Who were Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin—the two women VP nominees before Harris?

Kamala Harris, a woman of colour and Indian descent, set to become a vice president candidate, is the woman of the hour. US presidential candidate for the Democratic party Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated Harris as his vice-presidential running mate, making history by choosing a mixed-race person to be vice president.

However, President Donald Trump was quick to dismiss Biden’s choice by saying that she was “disrespectful” in her attacks on the presidential nominee during the Democratic primary. His campaign is yet to respond to Harris being picked for the vice-presidential candidate.

Maya and Meena, Kamala Harris’ sister and daughter, have taken to social media to congratulate her and shared some memories they have had with her.

Harris, who has also been dubbed the “female Barack Obama”, is not, however, the first woman to seize vice president candidacy. She is, in fact, the third woman to be chosen as vice-president nominee.

Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman to be nominated to be vice president by Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale in 1984. It was a historic moment when Ferraro was nominated.

Ferraro was born in Newburgh, New York in 1935 in the middle of the Great Depression. Growing up on limited means, she taught second grade before attending Fordham law school at night. But on graduation, Ferraro realised, that a lot of companies were still hesitant to hire a woman. She was a stay-at-home mom till her cousin, who was District Attorney for Queens, hired her as a prosecutor. When she wasn’t handling child abuse, rape and domestic violence cases, she was involved in local Democratic politics and talking to voters.

In 1978, she ran for Congress, to represent the neighbourhood in Queens, and won.

A former journalist, Sarah Palin was chosen running mate by Republican presidential nominee John McCain in 2008.

Palin, who is said to have had disagreements with McCain’s staff, congratulated Harris on Twitter, and in a series of tweets, gave her “lessons learned” to make it to the end of the race, including fighting to retain her team as her staff.

Palin was formerly Senator for Alaska before she went head-to-head with McCain on Republican primaries and was nominated to be vice president. Before that, she was mayor of Wasilla from October 1996 to October 2002. Coming from a conservative family, Palin began her political career after being elected to the Wasilla City Council in 1992.

Palin, who is also a former beauty queen—winner of Miss Wasilla pageant—was also an avid hunter. She resigned from the post of Governor of Alaska in 2009 and went on to be a contributor at Fox News and launching her news channel—Sarah Palin Channel in 2014. After retiring from her political career, Palin has vocally supported Obama’s presidency and now, heartily supports Harris and asked Harris on Twitter not to forget the women who came before her.