Washington: Walter ‘Fritz’ Mondale, who served as vice chairman underneath President Jimmy Carter, has died at the age of 93.
Household spokesperson Kathy Tunheim confirmed his demise. Mondale died at house in downtown Minneapolis, Tunheim mentioned, surrounded by household, reported CNN. Mondale served as Carter’s No. 2 between 1977 and 1981, however his time as vice chairman got here to an finish when Ronald Reagan and his operating mate, George H. W. Bush, defeated Carter and Mondale in 1980 — a loss that Democrats would not get better from till 1992, when Invoice Clinton helped the social gathering win again management of the White Home.
“Today I mourn the passing of my dear friend Mondale, who I consider the best vice president in our country’s history. During our administration, Fritz 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,” mentioned Jimmy Carter, former US President on the passing of Mondale.
“Fritz Mondale provided us all with a model of public service and private behaviour. Rosalynn and I join all Americans in giving thanks for his exemplary life, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family,” added Carter.
Mondale additionally gained his Democratic presidential nomination in 1984, and made historical past by naming a lady, US Rep Geraldine A Ferraro of New York, as his operating mate earlier than finally falling brief to Reagan.
He additionally served as each the US ambassador to Japan and the envoy to Indonesia underneath Clinton, reported CNN.
His final race was in 2002, when he served as Minnesota’s DFL Senate candidate, filling the poll place of the late Sen Paul Wellstone, who had died shortly earlier than the election in October of that yr. Mondale was defeated within the race by Republican Norm Coleman.
“Power has now peacefully changed hands and we are so blessed to be Americans when that happens,” he mentioned in 2002 after his election loss. “We kept the faith, we stayed the course, we fought the good fight, and every one of us should feel good about that.”
Following the loss, he returned to practising regulation and instructing at the College of Minnesota.
Mondale had confronted just a few vital well being points in recent times. In 2014, he underwent a profitable coronary heart surgical procedure in his house state of Minnesota, and the next yr, he was admitted to the hospital with influenza, reported CNN.
He is preceded in demise by his spouse, Joan Mondale, who died in 2014.
