FRITZ: The Walter Mondale Story
Last Thursday night husband and I hurried over to the History Center after a dinner out to see the opening of the documentary, FRITZ: The Walter Mondale Story. We settled into the small, cozy theater amidst many people Jff serves with on the non-profit board, people he worked for when cataloging the former Vice President's papers, and the Mondale family themselves.
The film was excellently done with many people including, President Carter, Vice President Al Gore, and US Senator Geraldine Ferraro, reflecting on "Fritz" while he was in the Senate and in the White House. Even though I already knew much of the history, the look at it through the life of Mondale was fascinating. The thing that kept coming through in every part of the movie was Mondale's strong sense of morals (and not the kind that all too often are pulled into politics now), his dedication to the democracy of this country, and his stalwart belief in the environment, in equality, and in breaking down barriers. Throughout his entire career he has remained down to earth, humble, honest, and dedicated to public service.
There were several parts of the movie that were especially funny or touching. The first one was when he was on a show for new Senators in Washington D.C. and his two youngest kids are on camera crawling around on the floor under the table all while Mondale is being interviewed. Another moment that is moving is the description of how Mondale became Carter's running mate and as a result how he changed the office of the Vice Presidency forever. Finally, I was left feeling sad when the story of the 2002 election where Mondale stepped in for Wellstone was told from his perspective... Here was a man who has all his life served publicly, and was finally returning to private life. Because of his dedication to politics, Wellstone, and Wellstone's supporters, he agreed to run with only a few weeks left in the US Senate race. Obviously he lost the race, but the saddest thing that I was left with was the fact that the same state that had almost unanimously elected him to the Senate in the past only turned out 39% for him against Coleman. He was devasted by the outcome of the election and was left at the end of an illustrious career with a bad memory of his connection to the people of his home state.
Ultimately the loss of the election ended up with husband working for the former Vice President for over a year and then working on his papers after that. It was so exciting and awe-inspiring to realize how much of what was in the film was researched and catalogued by Jff. I was so proud of him as I saw his work come to life (as well as a few brief glances of him in the film, too!).
We ended the evening with a quick exchange of pleasantries with Mondale and a few other people we knew, and then, as we walked to the car we marveled about our wedding in the same location over two years ago. It was a night where I felt very fortunate to have married the man I did, to have grown up in such a great state, and in having had some great politicians to look up to while I was growing up. It put the current election in to a whole new light for me, yet again.
The film was excellently done with many people including, President Carter, Vice President Al Gore, and US Senator Geraldine Ferraro, reflecting on "Fritz" while he was in the Senate and in the White House. Even though I already knew much of the history, the look at it through the life of Mondale was fascinating. The thing that kept coming through in every part of the movie was Mondale's strong sense of morals (and not the kind that all too often are pulled into politics now), his dedication to the democracy of this country, and his stalwart belief in the environment, in equality, and in breaking down barriers. Throughout his entire career he has remained down to earth, humble, honest, and dedicated to public service.
There were several parts of the movie that were especially funny or touching. The first one was when he was on a show for new Senators in Washington D.C. and his two youngest kids are on camera crawling around on the floor under the table all while Mondale is being interviewed. Another moment that is moving is the description of how Mondale became Carter's running mate and as a result how he changed the office of the Vice Presidency forever. Finally, I was left feeling sad when the story of the 2002 election where Mondale stepped in for Wellstone was told from his perspective... Here was a man who has all his life served publicly, and was finally returning to private life. Because of his dedication to politics, Wellstone, and Wellstone's supporters, he agreed to run with only a few weeks left in the US Senate race. Obviously he lost the race, but the saddest thing that I was left with was the fact that the same state that had almost unanimously elected him to the Senate in the past only turned out 39% for him against Coleman. He was devasted by the outcome of the election and was left at the end of an illustrious career with a bad memory of his connection to the people of his home state.
Ultimately the loss of the election ended up with husband working for the former Vice President for over a year and then working on his papers after that. It was so exciting and awe-inspiring to realize how much of what was in the film was researched and catalogued by Jff. I was so proud of him as I saw his work come to life (as well as a few brief glances of him in the film, too!).
We ended the evening with a quick exchange of pleasantries with Mondale and a few other people we knew, and then, as we walked to the car we marveled about our wedding in the same location over two years ago. It was a night where I felt very fortunate to have married the man I did, to have grown up in such a great state, and in having had some great politicians to look up to while I was growing up. It put the current election in to a whole new light for me, yet again.
posted by KLOU | 4:12 PM
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