MINNEAPOLIS 鈥� President Joe Biden visited Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon to pay tribute to former Vice President Walter Mondale.
鈥淗e was one of the finest men you鈥檝e known, one of the most decent people I鈥檝e ever dealt with, and one of the toughest, smartest men I've ever worked with,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淎mong the greatest of all Americans.鈥�
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"Fritz was a giant in American political history," Biden said, recounting a friendship with Mondale that started when Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 and lasted until a final phone call in Mondale鈥檚 last days. "Fritz was a master legislator who shone a light on those who needed it most."
Mondale died last year at age 93 following a career in which he also served as Minnesota attorney general, U.S. senator and ambassador.
He was a senator from Minnesota when Jimmy Carter chose him as his running mate in 1976.
In 1984 he was the Democratic candidate for president, but lost in a landslide as Ronald Reagan won a second term.
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the memorial service, which was held at the University of Minnesota.
Biden credited Mondale with creating the model for the modern vice presidency, and recounted how he consulted with Mondale when Barack Obama asked him to consider being his running mate.
Several speakers at the memorial noted that Mondale made history when he became the first presidential nominee of either party to select a woman, Geraldine Ferraro, as his running mate.
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Along with Biden, a host of DFL politicians spoke at the service, including Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Tina Smith.
鈥淲alter Mondale told the truth. He obeyed the law. He kept the peace,鈥� Klobuchar said, echoing Mondale鈥檚 words written on the walls of the Carter presidential library. 鈥淗e led the way. He set a high bar. And time after time he kept passing it and raising it, passing it and raising it.鈥�
Klobuchar called Mondale a mentor and noted that her first job in Washington was as an intern in his office. The second, she noted, is the job she has now.
Mondale鈥檚 own mentor was Minnesota Sen. Hubert Humphrey, who also served as vice president and was the Democratic nominee in 1968.
Smith managed Mondale's campaign for Senate in 2002, when Mondale was unsuccessful in holding the seat after Sen. Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash days before the election.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham spoke at the memorial as well.
鈥淭here are children in America today who will not go hungry because of Fritz Mondale,鈥� Meacham said. 鈥淭here are Black people in America today who can vote and work and live more freely and fairly because of Fritz Mondale. There are women in America today who see no limit to their dreams because of Fritz Mondale.鈥�
