Walter Mondale: United States Vice President: Primary Sources: Archives & Records

Walter F. Mondale

• Walter F. Mondale Papers (1927-2004).
  The Walter Mondale Papers include office files, correspondence, legislative bill files, press and public relations files, speeches, meeting materials, trip files, photographs, sound recordings, and moving images from Mondale's service as United States Senator, Vice President of the United States, Ambassador to Japan, and Special Envoy to Indonesia. The papers document most aspects of his six-decade career, including all of his public offices, campaigns, and Democratic Party and other non-official activities.
  MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid
   
  • Political Papers and Campaign Files
    Political papers and campaign files (1934-2004) include materials from Mondale’s 1962 Attorney General campaign, 1962 and 1966 Senate campaigns, the 1976 and 1980 Presidential campaigns where Mondale ran as Jimmy Carter’s Vice President, and extensive files from the 1984 Presidential campaign in which Mondale ran for President against Ronald Reagan.
    MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid
     
  • Senatorial Papers
    Materials from Mondale’s U.S. Senate career include schedules and appointments, meeting files, bill and committee files, outgoing correspondence, sampled constituent correspondence and constituent service records, press releases, speeches, radio broadcasts, and news clippings. A large set of wide-ranging issue files kept each year by Mondale's Senate office concern federal departments, international affairs, domestic matters, and state issues.
    MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid
     
  • Vice Presidential Papers
    Vice presidential materials include scheduling and appointment files, central correspondence and subject files, assorted domestic policy and briefing materials, trip files, speeches, press releases, photographs, sound recordings, and moving images as well as the files of Chief of Staff Richard Moe and Senate relations assistant Bill Smith, and files of a task force to study the public financing of election campaigns. National security and foreign affairs files from Mondale's vice-presidency are held by the Office of Presidential Libraries and housed at the Jimmy Carter Library. A small number of these files, including his reports on meetings with foreign leaders and agenda materials for the foreign policy breakfasts and his weekly meetings with Carter, have been declassified and copies are available as part of the Walter F. Mondale papers.
    MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid
    
    
  • Ambassadorial Papers
    Correspondence, briefing material, meeting files, speeches, news clippings, video and sound recordings from Mondale's term as Ambassador to Japan (1993-1996) and Special Envoy to Indonesia (1998).
    MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid
    
    
  • Personal Papers
    Mondale’s personal papers document his family, education, military service, and political activities. Included are correspondence, telephone logs, photographs, memorabilia, and drafts of a Mondale biography written by Steven M. Gillon.
    MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

• Walter Mondale Memorandum to Jimmy Carter, 1976.
  Walter Mondale and Jimmy Carter shared the opinion that the vice presidency was a wasted national asset and that there were opportunities for a real partnership with a president willing to delegate authority. In December 1976, Mondale wrote a memo outlining his thoughts on the role the vice president could play, some specific contributions that he personally could make, and the degree of involvement in the Carter administration that such a relationship would require.
  MNHS call number: Searchable transcription of the memo.
   
• Excerpts From the Speeches of Walter F. Mondale: Campaign for the Presidency, 1982-1984. 
  Washington, D.C.: Walter F. Mondale, 1985.
  MNHS call number: E840.8.M66 E92 1985
   

Joan Mondale

• Personal Papers (bulk 1960-2006).
  Speech and trip files, correspondence files, subject files, clippings, calendars, and sound and visual materials documenting Joan Mondale's activities as the wife of a politician and diplomat, and as an advocate for, and promoter of, the arts.
  MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid
   
• Second Lady’s Office Files (bulk 1976-1981).
  Trip and speaking files, which include itineraries and speeches, form the bulk of the collection. They document Mondale's many trips throughout the United States and abroad including campaign appearances, official visits to other countries with the Vice President, and speaking engagements as an advocate for the arts. There is information about politics and politicians; presidential and other election campaigns; Macalester College; Joan Mondale's interest in and support of the visual and performing arts; artists and art exhibitions; Japanese art; and The Mondales' life and activities in Japan while Walter served as United States ambassador (1993-1996). Correspondents include politicians and their wives, political supporters, campaign workers, family members, and artists and members of arts organizations.
  MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Minnesota Attorney General

• Subject Files (Series 2), 1955-1965.
  Subject files compiled and used by the attorney general's office under Walter Mondale, relating to a wide variety of subjects and issues of interest to the office staff. They include some Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party campaigns and political matters, including Mondale's campaign opponents.
  MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

• Correspondence of Walter Mondale's Office, 1959-1965.
  Correspondence and memos of the attorney general's office and staff concerning activities of state agencies and problems or issues of interest to the office. Many files appear to have been accumulated or maintained by Roberta Schneider, Chief Clerk in the office.
  MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

The Good Fight: A Life in Liberal Politics, by Walter F. Mondale. 
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2014.
MNHS call number: E840.8.M66 A3 2014