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| My name is Geraldine Ferraro, and I stand before you to proclaim tonight: America is the land where dreams can come true for all our citizens. | My name is Geraldine Ferraro. America is a country where anyone’s dreams can come true. |
| As I stand before the American people and think of the honor this great convention has bestowed upon me, I recall the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who made America stronger by making America more free.
He said: “Occasionally in life there are moments which cannot be completely explained by words. Their meaning can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.” Tonight is such a moment for me. My heart is filled with pride. |
I am honored to be the vice presidential nominee. I am reminded of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He said that sometimes feelings cannot be explained by words, only by the heart. That is how I feel now, full of pride. |
| My fellow citizens, I proudly accept your nomination to run for Vice President of the United States.
And I am proud to run with a man who will be one of the great Presidents of this century, Walter F. Mondale. |
I accept the nomination for Vice President of the United States. I am proud to run with Walter Mondale, the nominee for President. |
| Tonight, the daughter of a woman whose highest goal was a future for her children talks to our nation’s oldest party about a future for us all. | My mother only dreamed of a future for her children. I dream now of a future for all Americans. |
| Tonight, the daughter of working Americans tells all Americans that the future is within our reach — if we’re willing to reach for it.
Tonight, the daughter of an immigrant from Italy has been chosen to run for Vice President in the new land my father came to love. (…) |
I am the daughter of working Americans. I am the daughter of Italian immigrants. |
| It isn’t right that a woman should get paid 59 cents on the dollar for the same work as a man. Because if you play by the rules, you deserve a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. | It is not fair that women get paid less than a man for doing the same work. |
| It isn’t right that — if trends continue — by the year 2000 nearly all of the poor people in America will be women and children. The rules of a decent society say, when you distribute sacrifice in time of austerity, you don’t put women and children first.
(..) |
It is not fair that almost all people who live in poverty are women and children. Women and children should not be sacrificed during difficult economic times. |
| It isn’t right that young couples question whether to bring children into a world of 50,000 nuclear warheads.
That isn’t the vision for which Americans have struggled for more than two centuries. And our future doesn’t have to be that way. |
It’s not fair that young couples are worried about having children because of nuclear war.
This is not what Americans have been working toward as a country. It doesn’t have to be this way. |
| For change is in the air… just as surely as when John Kennedy beckoned America to a new frontier… when Sally Ride rocketed into space… and when the descendant of slaves, Reverend Jesse Jackson, ran for the high office of President of the United States.
By choosing an American woman to run for our nation’s second highest office, you send a powerful signal to all Americans. There are no doors we cannot unlock. We will place no limits on achievement. If we can do this, we can do anything. Tonight, we reclaim our dream. We’re going to make the rules of American life work fairly for all Americans again. (…) |
This is a historic moment. It shows there are no limits on what Americans can achieve. |
| To those who understand that our country cannot prosper unless we draw on the talents of all Americans, we say: We will pass the Equal Rights Amendment. The issue is not what America can do for women, but what women can do for America.
To the Americans who will lead our country into the 21st century, we say: we will not have a Supreme Court that turns the clock back to the 19th century. |
We will pass the Equal Rights Amendment. We will not let the Supreme Court take away our rights. |
| To those concerned about the strength of family values, as I am, I say: we are going to restore those values — love, caring, partnership — by including, and not excluding, those whose beliefs differ from our own. Because our own faith is strong, we will fight to preserve the freedom of faith of others. | We will build a society that accepts everyone. |
| To those working Americans who fear that banks, and utilities, and large special interests have a lock on the White House today, we say: Join us, let’s elect a people’s president; and let’s have a government by the people. | We will make the economy work for working Americans. |
Geraldine Ferraro, “Vice Presidential Acceptance Speech,” July 7, 1984, Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History.
Geraldine Ferraro for Vice President pin-back button
N.G. Slater Corporation, Pin-back button, 1984, New-York Historical Society, Gift of Kitty Krupat.
Background
Geraldine Ferraro, the daughter of an Italian immigrant father and first-generation Italian American mother, was elected to Congress in 1978, representing her home district in Queens, New York.
While women ran for the presidency before, no major political party had nominated a female candidate for president or vice president. As the Democratic Party prepared to challenge Ronald Reagan’s reelection in 1984, feminist groups and female Democrats pressured the party to nominate a woman for vice president. They hoped it would energize female voters to support the Democrats in a tough race against the popular Reagan.
Walter Mondale, the Democratic nominee for president, announced he had chosen Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate in July of 1984. Despite the historic nomination, the Democratic ticket lost the presidential race in a landslide, only winning the electoral vote in Minnesota (Mondale’s home state) and the District of Columbia.
About the Document
Geraldine Ferraro officially accepted the vice-presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention on July 19, 1984. The document consists of excerpts from her acceptance speech. In the speech, she underlined her historic nomination for vice president. She also addressed the major issues Americans faced, such as the economy, the Supreme Court, and women’s rights. She referenced speeches by notable Americans including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Abraham Lincoln throughout her address.
The pin-back button is an official campaign item.
Vocabulary
- austerity: A difficult economic situation in which people’s living standards are lowered.
- Democratic National Convention: The event during which the Democratic Party chooses its candidate for president. It is also an opportunity for caucuses and other groups to meet and decide on party activities.
- landslide: A victory in an election where the winner gets far more votes than their opponent.
Discussion Questions
- Why does Geraldine Ferraro invoke other famous Americans in her speech?
- What issues did Americans face in 1984 according to Geraldine Ferraro’s speech? How did she and Walter Mondale plan to address them, if elected?
- Examine the button. What does it tell you about the Mondale/Ferraro campaign?
- Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro lost in a landslide. What does that tell you about the American voters in 1984? What do you think contributed to their loss?
- Why was it important to women to have a female candidate for vice president, even if she lost?
Suggested Activities
- AP Government Connections:
- 5.8: Electing a President
- 5.10: Modern Campaigns
- 5.12: The Media
- Pair this resource with items from Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 presidential campaign. What did these women and their campaigns have in common? How were they different?
- Consider the role of women in politics during this time period by combining this resource with a testimony about music censorship, the Year of the Woman, Anita Hill’s testimony, Maxine Waters on the Rodney King verdict, Hillary Clinton’s speech, and the life stories of Sandra Day O’Connor, Wilma Mankiller, and Barbara Lee.
- Combine Geraldine Ferraro’s speech with photographs of anti-LGBTQ+ activism, a testimony about music censorship, documents restricting reproductive rights, and the life story of Beverly LaHaye. How did the increased popularity of the conservative movement affect women in both political parties?
Themes
POWER AND POLITICS
