Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Anne Ferraro (born August 26, 1935) is best known as the first woman to be a candidate for Vice President of the United States on a major party ticket. She and fellow Democrat Walter Mondale were soundly beaten by the re-election campaign of President Ronald Reagan and Vice-President George H. W. Bush in the 1984 election.

Ferraro was born in Newburgh, New York. Her father, an Italian immigrant, died when she was eight; her mother was a seamstress. She got a law degree while teaching second grade in public schools.

Married to Realtor John Zaccaro, she raised three children, then joined the Queens County district attorney's office. She was elected to the House of Representatives from New York's Ninth Congressional District in Queens in 1978 and served three, two-year terms, compiling a generally liberal voting record on social and economic issues.

She published an autobiography, Ferraro: My Story, in 1985, and in 1992 ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. From 1996-1998 she was cohost on Crossfire, a political commentary show on the cable television network CNN. She is now president of G&L Strategies, a management consulting firm.