By Rebecca Toov
Minnesota Daily headline, "Ferraro speaks at U to stress importance of women's issues," March 15, 1985.
Season 3: Episode 3. Women on the Air: Geraldine Ferraro visits Minnesota
You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial Podcast. Welcome to Season 3: Episode 3. Hello, this is Rebecca from University Archives. After a brief hiatus, we are back in 2019 to share more historic broadcasts from the University of Minnesota radio station KUOM. For this episode, we will continue our Season 3 theme of “Women on the Air” with the subject of women in politics. As of the date of this recording, 14 people have publicly announced their candidacies to seek the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election. Among the prospects, so far, are a record number of women - six in total - to include an author, a current member of the House of Representatives, and four sitting U.S. Senators.
In U.S. history, only one woman has ever been nominated as a major party candidate for president - Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee in 2016. Two other women in our country’s history were nominated as vice presidential candidates: Sarah Palin in 2008, and Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. Ultimately, none of these women were elected.
Minnesota Daily headline "Mondale makes history by picking Ferraro," July 13, 1984.
Though many months of campaigning remain before Democrats make their nominations official at the July 2020 party convention, candidates are already dining in Iowa, shaking hands in New Hampshire, and articulating their visions for the future of the country. Before we speculate about the possibility of another woman securing a major party nomination for president, vice president - or both - in 2020, let’s look back and listen to “the first.”
On July 12, 1984, at the Minnesota State Capitol, Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale - Minnesota’s former U.S. Senator, and U.S. Vice President in the Carter administration - made a major announcement. Mondale revealed that he would recommend Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate and candidate for the vice presidential nomination. At the Democratic National Convention held in San Francisco the following week, Mondale and Ferraro secured the party votes, and Ferraro became the first woman ever to be nominated to a major party presidential ticket.
Breaking ground in politics, however, does not ensure a path to victory. I won’t go into it here, but listeners can review on their own the factors that lead to voters eventually selecting the incumbent Republican candidates over the Democratic challengers on election day. On November 6, 1984, President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush prevailed in a landslide victory. In the Electoral College, in addition to the District of Columbia, Mondale and Ferraro were victorious in only one state - Minnesota.
Four months after the election, on March 14, 1985, Geraldine Ferraro visited Minnesota where she was greeted by a large and receptive audience as the guest speaker for the Distinguished Carlson Lecture Series, sponsored by the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Interest was so great that after full capacity was reached in Northrop Auditorium, accommodations were made for a screening at Williams Arena across campus. The speech was also broadcast live on radio stations throughout the Twin Cities, to include University of Minnesota station KUOM.
