Walter Mondale, who served as Vice President under President Jimmy Carter and was the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 1984, has died at the age of 93, Axios reports.
Mondale was a Senator from Minnesota when he was selected by Carter to be his vice presidential candidate in the 1976 campaign. Known as “Fritz,” Mondale was appointed US Ambassador to Japan by President Bill Clinton in 1993, serving until 1996.
Mondale’s 1984 presidential election, against incumbent Republican Ronald Reagan, was a disaster, with Mondale only winning his home state of Minnesota. He lost the Electoral College 525 to 13. Mondale stayed out of campaigning until 2002, when the death of Democratic candidate of incumbent Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone eleven days before the election pushed Mondale onto the ticket. He lost that race by less than 50,000 votes to Norm Coleman.
His wife of 58 years, Joan, died in 2014 of Alzheimer’s disease. His daughter, Eleanor, died of brain cancer in 2011. He is survived by two sons.