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Former Vice President Walter Mondale dies at 93

20 April 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Walter Mondale, who transformed the role of U.S. vice president while serving under Jimmy Carter and was the Democratic nominee for president in 1984, died Monday at 93, according to a family spokesperson.

The big picture: President Biden, who was mentored by Mondale through the years, said in 2015 that the former vice president gave him a "roadmap" to successfully take on the job.

  • He was the first vice president to have an office in the White House and was deeply engaged in both U.S. and foreign policy, working closely with the president.
  • "I took Fritz's roadmap. He actually gave me a memo, classic Fritz, gave me a memo, as to what I should be looking for and what kind of commitments I should get to be able to do the job the way Fritz thought it should be done," Biden said at an event honoring Mondale in 2015.

Backstory: Mondale spoke by phone on Sundaywith President Biden and former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, as well as Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said his friend and former campaign staffer Tom Cosgrove. While he and his family believed his death was imminent, after those calls he “perked up.”

  • In a final goodbye email to 320 staffers spanning four decades, Mondale told his staffers how much they meant to him, adding he knew that they’d keep up “the good fight” and “Joe in the White House certainly helps.” The email, which was shared with Axios, was prepared to be sent upon his death.
  • Cosgrove said Mondale had been deeply worried about the impact of a potential second Donald Trump term on American democracy. "There was a difference after the inauguration - a letting go,” Cosgrove said. “There was a big exhale of relief.”

Mondale and Carter were the longest-living post-presidential team in U.S. history.

  • In his 1984 presidential run, Mondale nominated New York congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, making her the first female nominee for vice president of any major American party.
  • He was awarded the Public Leadership in Neurology Award from the American Academy of Neurology in 2015 for raising awareness for brain health, after he lost his wife and daughter to brain diseases.
  • Mondale served as Minnesota's U.S. senator from 1964-1976. He also served as former President Clinton's ambassador to Japan.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.