July 12th...This Day in History (Now with links to other events)

Ferraro named vice presidential candidate 1984

 

Walter Mondale, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, announces that he has chosen Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his running mate. Ferraro, a daughter of Italian immigrants, had previously gained notoriety as a vocal advocate of women’s rights in Congress.

Four days after Ferraro was named vice presidential candidate, Governor Mario Cuomo of New York opened the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco with an impassioned retort to Republican President Ronald Reagan’s contention that the United States was a “shining city on a hill.” Citing widespread poverty and racial strife, Cuomo derided President Reagan as oblivious to the needs and problems of many of America’s citizens. His enthusiastic keynote address inaugurated a convention that saw Ferraro become the first woman nominated by a major party for the vice presidency. However, Mondale, the former U.S. vice president under Jimmy Carter, proved a lackluster choice for the Democratic presidential nominee.

On November 6, President Reagan and Vice President George Bush defeated the Mondale-Ferraro ticket in the greatest Republican landslide in U.S. history. The Republicans carried every state but Minnesota–Mondale’s home state.

Ferraro left Congress in 1985. In 1992 and 1998, she made unsuccessful bids for a U.S. Senate seat. During President Bill Clinton’s administration, she was a permanent member on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

 (More Events on This Day in History)

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• 1780 The Battle of Huck’s Defeat

• Automotive

• 1933 First Dymaxion car produced

• Civil War

• 1861 Confederacy signs treaties with Native Americans

• Cold War

• 1990 Yeltsin resigns from Communist Party

• Crime

• 1963 The Moors Murderers begin their killing spree

• Disaster

• 1995 Heat wave hits Chicagoland

• General Interest

• 1862 Medal of Honor created
• 1957 A new Aga Khan

• Hollywood

• 2008 Angelina Jolie gives birth to twins

• Literary

• 1389 Geoffrey Chaucer is named chief clerk by Richard II

• Music

• 1979 Disco is dealt death blow by fans of the Chicago White Sox

• Old West

• 1861 Wild Bill Hickok’s first gunfight

• Presidential

• 1957 Eisenhower takes first presidential ride in a helicopter

• Sports

• 1998 France beats Brazil to win FIFA World Cup

• Vietnam War

• 1965 First Marine wins Medal of Honor
• 1966 North Vietnam urged to treat U.S. POWs better

• World War I

• 1915 Allied attack on Achi Baba

• World War II

• 1943 Russians halt German advance in a decisive battle at Kursk