Geraldine Ferraro Nominated for Vice President

In 1984 Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro of New York was selected by Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale as his vice presidential running mate. With her nomination at the party's national convention, Ferraro became the first woman to run for national office on a major party ticket in the United States. A former prosecutor who had served three terms in the House of Representatives, she campaigned across the country as the Democratic candidate for vice president.

Although the Mondale-Ferraro ticket lost decisively to incumbent President Ronald Reagan in the general election, Ferraro's nomination was a landmark in American political history. It broke a long-standing barrier by placing a woman on a major party's national ticket for the first time and signaled the growing role of women in electoral politics. Her candidacy inspired later generations of women who sought the nation's highest offices.