Walter Mondale, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States (died 2021)

Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a member of the United States Senate from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. He was the Democratic Party's nominee in the 1984 presidential election but lost to incumbent Ronald Reagan in an Electoral College and popular vote landslide.

The vice president of the United States is the second-highest ranking office in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also an officer in the legislative branch, as the president of the Senate. In this capacity, the vice president is empowered to preside over the United States Senate, but may not vote except to cast a tie-breaking vote. The vice president is indirectly elected at the same time as the president to a four-year term of office by the people of the United States through the Electoral College, but the electoral votes are cast separately for these two offices. Following the passage in 1967 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, a vacancy in the office of vice president may be filled by presidential nomination and confirmation by a majority vote in both houses of Congress.

January 5 is the fifth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 360 days remain until the end of the year.