Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro is best known as the first woman to be a candidate for vice-president of the United States on a major party ticket. She and fellow Democrat Walter Mondale were soundly beaten by the re-election campaign of President Ronald Reagan and Vice-President George H.W. Bush in 1984.

Ferraro was born in Newburgh, N.Y., on Aug. 26, 1935. Her father, an Italian immigrant, died when she was eight; her mother was a seamstress. She got a law degree while teaching second grade in public schools.

Married to realtor John Zaccaro, she raised three children, then joined the Queens County[?] district attorney's office. She was elected to the House of Representatives from New York's Ninth Congressional District in Queens in 1978 and served three, two-year terms, compiling a generally liberal voting record on social and economic issues.

She published an autobiography, Ferraro: My Story, in 1985, and in 1992 ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. From 1996-1998 she was cohost on "Crossfire", a political commentary show on the cable television network CNN. She is now president of G&L Strategies, a management consulting firm.