We lost a true political pioneer yesterday to multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. Geraldine Ferraro was a respected prosecutor when she decided to run for congress in 1978. She quickly made a name for herself by championing legislation to bring equality in the workplace for women.
In 1984 she was chosen by Walter Mondale to be his Vice Presidential nominee. She became the first woman to ever be on a major political party ticket, in this case the Democrat party. Her nomination energized the campaign but they ended up losing to the incumbent president at the time.
The excitement lasted far beyond the campaign. Her candidacy gave women a living example of what can be achieved in the political sphere. It was a trailblazing that has benefited many. The careers of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and countless others owe just a tiny bit of their success to Geraldine Ferraro and what she accomplished.
