Lots of Sex and Rock’n’Roll (but No Drugs, She Said): Party Girl Eleanor Mondale, 51, Daughter of a Vice President, Dies of Brain Cancer;

Despite Great Power, Privilege, and Beauty, “Wild Child” Accomplished Nothing in Life, but Had Some Kicks, and Did Little Damage
By Nicholas Stix
 


 

The headline of AP’s Jeff Baenen’s obit ran,

“Eleanor Mondale, daughter of Walter Mondale, dies”
 


 

The subhed was: “Vivacious woman had carved out her own reputation as an entertainment reporter, radio show host and gossip magnet; she was 51.”

 

 

Baenen’s repetitious lede was no better:

MINNEAPOLIS — Eleanor Mondale, the vivacious daughter of former Vice President Walter Mondale who carved out her own reputation as an entertainment reporter, radio show host and gossip magnet, has died at her home in Minnesota. She was 51.

 

 

Nonsense on stilts. Eleanor Mondale accomplished nothing on her own—actually, I haven’t found that she accomplished anything, period—and carved out no independent reputation. Had she not been Walter Mondale’s daughter, she would have had no reputation, because no one would have cared about her. Indeed, the most succinct summing up of her life was in the AP/MSNBC headline: “Eleanor Mondale, daughter of Walter Mondale, dies.” That the subtitle contradicted the title, makes me wonder it was written by a different editor.
 

Campaigning for her father on October 29, 1984.
 

Mondale was widely rumored to have carried on an affair with President Bill Clinton, during the latter’s second term in office, but denied the reports, insisting that she was only “friends” with Bill and Hillary. Again, however, the only reason Mondale got close enough to Bill Clinton to be a rumored lover of his was because she was the daughter of a former vice-president, as opposed to having crossed his path as a beauty queen (Elizabeth Ward Gracen) or singer (Gennifer Flowers).

However, Mondale was pretty in certain incarnations when she was young, which may have made her—as Stacy “The Other McCain” might say—Rule 5 Draft material, which is the reason for this item. But even then, based on the photos I found, her beauty was exaggerated by the media, which clearly gave her a “party girl” bonus, as in Democratic Party.