Geraldine Ferraro, a woman who displayed grace and a sense of humor whilst breaking barriers for women, has died after a 12-year battle with myeloma. She was 75.
For the generation who’ve only seen Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin run for national office, Ferraro was so much more. She forged her public service career, leading to being the Democratic candidate for vice-president in 1984, sans political husband and sans hokey well-scripted schtick. You can’t imagine how smart and articulate she was, not only amongst all the male pols back then, but even among women wannabes since. She did not let anyone push her around, but she was never crass.
She weathered a lot of criticism from all the usual suspects you’d find in a political career. There were questions about tax returns and her business deals by her husband, John Zaccaro. But she ran rings around George H.W. Bush in their vice-presidential debate. I concede the issue of going into a battle of wits with someone only partially armed, but still…
There’s only one woman in politics I admired more than Ferraro: Shirley Chisholm. Chisholm was smarter and more articulate than anyone I ever saw running for office. But she suffered from the three Bs—she was a black brainy broad, basically insurmountable obstacles back in 1972 when she ran for President.
I wish we could get more people in public service, male or female, who met the standards these women set.
Well, a girl can dream.
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