From the Grave, Mondale to Eulogize the Man Who Made Him Vice President

Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale thought he would still be around to speak at the funeral for Jimmy Carter, who was a little more than three years his senior.

But even though Mr. Mondale died first, in 2021, he left behind the eulogy he planned to deliver, which will be read at Mr. Carter’s memorial service at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9 by his son Ted Mondale. Former President Gerald R. Ford, who died in 2006, likewise left a eulogy that will be read by his son, Steven Ford.

In the tribute he left behind, Mr. Mondale hailed Mr. Carter especially for making human rights the centerpiece of his foreign policy, for promoting environmental measures long before the term climate change became widely known and for placing more women in high office than any of his predecessors — including an appeals court judge named Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Toward the end of their time in office, Mr. Mondale said he and Mr. Carter talked about how they wanted their tenure to be remembered. “We came up with this sentence, which to me remains an important summary of what we were trying to do: ‘We told the truth, we obeyed the law, and we kept the peace,’” Mr. Mondale wrote. “That we did, Mr. President.”

Mr. Mondale was an odd choice as Mr. Carter’s running mate in many ways. He was a northern liberal close to the labor unions and part of the Democratic establishment in the nation’s capital who teamed up with a Southern moderate running as an outsider taking on Washington and the party elite. But they helped bring their party together in 1976 and forged a surprisingly close partnership.

With Mr. Carter’s support, Mr. Mondale became arguably the most empowered vice president in history to that point and a model for all those who followed.