Early Years
Walter Mondale was born in Ceylon, Minnesota, in 1928. He was raised there and in nearby Elmore, where he graduated high school. His father, Theodore, was a farmer and Methodist minister, whose family immigrated from Norway. His mother, Claribel, of Scottish-English descent, was a music teacher. During the Depression, the family was sometimes poor, but they were – as Mondale would later proudly recount – “rich in the values that were important,” including the tenets of hard work, faith, and family. Mondale’s interest in helping others, and his lifelong engagement with issues of human dignity and human rights, were rooted in these core values.
Mondale entered Macalester College in St. Paul in the fall of 1946. A promising student, he participated on the debate team, the international relations club, and joined the college choir. While at Macalester, noted political science professor, Theodore Mitau, exerted a strong influence on Mondale, inspiring his enthusiasm for politics and for the "new liberalism" he would later shape on a state and national level. Active participation in politics was also inspired by Professor Dorothy Jacobson, who in 1946 brought Mondale to a rally where he met Hubert Humphrey. Mondale became the organizer of Students for Democratic Action (SDA) on Macalester’s campus. He soon joined Humphrey’s Senate campaign, raising money and garnering votes in the Second Congressional District.
Walter Mondale transferred to the University of Minnesota and received his B.A. cum laude in 1951. In September of 1951 he joined the army, where he served for two years. After discharge, in 1953, Mondale enrolled in the University of Minnesota Law School. He served on the Minnesota Law Review and received his J.D. in 1956.
In 1955, while still in Law School, Mondale married Joan Adams. Despite an initial hesitance, Joan embraced a life in politics and became a strong force for the promotion of arts and culture during her career. Together Walter and Joan Mondale had three children, Ted, Eleanor, and William, and their marriage lasted almost sixty years, until Joan’s passing in 2014.