Kids of Vice Presidents: Then and Now

Photo by: Getty Images

Eleanor Mondale Poling was 17, blonde, beautiful and a little bit wild when her dad took office. Her ability to attract attention (she cross-dressed in a tuxedo at Carter's '77 Inaugural ball) worked to her advantage in Hollywood, where she moved in 1981. She landed roles on Three's Company and Dynasty, though she claimed "being Walter Mondale's daughter" forced her to "prove [her]self five times over." She did just that ... more 

Photo by: Getty Images

Eleanor Mondale Poling was 17, blonde, beautiful and a little bit wild when her dad took office. Her ability to attract attention (she cross-dressed in a tuxedo at Carter's '77 Inaugural ball) worked to her advantage in Hollywood, where she moved in 1981. She landed roles on Three's Company and Dynasty, though she claimed "being Walter Mondale's daughter" forced her to "prove [her]self five times over." She did just that when she switched to broadcast journalism as a correspondent for the Today Show, E! and ESPN. She was linked to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Warren Zevon, Don Henley and Bill Clinton (she denied it). After two failed marriages, she wed her third husband, musician Chan Poling, in 2005 and together they raised miniature horses on a small farm in Minnesota. That year she was diagnosed with brain cancer. She died in her home in 2011 at the age of 51. "She was a wonderful daughter," her father told The New York Times. "A great spirit, a lot of courage."
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