Geraldine Anne Ferraro (1935–2011) was the first woman nominated for vice president by a major U.S. political party and the first Italian American to run on a national ticket. She served as Walter Mondale’s Democratic running mate in the 1984 presidential election, though they ultimately lost the race.

Earlier in her career, she taught in Astoria, Queens, while attending Fordham University Law School at night. She passed the bar in 1960, the same year she married John Zaccaro. In 1978, the mother of three was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she represented New York’s 9th District in Queens from 1979 to 1985.