Former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro dead at 75

Geraldine Ferraro, recently known as the lady that cost Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton from becoming the first woman President of the United States, has dead at age 75.

In March of 2008, Hillary Clinton was the clear favorite to win the Democratic Nomination, until Clinton staffer and former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro stirred up a major controversy. Ferraro stated that: "Senator Barack Obama achieved his high status in the 2008 presidential race because he is Black."

Many Civil Rights leaders took exception to Ferraro's statement, especially those African-Americans that ran unsuccessfully for President prior to Obama. No Black candidate prior to President Obama from Dick Gregory and Shirley Chisholm, to Jesse Jackson, Senator Carolyn Mosely Braun, and Rev. Al Sharpton have ever had a chance of becoming President of the United States.

Because of Ferraro's racial comments, Senator Hilary Clinton kicked the former three-term New York Congresswoman off of her Presidential campaign staff, though remaining as a consultant.

In 1984, largely due to the controversial tax issues by Ferraro, the Reagon-Bush1 Republican ticket convincingly defeated the Mondale-Ferraro Democratic ticket in the biggest Presidential landslide in U.S. history. In 1984, Reagon-Bush won 49 of the 50 States to capture their second Reagon-Bush term.

Ferraro's Vice-Presidential run was beset by ethical questions, first about her campaign finances and tax returns, then about the business dealings of her husband John Zaccaro. Ferraro -- even then -- attributed much of the controversy to bias against Italian-Americans in the United States.

Zaccaro pleaded guilty in 1985 to a misdemeanor charge of scheming to defraud in connection with obtaining financing for the purchase of five apartment buildings. Two years later he was acquitted of trying to extort a bribe from a cable television company.

Ferraro's son, John Zaccaro Jr., was convicted in 1988 of selling cocaine to an undercover Vermont state trooper and served three months under house arrest.

Some observers said the legal troubles were a drag on Ferraro's later political ambitions, which included her unsuccessful bids for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in New York in 1992 and 1998.

Ferraro died at in Boston at Massechusetts General hospital this morning at 10am surrounded by her family.