Republican presidential candidate John McCain indeed augment another historic nature for this year's United States election by announcing that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be his running mate. Palin was the second woman to appear on a major presidential ticket according to some reports.
Palin, 44, defeated a number of better-known candidates for the nod, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Homeland Security secratary Tom Ridge (also the former governor of Pennsylvania), and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.
Running on a ticket promising heavy reform, Palin won election to the governor's mansion in Alaska in 2006 after she unexpectedly beat then-Gov. Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
The only other woman to feature on a major-party presidential ticket was Geraldine Ferraro, who was Democrat Walter Mondale's running mate in 1984.
Palin was expected to appear with McCain at a rally in Ohio on Friday afternoon.
The Democratic ticket is also groundbreaking this year, with Barack Obama being the first African-American major-party candidate for president. Obama selected Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate on Aug. 23.
