Former US vice president Walter Frederick Mondale died on Monday aged 93. The liberal icon served as the 42nd vice president of the United States in the administration of president Jimmy Carter, from 1977-1981.

Prior to his stint at the White House, Mondale had served as attorney general to his home state of Minnesota from 1960-1964, and then as US senator from that state from 1964-1976.

Walter Frederick “Fritz” Mondale was born on January 5, 1928 in Ceylon, Minnesota. The son of a Methodist minister and a music teacher, he moved through several small towns in the southern part of the state throughout his childhood.

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At age 20, Mondale became a congressional district manager for US politician Hubert Humphrey’s successful Senate campaign. Humphrey would later become Mondale’s political mentor.

Mondale began his national political career in 1964, when he was appointed to fill Humphrey’s Senate seat, the latter having resigned to become vice president.

An outspoken supporter of civil rights, Mondale advocated throughout his Senate career for education, housing, migrant worker rights and child nutrition.

He made his own bid for the White House in 1984. Mondale picked US Representative Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, becoming the first major-party presidential nominee to put a woman on the ticket.

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During his campaign, he infamously told voters to expect a tax increase if he won, which would later go on to define the race. He lost the election to Republican Ronald Reagan.

Mondale served as the US ambassador to Japan under Bill Clinton between 1993 to 1996, and he sought to increase trade between the two countries.

Mondale married Joan Adams Mondale, in 1955. The couple had three children: sons Ted and William and daughter Eleanor.

Ted and William followed their father into politics and public service, while Eleanor became a broadcast journalist.

Joan and Eleanor died in 2011 and 214, respectively.