born Aug. 26, 1935, Newburgh, N.Y., U.S.
U.S. politician.
She received her law degree from Fordham University Law School in 1960 and was admitted to the New York bar in 1961. She practiced law in New York until 1974, when she became assistant U.S. district attorney. In 1978 she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat. In 1984 the Democratic Party nominated her for vice president on a ticket with Walter Mondale ; she thereby became the first woman to be nominated for vice president by a major U.S. political party. In 1992 and 1998 she ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate.