Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro (born 1935) was the a Democratic politician and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is best known as the first and only woman to represent a major U.S. political party as a candidate for Vice President. Ferraro and running mate Walter Mondale were defeated in a landslide by incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush in the 1984 election. She was later appointed as an ambassador to the United Nations and is currently a businesswoman.

Electoral Votes

Although Ferraro was the first woman to be on a major-party ticket for one of the nation's highest offices, she was not the first woman to receive an electoral vote. That woman was Theodora Nathan, a Libertarian Vice Presidential candidate who got the support of Roger MacBride, a Virginia elector who in 1972 voted for her instead of Spiro Agnew. However, Rep. Ferraro was the first woman to receive more than one electoral vote.