Mondale Ferraro 1984

Blue and red text on a white background with an illustration of a red white and blue flag with a union symbol on it

Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro were the Democratic Party's nominations in the 1984 election for United States President and Vice-President. Mondale was a United States Senator representing the state of Minnesota from 1964 to 1976, and served as the 42nd Vice-President of the United States under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. Ferraro was a schoolteacher, and then the head of a new Special Victims Bureau, a division of the Queens County District Attorney's office in New York, before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1978. 

The Mondale-Ferraro ticket was historic, with Ferraro becoming both the first woman and first Italian-American nominated by a major political party. This meant large-scale media attention,and Ferrraro faced tough questions about her lack of experience with foreign policy and the finances of her husband, businessman John Zaccaro, as well as criticism from the Catholic Church for her pro-choice stance. The Mondale-Ferraro campaign was liberal in nature, supporting the Equal Rights Amendment and nuclear disarmament, and gained the endorsement of several major unions, including the United Automobile Workers' union (UAW), whose flag is featured on this button. 

Mondale and Ferraro were defeated in a landslide by incumbent President Ronald Reagan on Election Day, receiving only 13 electoral college votes from Mondale's home state of Minnesota.