The week Ferraro accepted the nomination, one Gallup poll even showed the Democrats neck-and-neck with Reagan, though that result would prove to be a blip in the Democrats consistently trailing numbers. [1] In a three-candidate primary race for the Democratic nomination, Ferraro faced two better-known rivals, the party organization candidate, City Councilman Thomas J. Manton and Patrick Deignan. Thats almost exactly what happened. A New York City schoolteacher, Geraldine attended Fordham Law in the evening and was one of two women in her class. In her own words, Ferraro's account of her history-making 1984 race. New York Representative Shirley Chisholm had become the first black woman to run for president 11 years prior, and in 1977, tens of thousands of women had gathered at the National Womens Conference in Houston to brainstorm policy ideas that would improve the daily lives of American women. [11] Her vote shares increased to 58percent and then 73percent and much of her funding came from political action committees. The race for the White House was on. [45], Ferraro also worked on some environmental issues. She'll get married. In Democratic circles, the idea of how a female candidate might exploit the gender gap started percolating. It would not be until 24 years later, when Senator John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, that another woman would appear on a major partys ticket. [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. Geraldine Ferraro and Walter Mondale during the 1984 Democratic National Convention. 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. [203] In reaction to the nomination, Ferraro said, "It's great to be the first, but I don't want to be the only. [103][104] Ferraro said, "I consider myself completely vindicated. [35] Her Italian heritage also appealed to ethnic residents in the district. 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. [1][4][8], Ferraro stayed on at Mount Saint Mary's as a boarder for a while, then briefly attended a parochial school in the South Bronx. After studying gargantuan briefing books prepared by advisers like future secretary of state Madeleine Albright, she rehearsed rigorously. You're taking a man's place, you know. [185] She was also a board member for New York Bancorp in the 1990s. In bracing for this onslaught, it's instructive to look to the first woman who ever ran for vice-president on a major-party ticket: Geraldine Ferraro. She felt that if she did a credible job, then she would change the perception of what people thought was possible for women.. Both the political right and left tried to determine how this new trend would play in the elaborate chess game of electoral politics. [72] Furthermore, her remark about Italian men brought criticism for ethnic stereotyping,[73] especially from fellow Italian Americans. In public, NOW pushed the idea, asking the six Democrats vying for the nomination at their national conference in the fall of 1983 whether theyd appoint a woman as their second-in-command, and the idea snared the medias attention. [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. Green. Gerry was smart, funny, beautiful, compassionate, creative, and a lot of fun. "[110] She still retained admirers, though. [192] There was strong criticism and charges of racism from many supporters of Obama[193] and Obama called them "patently absurd". "I am proud to say that the WHITE MALES ONLY NEED APPLY sign is no longer posted outside the White House." . Geraldine Ferraro's biggest political asset is a personality made for the trade, an ability to mix talk of kids and recipes with her work on the Budget Committee and the lowdown on politics in Queens. "[54] The Mondale campaign hoped that her selection would change a campaign in which he was well behind; in addition to attracting women, they hoped she could attract ethnic Democrats in the Northeast U.S. who had abandoned their party for Reagan in 1980. During the veepstakes, I took advantage of the fact that people were talking about me, but I never, for one minute, really believed that it was going to happen, she remarks in the documentary Geraldine Ferraro: Paving the Way. Geraldine Anne Ferraro was born on August 26, 1935, in Newburgh, New York,[1] the daughter of Antonetta L. Ferraro (ne Corrieri), a first-generation Italian American seamstress, and Dominick Ferraro, an Italian immigrant (from Marcianise, Campania) and owner of two restaurants. [69] On August 12, Ferraro announced that her husband would not in fact be releasing his tax returns, on the grounds that to do so would disadvantage his real estate business and that such a disclosure was voluntary and not part of election law. Because I couldn't look like I was whining or upset about it. Within the campaign, tensions arose; after she wasnt given the chance to weigh in on their campaign schedule in an early strategy meeting, Ferraro suggested Mondales staffers imagine her as a grey-haired Southern gentleman and treat her accordingly. Through his eyes, the selection was a last-ditch, long-shot political calculation but also a brave departure. [31] Much of their wealth was tied up in real estate rather than being disposable income,[21] but the disclosures hurt Ferraro's image as a rags-to-riches story. [28], As part of the D.A. Several of them became some of the founding mothers of EMILYs List, a prominent PAC that funds Democratic women who support reproductive rights. (Many of these discussions, it should be said, happened while the Democrats had yet to choose a suitable man for the top of the ticket.) [125] Ferraro emphasized her career as a teacher, prosecutor, congresswoman, and mother, and talked about how she was tough on crime. [17], Ferraro became engaged to Zaccaro in August 1959[10] and married him on July 16, 1960. 5. "[4] Unsatisfied, she decided to attend law school;[4] an admissions officer said to her, "I hope you're serious, Gerry. [24] She labeled herself a "'small c' conservative"[1] and emphasized that she was not a bleeding-heart liberal; her campaign slogan was "Finally, A Tough Democrat". [188] Clinton publicly expressed disagreement with Ferraro's remarks, while Ferraro vehemently denied she was a racist. [129] Ferraro said in response that those two had never met. [28] She became president of the newly established International Institute for Women's Political Leadership in 1989. "[87] Mondale and Ferraro rarely touched during their appearances together, to the point that he would not even place his palm on her back when they stood side by side; Ferraro later said this was because anything more and "people were afraid that it would look like, 'Oh, my God, they're dating.'". 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. [54], By the last week of July, however, questionsdue initially to reporting by The New York Times[37]began about Ferraro's finances, the finances of her husband, John Zaccaro, and their separately filed tax returns. Gerry was a very real, down-to-earth, relatable person. [29] She also served on the Public Works and Transportation Committee[1] and the Post Office and Civil Service Committee,[41] both of which allowed Ferraro to push through projects to benefit her district. Mar 16 - Mar 17. The battle of the surrogate presidential campaigners took another unexpected twist today when Geraldine Ferraro stepped down from a fundraising post in Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign after. [123], By October 1991, Ferraro was ready to enter elective politics again, and ran for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 United States Senate election in New York. [6] Her father died of a heart attack in May 1944, when she was eight. [61] She faced a threshold of proving competence that other high-level female political figures have had to face, especially those who might become commander-in-chief; the question "Are you tough enough?" NEW: Mondale calls Ferraro a "gutsy pioneer". Later, she vowed to help defend Clinton from being "swiftboated" in a manner akin to 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry. Sprengelmeyer's interview with Walter Mondale", "Ferraro: 'Wonderful To See Woman On Natl. While some polls did indicate that a woman on the Democratic ticket might sway voters, then-CBS News pollster Kathy Frankovic explained in The Ferraro Factor: The Womens Movement, the Polls, and the Press that the sum total of data yielded mostly muddy hypotheses. History | August 10, 2020 | Updated: August 11, 2020, Charismatic congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro forged a path for women in American politics, Former Associate Editor, Special Projects. [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". [44], In the fall of 2013, P.S. The gender gap first appearance of the term in the media, Washington Post, 1981. [4] Ferraro attended the parochial school Mount Saint Mary's in Newburgh when she was young. The third-term representative, a second-generation Italian-American, was the evenings guest of honor; the other women had concluded she was the right woman to do the glass-shattering. Still, the majority of women ultimately voted Republican. And now, 12 years after Palin, former Vice President Joe Bidens selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate will make the California senator the second Democratic woman to become a vice presidential nominee. March 26, 2011, 9:43 AM. All were feminists active in Democratic politics: Joanne Howes, the executive director of the Womens Vote Project; Joan McLean, a House staffer; and Nanette Falkenberg, the executive director of the National Abortion Rights Activist League (NARAL). According to Kornblut, younger voters saw "Clinton [as] both a relic of that era and a victim of its success. Held on October 11, the result was proclaimed mostly even by the press and historians;[58][89] women voters tended to think Ferraro had won, while men, Bush. "[122] She also took care of her mother, who suffered from emphysema for several years before her death in early 1990. 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. Perhaps rupturing the glass ceiling could generate enough enthusiasm to shake up the race in the Democrats favor. In her first race, Ferraro went head-to-head against a Republican assemblyman named Alfred A. DelliBovi. [41][50] She supported deployment of the PershingII missile and the Trident submarine, although she opposed funding for the MX missile, the B-1B bomber, and the Strategic Defense Initiative. And for Vice PresidentWhy Not a Woman? TIME Magazine headline, June 4, 1984. [78][79] No campaign issue during the entire 1984 presidential campaign received more media attention than Ferraro's finances. "[92] Teeley declined to apologize for the remark, saying it had no sexist implications and the Ferraro campaign was being "hypersensitive" in complaining about it. Geraldine Ferraro was an assistant district attorney in the borough of Queens when she decided to run for an open congressional seat in 1978. [111] She also earned over $300,000 by giving speeches. 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. [116] The case against him was circumstantial, a key prosecution witness proved unreliable, and the defense did not have to present its own testimony. Learn about this complex history and the women who propelled it. [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. [153], Ferraro became a principal in the government relations practice of the Blank Rome law firm in February 2007, working both in New York and Washington[181][182] about two days a week in their lobbying and communications activities. There was no artifice to Ferraro, remembers Koshgarian, her staffer. [189], The campaign between the two also saw racial dust-ups caused by perceptions of remarks made by campaign surrogates. [201] In a friendly joint retrospective of her 1984 debate with George H. W. Bush, Ferraro said she had had more national issues experience in 1984 than Palin did now, but that it was important that Palin make a good showing in her vice presidential debate so that "little girls [could] see someone there who can stand toe to toe with [Biden]. [29] She broke with her party in favoring an anti-busing amendment to the Constitution. Throughout her career she broke down barriers and inspired a generation of. [28][140] In 1999, she joined the board of the Bertarelli Foundation,[165] and in 2003, the board of the National Women's Health Resource Center. "[13] Ferraro attended Marymount Manhattan College with a scholarship[4] while sometimes holding two or three jobs at the same time. Bush, won in a rout, with all but one state voting for the incumbents. YES! the crowd would roar, she recounted in her memoir. [31][80][81] In a 1982 briefing for Congress, Ferraro had written that "the Catholic position on abortion is not monolithic and there can be a range of personal and political responses to the issue. "[210] George H. W. Bush said, "Though we were one-time political opponents, I am happy to say Gerry and I became friends in time a friendship marked by respect and affection. Ferraro suffered complications from . 2023 Smithsonian Magazine [140][141] There she organized the office and spoke with clients, but did not actively practice law and left before the firm fell into difficulties. "[209] Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a statement that, "Gerry Ferraro was one of a kind tough, brilliant, and never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believed in a New York icon and a true American original. It had nothing to do with my qualification. Get the latest History stories in your inbox? [36] (While the Mondale campaign had anticipated some questions, it had only spent 48 hours on vetting Ferraro's family's finances. [180] In June 2003, Ferraro was made executive vice president and managing director of the public affairs practice of the Global Consulting Group,[180] an international investor relations and corporate communications component of Huntsworth. [119] Ferraro worked on an unpublished book about the conflicting rights between a free press and being able to have fair trials. On the campaign trail, however, Ferraro added much-needed charisma, a type of wry familiarity that drew 12,000 people to her first rally. [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. I would never have accepted Mondales offer if I didnt think we would win. Geraldine Anne Ferraro was born on Aug. 26, 1935, in the Hudson River city of Newburgh, N.Y., where she was the fourth child and only daughter of Dominick Ferraro, an Italian immigrant who owned a . [62] Nevertheless, Ferraro faced many press questions about her foreign policy inexperience, and responded by discussing her attention to foreign and national security issues in Congress. Kamala Harris is the nation's third woman vice presidential candidate from a major party. [186] She assisted with fundraising by assuming an honorary post on the finance committee for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. The first . [120] Ferraro was a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics from 1988 to 1992,[28] teaching in-demand seminars such as "So You Want to be President? [17] At the time, women prosecutors in the city were uncommon. [15] Ferraro received a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1956;[8] she was the first woman in her family to gain a college degree. They wanted the eventual nominee to consider a woman for his running mate as a matter of symbolism and practicality, someone who would barnstorm barriers but also be seen as a viable candidate. [24] While Ferraro's pro-choice views conflicted with those of many of her constituents as well as the Catholic Church to which she belonged, her positions on other social and foreign policy issues were in alignment with the district. [46][47] In August 1984, she led passage of a Superfund renewal bill and attacked the Reagan administration's handling of environmental site cleanups. She's very arrogant. [170] A portion of the Act created the Geraldine Ferraro Cancer Education Program, which directs the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an education program for patients of blood cancers and the general public. [48], Ferraro took a congressional trip to Nicaragua at the start of 1984, where she spoke to the Contras. [163] In 1992, she was on the founding board of Project Vote Smart. Some of her advocates felt that the Mondale campaign wasnt making full use of her mince-no-words dynamism. [17] She was admitted to the bar of New York State in March 1961. [59] The speech was listed as number 56 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century. During the campaign, the congresswoman had been careful not to position herself as a womens-issues candidate, but her pro-choice stance had incurred rare political criticism from an archbishop, and protestors routinely aired their outrage at her appearances and on the steps of the Catholic church her family attended. "[65], The choice of Ferraro was viewed as a gamble, and pundits were uncertain whether it would result in a net gain or loss of votes for the Mondale campaign. [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. In the Bush-Ferraro meeting, the super-credentialed Brahmin Yalie behaved like a frightened oaf, while the Italian-American ex-housewife displayed calm, breeding, and self-possession, came political analyst Morton Kondrackes assessment in the New Republic. Team A also made note of womens mobilization and wondered how they could expand the pool of women running for higher office. Forceful, but not overbearing. [17] She also occasionally worked for other clients and did some pro bono work for women in family court. 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. [75], A week after her previous statement, Ferraro said Zaccaro had changed his mind and would indeed release his tax records,[72] which was done on August 20. All this unfolded amid an outpouring of feminist activism and shifting attitudes about women in politics. She stated, "I am absolutely thrilled. Polls showed another gender gap: A majority of men viewed Bush as the victor, while women were split. [110][155] Unlike the previous campaigns, her family finances never became an issue. "[187][190] (Ferraro had made a similar comment in 1988 disparaging Jesse Jackson's candidacy in the party's presidential primaries, saying that because of his "radical" views, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race. 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. [120], She also did some commentating for television. "[104] The scrutiny of her husband and his business dealings presaged a trend that women candidates would face in American electoral politics. At the crux of the scandal was this: Ferraro and Zaccaro had filed separate tax returns, and she planned to release hers, while he did not. [146] During her stint on the commission, it for the first time condemned anti-Semitism as a human rights violation,[147] and also for the first time prevented China from blocking a motion criticizing its human rights record. Ticket', "Kamala Harris will be the country's first female and first Black vice president", "The Farewell: For Ferraro, Early Promise, Lopsided Loss", "Ferraro Releases Tax Returns for 2 Missing Years to Offset Attacks by Rivals", "Judge Sentences Zaccaro to Work in Public Service", "Jury Acquits Zaccaro of Seeking To Extort Cable Television Bribe", "Acquittal of Zaccaro Puts His Prosecutors on Spot", "Ferraro's Son Sentenced to 4 Months in Jail for Selling Cocaine", "A History Maker Recalls the Door That She Opened", "For Ferraro, Troubles, but a Close Family", "In Senate Campaign, Ferraro Picks Up Where She Left Off", "For Ferraro, Cheers of '84 Are Still Resonating", "Holtzman Draws Criticism From Feminists Over Ads", "Ferraro's Husband Is Said To Have Met Mob Figure", "Abrams, In Tight Senate Vote, Appears to Edge Out Ferraro", "For Feminists, It Wasn't What They Had in Mind", "Bank Named to Bond Sale After Loan to Holtzman Campaign", "Hevesi Throws Hat in Ring For Comptroller's Office", "The 1993 Primary: The Overview Hevesi Outpolls Holtzman, Forcing a Runoff Vote", "A First for the U.N.: Condemning Anti-Semitism", "China Fails to Block U.N. Vote on Rights", "In Training for a Run on the Political Stage", "Ferraro out of 'Crossfire,' into political frying pan", "Joint Tax Returns Show Ferraro Made $150,000 in CNN Job", "Friends Say Ferraro Will Seek D'Amato's Seat", National Democratic Institute of International Affairs, "Washington Talk: Briefing; Ferraro Back in Capital", "Project Vote Smart's Founding & Executive Board Members", "Geraldine Ferraro Joins Board of National Women's Health Resource Center", "About the Committee to Free Lori Berenson", "Legislative Updates: Hematological Cancer Research Investment and Education Act of 2001", Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis, "International staging system for multiple myeloma", "The Ferraro-Corman connection: Brought together by a killer disease", "Geraldine Ferraro and Laura Ingraham Write 'Campaign Countdown' For the New York Times Syndicate", "Georgetown University: Georgetown Public Policy Institute", "Lynn Martin Joins Geraldine Ferraro in Advising Businesses on Workplace and Marketplace Issues", "The Media Business: Advertising Addenda: People", "Neighborhood History and Neighborhood Feel", "Officers and Directors For Goodrich Petroleum Corp", "Female ex-candidate to 'protect' Hillary Clinton", "Clinton supporter quits over Obama remarks", "Ferraro: 'They're attacking me because I'm white', "Ferraro steps down from Clinton campaign", "Playing the Racist Card: Ferraro's comments about Senator Obama were racist. [179] Its goal was to advise corporations on how to develop more women leaders and make their workplaces more amenable to female employees. [2][3][4][5] She had three brothers born before her, but one died in infancy and another at age three. The Geraldine Ferraro materials consist primarily of papers but also include published articles, books, photographs, recordings (audio- and videotape and vinyl), and three-dimensional objects. There was no good evidence one way or the other about what difference it would make to put women on the ticket, says Carroll. May her example of hard work and dedication to America continue to inspire all women. [119] He was convicted, and in June 1988, sentenced to four months' imprisonment; Ferraro broke down in tears in court relating the stress the episode had placed on her family. The High Point of the Democratic National Convention The Associated Press. She was the wrong woman at the wrong time; she was a Clinton; she hadn't gotten there on her own". [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. In August of 1984, he was removed as a court-appointed conservator because he had lent money from the estate to his own business, then repaid it. [24] While organizing community opposition to a proposed building, Ferraro met lawyer and Democratic figure Mario Cuomo, who became a political mentor. Later, when Reagans approval ratings rebounded, the argument evolved. But his liberal view of the country won out. The 1998 primary defeat brought an end to Ferraro's political career. [nb 4] The AFLCIO's Committee on Political Education gave her an average approval rating of 91percent. The 19th Amendment marks neither the beginning nor the end of the struggle for suffrage. Geraldine Ferraro, in full Geraldine Anne Ferraro, married name Geraldine Zaccaro, (born August 26, 1935, Newburgh, New York, U.S.died March 26, 2011, Boston, Massachusetts), American Democratic politician who was the first woman to be nominated for vice president by a major political party in the United States; as such, she served as Walter Ferraro parried back" I dont know if I were, if I were not a woman, if I would be judged in the same way on my candidacy, whether or not Id be asked questions like, you know, are you strong enough to push the button. Theres no question that EMILYs List is a direct outgrowth of the political force we saw in women as voters and potential voters, says Howes. Then she added, Vice president has such a nice ring to it., It was magical, recalls McLean, who had flown from California to witness the announcement. [21][22] They would buy a condominium in Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1983. Loyal to the party. Bush. [169], Ferraro joined Fox News Channel as a regular political commentator in October 1999. "[16] She earned a Juris Doctor degree with honors from Fordham University School of Law in 1960,[11][17] going to classes at night while continuing to work as a second-grade teacher at schools such as P.S. Terms of Use 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. [161] Ferraro was connected with many other political and non-profit organizations. In fact, she already has: Before Biden announced her as his second-in-command, reports emerged that campaign insiders were concerned that Harris was "too ambitious" to be his veep.
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