First woman on US national ticket, Geraldine Ferraro, dead at 75

Mar 27, 2011, 0:32 GMT

Washington - Geraldine Ferraro, who became the first woman on a US major-party national ticket as the 1984 Democratic vice presidential nominee, died Saturday in Boston after a long battle with cancer.

Ferraro, 75, was a three-term congresswoman from New York when Walter Mondale chose her from relative obscurity to be his running mate.

The selection energized centre-left Democrats, but the Mondale- Ferraro ticket still suffered a resounding defeated to conservative Republican incumbent President Ronald Reagan.

At the Democratic Party's nominating convention, Ferraro received an eight-minute standing ovation. Analysts at the time noticed that she often met more enthusiastic crowds on the campaign trail than did Mondale.

She later served as US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission.

US President Barack Obama, who was elected in 2008 as the first African-American president, said Saturday that he was saddened by the news of Ferraro's death, in a White House statement.

'Geraldine will forever be remembered as a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women, and Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life,' Obama said.

He said that his own school-aged daughters 'will grow up in a more equal America because of the life Geraldine Ferraro chose to live.'

Ferraro is survived by her husband, John Zaccaro.

Read more about People

Read more about US Politics