Geraldine Ferraro is a woman who should be much more heralded than she is – as the first ever female vice-presidential major party nominee for that office in the United States, she blazed a trail that is still being foraged by women today, over thirty years later. Geraldine was born of Italian American parents in New York and was largely raised by her hard-working widowed mother. This gave her a lasting empathy for the poor, which permeated her politics. In a time when women were encouraged to get teaching or nursing degrees in case something “happened to their marriagesâ€, Geraldine got not only a teaching degree, but a law degree, being one of two women in her law school class. When she married, Ms. Ferraro retained her maiden name for the most part, as she served in various public legal offices before going on to run for the House of Representatives. Brash and ambitious, Geraldine worked her way up in the men’s club and was thrilled to be on the Mondale ticket. The nomination was met with both enthusiasm and opposition, as Geraldine’s policies (particularly on the pro-choice issue) were attacked and her personal financial matters were investigated mercilessly. At the end of it all, she and Mondale were trounced in the 1984 election by President Ronald Reagan. Geraldine Ferraro continued to be active in politics and humanitarian works, but she was absolutely right when she declared that her path would have been a lot smoother if her name had been Gerald.
