Geraldine Ferraro, who was chosen as Walter Mondale's running mate in the 1984 presidential race, died Saturday at the age of 75.
Ferraro died of blood cancer in Boston and was the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket, reported the Star Tribune.
Mondale, in a phone interview with the Star Tribune Saturday, said he last spoke to Ferraro two weeks ago by phone. They had the opportunity to say their final goodbyes, he said.
The Associated Press described Ferraro as "a barrier-breaking pioneer for women in politics."
"At the time it happened it was such a phenomenal breakthrough," Ruth Mandel, from the Center on the American Woman and Politics at Rutgers University, told the Associated Press. "She stepped on the path to higher office before anyone else, and her footprint is still on that path."
Mondale chose Ferraro to run with him against Republican incumbents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, the Star Tribune reported.
"She was a pioneer in our country for justice for women and a more open society. She broke a lot of molds and it's a better country for what she did," Mondale told The Associated Press.
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