Former Vice President, Presidential nominee, U.S. Senator, and Minnesota Attorney General, Walter Mondale has passed away at the age of 93.
Mondale was Vice President to Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981, and lost a 
presidential bid to Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Mondale was born in Ceylon, Minnesota, and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1951 after attending Macalester College. He then served in the United States Army during the Korean War before earning a law degree in 1956. Mondale was appointed Minnesota Attorney General in 1960 and was elected to a full term in 1962.
Mondale was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Governor upon the resignation of Senator Hubert Humphrey following Humphrey’s election as vice president in 1964. Mondale was elected to a full Senate term in 1966 and reelected in 1972, resigning in 1976 as he prepared to succeed to the vice presidency in 1977.
Minnesota politicians have given statements on Mondale’s passing and they are below.
Governor Tim Walz today released the following statement on the death of Vice President Walter Mondale:
“Today, Minnesota and the nation mourn the loss of a beloved public servant. Gwen and I mourn the loss of a dear friend and mentor. Walter Mondale believed in and worked to create a nation with a heart, a soul, and a conscience. He believed that the greatness of America is found in the everyday men and women who build our nation, do its work, and defend its freedoms. And he fought tirelessly for those values until the very end of his life, imploring each of us through his example to continue the fight,” said Governor Walz. “We will miss terribly Fritz Mondale, the steady voice and vision setter for ideas great and small, people powerful and powerless, and justice waiting to be revealed.”
Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan released the following statement:
“For me, Vice President Walter Mondale wasn’t just the nice guy on TV who served ably as Minnesota Attorney General, U.S. Senator and Vice President. It was like he was part of our family. The last time we spoke, Mondale had only encouraging words for me – perhaps knowing how hard it is sometimes to be in public office. The nicest thing he ever said was that my grandmother would be really proud of me,” said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan. “Walter Mondale was an inspiration and mentor to generations of people in Minnesota and across this country who went on to serve the public in any number of ways. His death in this week of trauma for Minnesota calls us to our better angels and reminds us that, for all our humanly faults, we must never stop trying to do better by people.”
U.S. Senator Tina Smith released the following statement on the passing of Vice President Walter Mondale:
“I loved Walter Mondale and I’m not the only one. Mondale was a giant not only because of the positions he held—Minnesota Attorney General, U.S. Senator, Vice President, Democratic Presidential candidate and Ambassador—but because of the work that he did. He provided his strong, compassionate, clear, and fearless voice to the world for over six decades, and he never stopped. Whether it was working with Marian Wright Edelman to lift children out of poverty, fighting to repair the damage of housing discrimination with the Fair Housing Act, or persistently pushing us to protect precious places like the St. Croix River and our beloved Boundary Waters, he charted an unwavering path. He was also a true friend, full of lively questions, incisive and hysterically funny commentary, advice offered with his unique dry wit, birthdays remembered and lunches shared, preferably with onion rings. He deeply loved all his family with the best gift a father can give, unconditional love, expressed with classic Mondale understatement: ‘Keep up the good work.’ I am bereft and so grateful to have known him. May his memory be a blessing and a reminder to do good work and love life.”
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar said the following –
Walter Mondale was a true public servant and my friend and mentor. He set a high bar for himself and kept passing it and raising it, passing it and raising it. As Minnesota Attorney General, Senator, Vice President, Ambassador and Presidential candidate he was kind and dignified to the end,” said Klobuchar. “On the wall of the Carter Library is a quote of Walter Mondale’s at the end of their time in office: “We told the truth. We obeyed the law. We kept the peace.” That pretty much sums up Walter Mondale’s life and service.”
