He was the Democratic Party's nominee in the 1984 presidential election but lost to incumbent Ronald Reagan in an Electoral College and popular vote landslide.

While in the Senate, he supported consumer protection, fair housing, tax reform, and the desegregation of schools; he served on the Church Committee.

The economy worsened during Carter and Mondale's time in office, and they lost the 1980 presidential election to Republicans Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

In 1984, Mondale won the Democratic presidential nomination and campaigned for a nuclear freeze, the Equal Rights Amendment, an increase in taxes, and a reduction of U.S. public debt.

After his defeat, Mondale joined the Minnesota-based law firm Dorsey & Whitney and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (1986–1993).

[8] Mondale's paternal grandfather Frederik Mundal had emigrated from Norway with his family in 1856, eventually settling in southern Minnesota in 1864.

[15] Mondale attended public schools and then Macalester College for two years before transferring to the University of Minnesota, from which he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1951.

[27] That year, Mondale was re-elected to the Senate with over 57% of the vote,[28] even as Republican President Richard Nixon carried Minnesota.

[38] Documents declassified in 2017 show that the National Security Agency had created a file on Mondale as part of its monitoring of prominent U.S. citizens whose names appeared in Signals intelligence.

NASA's procedure called for Deputy Administrator (and de facto general manager) Robert C. Seamans to appoint and oversee an investigative panel.

Mueller denied the report's existence, though he must have been aware of it, as he had appended his own strongly worded letter to the copy sent to North American Aviation president Lee Atwood.

[42] Seamans was afraid Mondale might be in possession of a copy (he was not), so he admitted that NASA often reviewed its contractors' performance, with both positive and negative results, but claimed that was nothing extraordinary.

Under repeated questioning from Mondale, Webb promised that he would investigate whether the "Phillips Report" existed, and if so, whether a controlled release could be made to Congress.

[41] The controversy spread to both houses of Congress and grew (through the efforts of Mondale's fellow committee member, Republican Margaret Chase Smith to include the second-guessing of NASA's original selection in 1961 of North American as the prime Apollo spacecraft contractor, which Webb became forced to defend).

Yet Mondale wrote a minority opinion accusing NASA of "evasiveness,... lack of candor, ... patronizing attitude exhibited toward Congress, ... refusal to respond fully and forthrightly to legitimate congressional inquiries, and ... solicitous concern for corporate sensitivities at a time of national tragedy".

[48] In 1979, Twin Cities Public Television produced a documentary about his trip to Norway, titled Walter Mondale: There's a Fjord in Your Past, a play on the well-known advertising slogan "There's a Ford in Your Future".

[51][52] Carter and Mondale were renominated at the 1980 Democratic National Convention, but soundly lost to the Republican ticket of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

Jackson, widely regarded as the first serious African-American candidate for president, held on longer, but Mondale gained the nomination with the majority of delegates.

[56] At the Democratic National Convention, Mondale chose U.S. Representative Geraldine Ferraro from New York as his running mate, making her the first woman nominated for that position by a major party.

[65] In 2002, Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone from Minnesota, who was running for reelection, died in a plane crash 11 days before the November 5 election.

[69] On June 3, 2008, following the final primary contests, Mondale endorsed Senator Barack Obama, who had clinched the nomination the previous evening, and won the presidency.

In 1998, Ted Mondale unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Minnesota governor, running as a fiscal moderate who had distanced himself from labor.

He enjoyed fishing, reading Shakespeare and historical accounts, barbecuing, skiing, watching Monty Python, and playing tennis.

("Theater of the Relatively Talentless") productions and allowed his name to be used as the nickname of the school's hockey team: the "Fighting Mondales".

In later years, Mondale served on the executive committee of the Peace Prize Forum, an annual conference co-sponsored by the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

Never has a public servant had a better group of people working at their side!Together we have accomplished so much and I know you will keep up the good fight.Joe in the White House certainly helps.I always knew it would be okay if I arrived some place and was greeted by one of you!My best to all of you!Fritz Mondale died of natural causes in his sleep at his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 19, 2021, at the age of 93.

On the day before his death, he had several phone conversations with Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Minnesota governor Tim Walz.

[88][89] Carter said in a statement: "Today I mourn the passing of my dear friend Walter Mondale, who I consider the best vice president in our country's history ... Rosalynn and I join all Americans in giving thanks for his exemplary life, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family.

[93] On April 20, 2021, Biden ordered all flags at government properties, office buildings and public grounds to be flown at half-staff until that Tuesday evening in honor of Mondale.

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