Death of Walter Mondale

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 10185 of April 20, 2021

Death of Walter Mondale

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Today, our Nation mourns the loss of one of our
Nation's most dedicated patriots and public servants.
Walter Frederick ``Fritz'' Mondale served the people of
Minnesota as their Attorney General from 1960-1964, as
a United States Senator from 1964-1976, as Vice
President of the United States from 1977-1981, and as
the United States Ambassador to Japan from 1993-1996.

As Minnesota's Attorney General, he drew national
attention in a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme
Court that established that indigent criminal
defendants have the right to legal counsel.

As a Senator, he was instrumental in the passage of The
Fair Housing Act to combat racial discrimination in
housing, Title IX to provide more opportunities for
women, and numerous laws to protect our environment.

Walter Mondale defined the modern vice presidency,
elevating the position into a true partnership with the
President. As Vice President, he helped lay the
groundwork for the 1978 peace treaty between Egypt and
Israel, the Panama Canal Treaty, and nuclear arms
negotiations with the Soviet Union.

As the 1984 Democratic nominee for President, he made
history when he became the first Presidential nominee
of either party to select a woman as his running mate.

In continuing his service as the United States
Ambassador to Japan, he became the voice and face of
America to that important ally.

For nearly 60 years he had a remarkable partnership
with his wife Joan, a devoted advocate for the arts,
who passed away in 2014. We mourned when he lost his
daughter Eleanor in 2011 and today our Nation's
sympathies lie with his sons Ted and William and his
six grandchildren.

On a wall at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia,
there is a quote from Walter Mondale. It reads, ``We
told the truth. We obeyed the law. We kept the peace.''
Walter Mondale did all that and more.

As a mark of respect for Walter Mondale and his life of
service to our Nation, I hereby order, by the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States of America, including section 7 of title 4,
United States Code, that the flag of the United States
shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and on
all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts
and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the
Federal Government in the District of Columbia and
throughout the United States and its Territories and
possessions until sunset, on the day of interment. I
also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff
for the same period at all United States embassies,
legations, consular offices, and other facilities
abroad, including all military facilities and naval
vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
fifth.