Her rocky relationship with the press was infamous. But Mark Katz remembers a night with reporters when Geraldine Ferraro was undeniably winning-even while losing.
In the spring of 1998, when a young intern named Lewinsky was making headlines for her role in the White House, I received a call regarding another woman who had made history 14 years earlier in her bid to serve in the executive branch. Was I available to help Geraldine Ferraro prepare for a humor speech she was scheduled to deliver at Albany's answer to Washington's Gridiron Club? Having gotten my start writing humorous speeches on the 1988 presidential campaign of Mike Dukakis, I answered that I had never written for any national candidate who had received less than 111 Electoral votes but was willing to give it a try.
Related story on The Daily Beast: What Your Baby Remembers
Only weeks earlier, the former Queens congresswomen turned vice presidential...
In the spring of 1998, when a young intern named Lewinsky was making headlines for her role in the White House, I received a call regarding another woman who had made history 14 years earlier in her bid to serve in the executive branch. Was I available to help Geraldine Ferraro prepare for a humor speech she was scheduled to deliver at Albany's answer to Washington's Gridiron Club? Having gotten my start writing humorous speeches on the 1988 presidential campaign of Mike Dukakis, I answered that I had never written for any national candidate who had received less than 111 Electoral votes but was willing to give it a try.
Related story on The Daily Beast: What Your Baby Remembers
Only weeks earlier, the former Queens congresswomen turned vice presidential...
- 3/27/2011
- by Mark Katz
- The Daily Beast
America's first female VP candidate on a major party ticket died today at 75. Lynn Sherr, who traveled with Ferraro on her groundbreaking 1984 campaign, recalls the congresswoman's electrifying debut, the way she inspired women all over the country-and how she handled her loss with grace. Plus, Mark Katz remembers Geraldine Ferraro's great sense of humor.
Geraldine Ferraro opened the door to her Washington congressional office, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the mirror above her fireplace. "C'mere," she said in her brisk Queens cadence. "C'mere. I have to see what everyone's talking about."
It was the summer of 1984, the first time I'd met her, and the two of us stood side by side gazing at each other's reflection. Everyone, it seems, was right. We did look alike, with our nearly identical short, thatched, and blond-streaked hair, our high cheekbones and strong chins. True, I was some four inches taller than the congresswoman,...
Geraldine Ferraro opened the door to her Washington congressional office, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the mirror above her fireplace. "C'mere," she said in her brisk Queens cadence. "C'mere. I have to see what everyone's talking about."
It was the summer of 1984, the first time I'd met her, and the two of us stood side by side gazing at each other's reflection. Everyone, it seems, was right. We did look alike, with our nearly identical short, thatched, and blond-streaked hair, our high cheekbones and strong chins. True, I was some four inches taller than the congresswoman,...
- 3/26/2011
- by Lynn Sherr
- The Daily Beast
Geraldine A. Ferraro, the first woman to run on a major party national ticket, has died, her family said Saturday. She was 75 years old. She passed away at Massachusetts General Hospital due to complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer she had dealt with for 12 years.
A 1960 graduate of Fordham Law School, Ferraro was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. She was subsequently named as the vice presidential candidate to Walter Mondale's 1984 ticket. In her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Ferraro said, "The daughter of an immigrant from Italy has been chosen to run for vice president in the new land my father came to love."
Following the Mondale-Ferraro ticket loss to Reagan-Bush 41% to 59% of the popular vote, Ferraro had two failed runs for the U.S. Senate. She was always marred slightly by rumors of ties to organized crime, which she contended was...
A 1960 graduate of Fordham Law School, Ferraro was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. She was subsequently named as the vice presidential candidate to Walter Mondale's 1984 ticket. In her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Ferraro said, "The daughter of an immigrant from Italy has been chosen to run for vice president in the new land my father came to love."
Following the Mondale-Ferraro ticket loss to Reagan-Bush 41% to 59% of the popular vote, Ferraro had two failed runs for the U.S. Senate. She was always marred slightly by rumors of ties to organized crime, which she contended was...
- 3/26/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Geraldine Ferraro, who marked a significant moment in American history as the first woman vice-presidential nominee for a major party, died Saturday. She was 75. Surrounded at the end by her loved ones at Massachusetts General in Boston, "Gerry," as she was known, had been battling cancer for more than a decade. As presidential candidate Walter Mondale's running mate against Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in 1984, Ferraro was a surprise gambit - something like Sarah Palin in 2008, if politically a different animal. ("Modern life is confusing," she said. "Make no Ms.-take about it.") A little-known New York State congresswoman,...
- 3/26/2011
- by Tom Gliatto
- PEOPLE.com
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