>>> SOME SAD BREAKING NEWS TO
REPORT TO YOU TONIGHT.
WE’RE GETTING WORD THAT FORMER
VICE PRESIDENT WALTER MONDALE
HAS DIED AT THE AGE OF 93.
HE WAS VICE PRESIDENT TO JIMMY
CARTER, HE RAN FOR PRESIDENT IN
1984.
HE DID NOT WIN THAT RACE.
BUT HE MAY HAVE ACHIEVED HIS
MOST LASTING LEGACY IN NATIONAL
POLITICS FOR WHO HE THOSE TO BE
HIS VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE,
GERALDINE FERRARO.
THE FIRST FEMALE NOMINEE ON A
VICE PRESIDENTIAL TICKET.
AND THEY WON MINNESOTA AND D.C.,
AND REAGAN WON THE REST.
IT WOULD BE A LONG TIME BEFORE
THERE WAS ANOTHER WOMAN ON A
MAJOR PARTY PRESIDENTIAL TICKET
IN THIS COUNTRY.
BUT IT DID HAPPEN.
FERRARO DIED IN 2011.
SHE NEVER LIVED TO SEE THE
COUNTRY’S FIRST WOMAN VICE
PRESIDENT.
BUT WALTER MONDALE DID.
IT SEEMS FITTING THAT ONE OF THE
LAST PEOPLE HE REPORTEDLY SPOKE
TO WAS HIS SUCCESSOR, VICE
PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS.
AND REPORTS ARE THAT WHILE HE
AND HIS FAMILY BELIEVED HIS
DEATH WAS IMMINENT, AFTER HIS
CALLS WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN AND
VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS, HE PERKED
UP AFTER THOSE CALLS.
VICE PRESIDENT MONDALE IS CREDITED WITH HAVING REMADE THE
CREDITED WITH HAVING REMADE THE
VICE PRESIDENCY.
THE WHOLE IDEA OF THE VICE
PRESIDENCY IS CREDITED WITH
STARTING WITH VICE PRESIDENT
MONDALE, AND WITH THE
CONSTRUCTIVE RELATIONSHIP HE HAD
WITH PRESIDENT CARTER.
MONDALE WAS THE FIRST VICE
PRESIDENT TO HAVE AN OFFICE IN
THE WEST WING.
TONIGHT, FORMER PRESIDENT CARTER
PUT OUT A STATEMENT SAYING, IN
PART, FRITZ MONDALE PROVIDED US
ALL WITH A MODEL FOR PUSHLBLIC
SERVICE AND BEHAVIOR.
WE EXTEND OUR DEEPEST
CONDOLENCES TO HIS FAMILY.
SENATOR AMY KLOBUCHAR WAS AN
INTERN TO WALTER MONDALE.
SHE RELEASED A STATEMENT, SAYING
HE SET A HIGH BAR FOR HIMSELF,
AND KEPT PASSING IT AND RAISING
IT.
HE WILL BE SORELY MISSED.
SENATOR KLOBUCHAR, THANK YOU SO
ENOUGH FOR JOINING US ON VERY
SHORT NOTICE UPON GETTING THIS
NEWS.
I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
>> THANK YOU.
YOU KNOW, HE WAS AN INCREDIBLE
PUBLIC SERVANT.
AND I THINK PROBABLY THE WORDS
THAT BEST CAPTURE IT ARE THE
WORDS ON THE COURTARTER LIBRARY.
THEY WERE ON THE WALL, AND I WAS
THERE ONE DAY AND WROTE THEM
DOWN AND KEPT THEM IN MY PURSE.
AFTER THEY LOST THE ELECTION, HE
SAID, WE TOLD THE TRUTH, WE
OBEYED THE LAW, WE KEPT THE
PEACE.
I THINK THAT SUMS UP WALTER
MONDALE’S LIFE.
HE TREATED EVERYONE WITH SUCH
KINDNESS.
AND HE WENT FROM A TINY LITTLE
TOWN, THE SON OF A MINISTER, ALL
THE WAY TO THE SECOND HIGHEST
OFFICE IN THE LAND.
>> THOSE WORDS THAT YOU’VE JUST
QUOTED, I’VE INTERVIEWED YOU
LOTS OF TIMES OVER THE YEARS,
AND MORE THAN ONCE YOU’VE QUOTED
THOSE WORDS TO ME.
YOU’VE OFTEN DESCRIBED VICE
PRESIDENT MONDALE AS YOUR
MENTOR.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT WHAT HE
WAS LIKE, AND WHY HE MEANT SO
MUCH TO YOU?
>> HE HAD US OVER FOR DINNER AT
THE VICE PRESIDENT’S HOUSE. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GO
I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GO
THERE AND DO ALL THESE GAMLAMORO
THINGS.
THEY HAD ME DO THE FURNITURE
INVENTORY.
LITERALLY YEARS LATER, I KNOW
TWO THINGS.
ONE, HE WAS HONEST.
NOTHING WAS MISSING.
BUT TWO, TAKE YOUR FIRST JOB
SERIOUSLY.
BECAUSE HE GAVE ME THAT FIRST
JOB.
AND NOW I’VE GOT THIS ONE AS A
U.S. SENATOR OF MINNESOTA.
AND HE ENCOURAGED ME WHILE I
WORKED WITH HIM AT THE LAW FIRM,
TO RUN FOR THE U.S. SENATE.
HE SUPPORTED ME FOR PRESIDENT.
HE WAS THERE EVERY STEP OF THE
WAY.
AND I THINK WHEN YOU TALKED
ABOUT GERALDINE FERRARO.
IT WASN’T JUST ME.
I THINK EVERY LITTLE GIRL AT THE
TIME KNEW THAT ANYTHING AND
EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE.
JUST LIKE WHEN KAMALA WAS
STANDING ON THAT STAGE.
AND I REMEMBER WHAT GERALDINE
FERRARO WAS WEARING WITH HER RED
DRESS AND PEARLS.
HE ASKED HER TO BE THE RUNNING
MATE.
HE’S SOMEONE THAT BELIEVED HIS
JOB AFTER HE LEFT OFFICE, AFTER
GETTING DEFEATED AS YOU SO WELL
EXPLAINED AND RUNNING FOR
PRESIDENT, IT DIDN’T END THERE.
HE SAW HIS JOB AS PASSING ON THE
TORCH TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF
LEADERS.
SO MANY PEOPLE, WHEN THEY LOSE
POLITICAL OFFICE, JUST FADE
AWAY.
NOT HIM.
HE WAS A PILLAR IN OUR
COMMUNITY.
AND HE STOOD UP FOR WHAT HE
ALWAYS DID, AND THAT WAS THE
TITLE OF ONE OF HIS BOOKS, "THE
GOOD FIGHT".
>> AS SOMEBODY WHO EMBODIES THE
IDEA OF UPRIGHT DECENCY IN
PUBLIC SERVICE.
AMBITION, YES, BUT SOLIDITY,
DECENCY, A LIFE WELL LIVED,
FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MONDALE
DYING AT THE AGE OF 93.
SENATOR AMY KLOBUCHAR, THANK YOU
FOR BEING HERE, WE KNOW IT’S A
HARD TIME.
>> THANK YOU, RACHEL.
>> BEFORE HE WAS VICE PRESIDENT,
HE WAS SENATOR OF MINNESOTA, AND
ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK THAT
IS WORTH REMEMBERING AT TIMES
LIKE THIS IS, HIS PATH AS
SENATOR KLOBUCHAR SAID, FROM
PREACHER’S SON IN MINNESOTA TO
THE VICE PRESIDENCY, IT’S EASY
TO SEE THE BEGINNINGS AND THE
END IN TERMS OF THE PINNACLES HE
REACHED IN PUBLIC LIFE.
IN HIS TIME AS ATTORNEY GENERAL
AND SENATOR IN MINNESOTA, HE
JUST BUILT BRICK BY BRICK A
SOLID, DECENT, YOU KNOW, SCANDAL
FREE RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT
AND BRAVERY.
HE WAS A SENATOR DURING THE
GREAT SOCIETY LEGISLATION OF THE
LBJ ERA.
THAT MEANT THAT AS A HIGH
PROFILE SENATOR AND LEADER IN
HIS PARTY AT THE TIME, HE WAS
KEY TO GETTING SO MUCH CIVIL
RIGHTS LEGISLATION AND KEY
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS PASS.
THE REASON CARTER PICKED HIM, HE
WAS A KNOWN QUANTITY, AND PROVEN
LEADER.
AND HE REMAINED A MENTOR AND
FRIEND AND PILLAR, BOTH TO HIS
PARTY AND TO THE PEOPLE OF