“There are two ways for light to propagate – be it a candle or a mirror that reflects it. Fritz was both a candle and a mirror in my view,” Biden said during a memorial service at the University of Minnesota. During his remarks, the President recalled his decades-long friendship with Mondale as he urged the nation to follow the example of the late Minnesota. “He was loved by the American people because he reflected on the goodness of the American people,” Biden said. In a particularly painful moment, the President recalled the tragic car accident in which his then-wife Neilia Hunter Biden and Naomi’s daughter died, and spoke of how Mondale and his late wife Joan Mondale were there for him. . “They helped me find my purpose in a sea of darkness and pain,” Biden said. Montail served as Carter’s No. 2 between 1977 and 1981, but his term as vice president ended when Ronald Reagan and his vice president, George H. W. Bush, defeated Carter and Montail in 1980 – a defeat. which the Democrats did not do. t recovered since 1992, when Bill Clinton helped the party regain control of the White House. Nevertheless, Montail himself won the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and helped make history by naming U.S. lawmaker Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York as his own vice president – the first woman to be nominated for a major political party presidential ticket. of the USA. Mondale eventually lost to incumbent Reagan. In an email to former executives received by CNN at the time of his death, Mondale acknowledged in a touching message that “the time has come.” “Before I left, I wanted to let you know how much you mean to me. A civil servant has never had a better group of people by his side! We have achieved so much together and I know you will continue the good fight,” Mondale wrote. “Joe in the White House is definitely helping,” he said, referring to the president. “I always knew it would be okay if I got somewhere and one of you greeted me!” CNN’s Devan Cole contributed to this report.
