Geraldine Anne Ferraro passes away

Over the weekend Geraldine Anne Ferraro passed away. Mrs. Ferraro served three terms as a member of the US House of Representatives and under President Bill Clinton was appointed United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

To those outside the US she will be best known for making history as the first female Vice Presidential candidate running for a mainstream political party. As the Democrat Walter Mondale's deputy in the 1984 campaign running against President Ronald Reagan she broke new ground in an all male set up, simply by being there. TIME magazine at the time called the decision 'an historic choice'.

Despite this her choice as running mate was often mired in controversy over financial irregularities and while her selection was rejoiced by Democratic stalwarts only 45% of women voters in the actual election came out for the Mondale/Ferraro ticket and only 41 percent of the popular vote. She went on to try and secure a New York Senate seat twice, losing both times.

In the face of these setbacks Mrs. Ferraro, a pro abortionist, quickly rehabilitated herself in the public sphere over the next decade by taking positions in the United Nations advocating human rights and gender equality, as well as becoming an anchor on the CNN current affairs show Crossfire. She also helped set up the National Organization of Italian American Women. Furthermore, she achieved all of this under the specter of a long battle with a rare cancer, Multiple Myeloma, to which she succumbed this weekend.

Although it may now be hard to imagine, without Ferraro almost thirty years ago there would have been no Hilary Clinton or Sarah Palin, and certainly no President Obama.

President Obama paid tribute saying:

"Geraldine will forever be remembered as a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women, and Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life. My daughters will grow up in a more equal America because of the life Geraldine Ferraro chose to live.

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and President Clinton marveled at the way

"she paved the way for a generation of female leaders and put the first cracks in America’s political glass ceiling.”

She broke ground and made history, and kept striking out in the face of personal and political challenges.

Geraldine Anne Ferraro (pictured), born August 26, 1935; died March 26, 2011.

Ashok Viswanathan