin Kalb questioned both Could you push the nuclear button? and whether Mondale would have chosen her if not for her gender. [128] Ferraro said there had been efforts to oust the company at the time, but they had remained in the building for three more years. [188] In March 2008 Ferraro gave an interview with the Daily Breeze in which she said: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. [28] She subsequently received an honorary degree from Case Western Reserve University (2003). [24][32] She had been aided by $130,000 in campaign loans and donations from her own family, including $110,000 in loans from Zaccaro, of which only $4,000 was legal. Ferraro uttered the words, I proudly accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States, and then had to pause for more than a minute for applause and cheers of Ger-ry. Foundational feminist Betty Friedan, who had been hesitant to push for a female nominee, fearing the accomplishment would be solely a symbolic gesture, wrote to Ferraro: It was a peak experience for me that day in San Francisco. [60], Ferraro gained immediate, large-scale media attention. The first . [170] As she passed the age of 70, she was thankful for still being alive, and said "This is about as retired as I get, which is part time,"[170] and that if she fully retired, she would "go nuts". Ferraro, whod once confessed her weak spot was foreign policy, would be going toe-to-toe with the current vice president, ex-CIA director and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, George H.W. Men dont do that., White women have got their representative, a black woman delegate to the convention told Gloria Steinem for Ms. magazine, and that makes me proud as a woman, but I need to know that shes going to fight and stand for me.. [127] Ferraro became the front-runner, capitalizing on her star power from 1984, and using the campaign attacks against her as an explicitly feminist rallying point for women voters. As the husband and business partner of Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro, the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate, the 51-year-old Mr. Zaccaro and his business activities have been the. One can't even award that level of "true" myopia to Geraldine Ferraro. Always a realist, she was convinced after the interview with Mondale that it wasnt going to happen, remembers McLean; according to reports, Feinstein had impressed the Minnesotan, while a Southern moderate like Texas senator Lloyd Bentsen made electoral sense. [1] She was elected to be the Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus for 19811983 and again for 19831985;[40] this entitled her to a seat on the influential Steering and Policy Committee. [103][104] However, the committee concluded that she had acted without "deceptive intent", and since she was leaving Congress anyway, no action against her was taken. When, in 1980, former California governor Ronald Reagan ascended to the presidency, the exit polls showed two unusual data points: One, women voters turned out at a higher rate than men for the first time since they'd gotten the right to vote nationwide in 1920, and two, a small but significant disparity had emerged between who men and women voted for, with eight percent fewer women than men supporting Reagan. [150] She sparred effectively with "from the right" co-host Pat Buchanan,[150] for whom she developed a personal liking. [135] She was eventually persuaded by Governor Mario Cuomo and state party leaders into giving an unenthusiastic endorsement with just three days to go before the general election, in exchange for an apology by Abrams for the tone of the primary. And all this unfolded before the Democrats had even settled on a nominee. Many expected her to run in the 1986 United States Senate election in New York against first-term Republican incumbent Al D'Amato,[111] and during 1985 she did Upstate New York groundwork towards that end. Geraldine Ferraro Named Vice Presidential Candidate - History "[73] Republicans saw her finances as a "genderless" issue that they could attack Ferraro with without creating a backlash,[70] and some Mondale staffers thought Ferraro might have to leave the ticket. Another clash with Bush made for memorable headlines: Let me help you with the difference, Mrs. Ferraro, between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon, Bush said, in response to Ferraros criticism of the administrations reaction to the suicide bombings of an American embassy. was at its nadir in early 1983, the electoral calculus went something like this: A woman might help clinch a Democratic victory in a close race. I'm proud of that. VII. When, in mid-August, Ferraro made this known, it was a journalistic tripwire, spawning headline after headline. Today, Ferraro, who died in 2011 at the age of 75, is remembered less for the elections she lost, and more for the elections that her 1984 vice presidential candidacy helped other women win.. Like good strategists, we always [knew] you dont always get what you want, but you may get something by going after that, McLean remembers of their expectations. [17] Although her unit was supposed to turn over cases which were bound for trial to another division, she took an active role in trying some cases herself, and juries were persuaded by her summations. The Rise of Geraldine Ferraro - The Washington Post For more than a year, feminists have been arguing that naming a woman would maximize the gender gap, electrify otherwise indifferent votersparticularly womenand give Mondale the boost he needs to overcome what some polls say is now a 19-point Reagan margin.. "[202] McCain and Palin ended up losing, but regardless of the 1984 or 2008 election result, Ferraro said that "Every time a woman runs, women win. Bettmann / Getty Images Ted Cruz picked Carly Fiorina as his running mate on Wednesday. [98] Ferraro's presence on the ticket had little measurable effect overall. [91] Peter Teeley, Vice President Bush's press secretary, said of Ferraro just prior to the debate, "She's too bitchy. Were on our way, were not monolithic, we have wonderfully independent minds., Campaigns, even if you lose them, do serve a purpose, she said. [36], Despite being a newcomer to the House, Ferraro made a vivid impression upon arrival[38] and quickly found prominence. 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. "[121], Ferraro remained active in raising money for Democratic candidates nationwide, especially women candidates. It was a best seller and earned her $1million. [51] Women mentioned for the role included Ferraro and Mayor of San Francisco Dianne Feinstein,[52] both of whom were on Mondale's five-person short list. [46][47] In August 1984, she led passage of a Superfund renewal bill and attacked the Reagan administration's handling of environmental site cleanups. Privacy Statement Grilling cant melt her, proclaimed the New York Daily News, while the Washington Post called her spirited. But the Ferraro-Zaccaro press frenzy persisted. The Untold Story of Ronald Reagan's 'Slimy' Team That Worked to Smear All this unfolded amid an outpouring of feminist activism and shifting attitudes about women in politics. [151] The show stayed strong in ratings for CNN,[152] and the job was lucrative. "[58] Convention attendees were in tears during the speech, not just for its significance for women but for all those who had immigrated to America. [57] Mondale himself would later reflect that "I knew that I was in for it with Reagan" and that he had no regrets about choosing Ferraro. [200][201][202] Palin mentioned Ferraro as well as Clinton as forerunners in her introductory appearance. [24] While organizing community opposition to a proposed building, Ferraro met lawyer and Democratic figure Mario Cuomo, who became a political mentor. Geraldine A. Ferraro, who rose from a U.S congressional seat in Queens to a place in history as the first woman to run on a major party national ticket for vice president, has died. Jeffrey, who had deep ties among labor, civil rights, and womens rights activists, was convinced, and shed drop Ferraros name in conversations with her peers when the topic turned to potential vice presidents. 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. [158] Schumer would go on to decisively unseat D'Amato in the general election. [96], On November 6, Mondale and Ferraro lost the general election in a landslide. ", "Geraldine Ferraro Reacts to Barack Obama's Speech on Race", "Geraldine Ferraro Reacts to Liberal Radio Host's Foul Comments", "Can People Talk About Race in America Without Being Branded Racist? Forceful, but not overbearing. Theres no way, Ferraro herself had said, with typical candor, at a closed meeting at the National Womens Caucus three months earlier, any presidential candidate is going to choose a woman as a running mate unless hes 15 points behind in the polls.. Oh wait. Once Mondale became the presumptive nominee in June, he began interviewing a roster of Democratsincluding Ferraro, then-mayor of San Francisco Dianne Feinstein, Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and San Antonio mayor Henry Cisnerosfrom significantly more diverse backgrounds than all of the white men elected vice president to date. The New York Times wrote at the time: "If Ms. Ferraro's rise was meteoric, her political career's denouement was protracted, often agonizing and, at first glance, baffling. [222] In 2009, legislation passed the House of Representatives calling for a post office in Long Island City in Queens to be renamed for Ferraro,[223] and in 2010, the Geraldine A Ferraro Post Office was accordingly rededicated. I thought that putting a woman on a major-party ticket would change American expectations, permanently and for the better, Mondale wrote. Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. [82], Ferraro drew large crowds on the campaign trail, many of whom wished to see the history-making candidate in person, who often chanted, "Ger-ry! [35][57][78], Sharp criticism from Catholic Church authorities put Ferraro on the defensive during the entire campaign, with abortion opponents frequently protesting her appearances with a level of fervor not usually encountered by pro-choice Catholic male candidates such as Mario Cuomo and Ted Kennedy. At the time, national politics was even more an old boys club than it is today; just 24 of the 535 voting members of Congress and no governors were women. [129] In addition, a report by an investigator for the New York State Organized Crime Task Force found its way to the media via a tip from a Holtzman aide; it said that Zaccaro had been seen meeting with the DiBernardo in 1985. [200][205] Ferraro criticized the media's scrutiny of Palin's background and family as gender-based and saw parallels with how she was treated by the media during her own run;[200][206] a University of Alabama study also found that media framing of Ferraro and Palin was similar and often revolved around their nominations being political gambles. Ferraro was born in 1935, in Newburgh, New York, the daughter of a first-generation Italian-American mother and an Italian immigrant father. It highlights the ambivalence, the nervousness, that even supporters felt about women taking the next stepSome people felt, and still feel, fearful of competent, ambitious, powerful women. Geraldine Ferraro - Wikipedia [214], When Hillary Clinton finally captured the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to do so for a major party, there was considerable media commentary recalling, and relating this to, Ferraro's breakthrough 32 years earlier. [134] Ferraro, enraged and bitter after the nature of the primary,[130][133] ignored Abrams and accepted Bill Clinton's request to campaign for his presidential bid instead. And there is still lingering illusory idea that women candidates should somehow be a gender blind choice instead of embracing the obvious value of specifically bringing women's perspectives., The real test of my candidacy will come when the next woman runs for national office, Ferraro says in the documentary produced by her daughter Donna, in a 2010 interview filmed one year before her death from multiple myeloma. [14] During her senior year she began dating John Zaccaro of Forest Hills, Queens, who had graduated from Iona College with a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps. How's that? By a three-to-one margin, voters thought that pressure from women's groups had led to Mondale's decision rather than his having chosen the best available candidate. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. 290 - ACE Academy for Scholars at the Geraldine Ferraro Campus is a highly rated, public school located in RIDGEWOOD, NY. These articles didnt necessarily pass journalistic muster at papers like the New York Times, but they still catalyzed the news cycle. [77] The full statements included notice of payment of some $53,000 in back federal taxes that she owed due to what was described as an accountant's error. Charismatic congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro forged a path for women in American politics When Geraldine Ferraro accepted the Democratic party's nomination on July 19, 1984, she became the. [127] As the primary date neared, her lead began to dwindle under the charges, and she released additional tax returns from the 1980s to try to defray the attacks. [209], In March 2011 she went to Massachusetts General Hospital to receive treatment for pain caused by a fracture, a common complication of multiple myeloma. Ferraro, first female vice president candidate, dies at 75 - NBC News Thats almost exactly what happened. [1], While in Congress, Ferraro focused much of her legislative attention on equity for women in the areas of wages, pensions, and retirement plans. [13][37] She was the Chairwoman of the Platform Committee for the 1984 Democratic National Convention, the first woman to hold that position. In her own words, Ferraro's account of her history-making 1984 race. Mondale, with Ferraro at his side after a covert late-night flight, told the assembled press in St. Paul, I looked for the best vice president, and I found her in Gerry., Thank you, Vice President Mondale, said Ferraro after his speech. Later, when Reagans approval ratings rebounded, the argument evolved. The idea of a woman vice president almost got torpedoed after NOWs public threat of a convention-floor rebellion caused Mondale advisors to worry about the selection being seen as a sop to special interest groupsa coded way of saying feminists, organized labor and racial minoritiesfor which hed incurred primary criticism from rival Gary Hart. Geraldine Ferraro was an assistant district attorney in the borough of Queens when she decided to run for an open congressional seat in 1978. Several of them became some of the founding mothers of EMILYs List, a prominent PAC that funds Democratic women who support reproductive rights. [113] A Senate candidacy had been her original plan for her career, before she was named to Mondale's ticket. Unlike the slate of women in 2020, We didnt have a whole lot of people in the arsenal.), they landed on 48-year-old Geraldine Ferraro, an up-and-coming-star who represented New Yorks Ninth District. Ultimately, the taxes revealed nothing deeply nefarious. "[198] Ferraro stated in mid-May 2008 that Clinton had "raised this whole woman candidate thing to a whole different level than when I ran". Ferraro held a marathon press conference after their release, answering questions from a crowd of more than 250 journalists. [50], While in the House, Ferraro's political self-description evolved to "moderate". As always, the original quote is instructive: If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race. [167], Framing a Life: A Family Memoir was published by Ferraro in November 1998. In 2008, she campaigned for Hillary Clinton and then stepped down from her post after drawing fire for her remark that if [Barack] Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. But her legacy is no small thing: She laid a template for other women in politics to follow. She's very arrogant. Cookie Settings, Wally McNamee / CORBIS / Corbis via Getty Images, National Air and Space Museum, gift of Tam O'Shaughnessy (2); National Museum of American History, And for Vice PresidentWhy Not a Woman? , The prospect of a Democrat putting a woman on the ticket was often placed in the context of electability: Would it help them unseat the incumbent President? She'll get married. Popular consensus before the 80s held that for the most part, women cast their ballots along the same lines as men, explains Susan Carroll, a senior scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers. [59] The speech was listed as number 56 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century. [110][157] In the September 15, 1998 primary, she was beaten soundly by Schumer by a 51percent to 26percent margin. [110] However, she lost ground during the summer, with Schumer catching up in the polls by early August and then soon passing her. How Geraldine Ferraro Was Treated As a Female VP Candidate - The Cut [105], Ferraro is one of only four U.S. women to run on a major party national ticket. [69] Zaccaro did not understand the greater public exposure that his wife's new position brought to their family, and resisted releasing his financial information. [154] Indeed, December and January polls had her 25percentage points ahead of Green in the race and even further ahead of Schumer. During 1980, she tried to prevent the federal government from gaining the power to override local laws on hazardous materials transportation, an effort she continued in subsequent years. It had nothing to do with my qualification. [220] In 2008, Ferraro was the initial recipient of the annual Trailblazer Award from the National Conference of Women's Bar Associations,[221] and received the Edith I. Spivack Award from the New York County Lawyers' Association.