WASHINGTON (AFP) ? She lost her bid to become history's first female US vice president, but Geraldine Ferraro scored a landmark victory for millions of women by offering heart that some day, one of them would win the White House.
Ferraro -- who died Saturday at age 75 after a long battle with blood cancer -- morphed from a feisty US congresswoman to a political pioneer the moment she took the stage at the 1984 Democratic National Convention and declared: "My name is Geraldine Ferraro. I stand before you to proclaim tonight: America is the land where dreams can come true for all of us."
The thunderous applause for her acceptance speech lasted several minutes, and while she and Democratic candidate Walter Mondale were trounced in the election by incumbent president Ronald Reagan and vice president George H.W. Bush, her stunning achievement opened doors for subsequent female White House hopefuls like Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin.
The transformation into the very manifestation of the movement to pry the "Men Only" sign off the White House even seemed to take Ferraro by surprise.
"All of a sudden I went from the South Bronx (in New York) almost to knocking on the door of the White House. That's what this country is about," she told The New York Times in later years.
Born August 26, 1935 in Newburgh, New York as the daughter of an Italian immigrant, Geraldine Anne Ferraro began her career as a teacher and lawyer.
She shocked many in the political establishment when she was elected to Congress in 1978 representing a traditionally conservative New York district.
Six years later she was in the glare of a presidential campaign, fending off damaging questions about her husband John Zaccaro's financial dealings (he was later convicted of fraud and sentenced to community service) and her own capabilities on the world stage during the Cold War.
"I can do whatever is necessary in order to protect the security of this country," Ferraro said when asked on the campaign trail if she could use nuclear weapons.
US President Barack Obama led tribute to Ferraro, hailing her as a "trailblazer who broke down barriers for women and Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life."
Obama said his daughters Sasha and Malia "will grow up in a more equal America because of the life Geraldine Ferraro chose to live."
It would take another 24 years, though, before a woman appeared on a major presidential ticket, with Palin as Republican John McCain's running mate in 2008. In the same year, Clinton -- who Ferraro supported -- narrowly lost the Democratic nomination race to Obama.
"Gerry Ferraro was one of a kind -- tough, brilliant, and never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believed in -- a New York icon and a true American original," Clinton, now the US secretary of state, said in a statement.
"She paved the way for a generation of female leaders and put the first cracks in America's political glass ceiling."
Palin, mulling her own presidential bid in 2012, told Fox News she was "standing on her (Ferraro's) shoulders" when she ran for vice president.
Bush, who engaged in televised debates with Ferraro during the 1984 campaign, said Saturday he admired the dignified manner in which "she blazed new trails for women in politics."
Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who became the most senior woman in US politics when she was speaker of the House of Representatives from 2007 to January 2011, said: "She not only made history when she was nominated for vice president, she inspired women across the country to reach their own greatness as they strengthened our country."
"The drumbeat that Geraldine Ferraro began that day... will continue for a long time to come," she added.
Ferraro remained in politics for years. President Bill Clinton appointed her US ambassador to the UN Commission on Human Rights from 1993 to 1996.
And while she tried and failed to win a US Senate seat in 1992 and 1998, her legacy was assured.
Mondale's 1984 campaign manager Bob Beckel recalled traveling the country with Ferraro, and was impressed with the countless young women and girls who lined up for a chance to meet the political trail blazer.
"She would say 'you too can grow up to be vice president or even president,'" Beckel said.
Senator Barbara Mikulski, the longest-serving female US senator, said Ferraro "made an indelible mark on our nation's history."
Mikulski, who arrived in Congress two years before Ferraro, recalled that there were only 17 women in the US legislature at the time.
"We were the early birds. We weren't afraid to ruffle feathers," she said, adding that Ferraro cracked the White House ceiling for good.
"Someday, a woman will become president of the United States -- and Geraldine Ferraro paved the way."
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