1976 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection

This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Democratic nomination for vice president of the United States in the 1976 election. Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter won the 1976 Democratic nomination for president of the United States, and chose Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale as his running mate. According to Joel Goldstein, a legal professor and the author of several works on the vice presidency, 1976 marked the beginning of the modern vice presidential selection process, with candidates undergoing extensive vetting. Carter believed that his running mate might be a valuable asset to his presidential campaign, and Mondale became a significant element. The choice of Mondale helped Carter, a Southern "outsider" with little experience in Washington, rally the Democratic base to his candidacy. The Carter–Mondale ticket would go on to defeat the Ford–Dole ticket in the general election but ultimately lost to the Reagan–Bush ticket in 1980. Mondale went on to become the Democratic presidential nominee in 1984 but ultimately lost to incumbent President Ronald Reagan in the general election.