Kamala Harris: Early Life and Education
Kamala Harris (born October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California) is the 49th vice president of the United States (2021-25) serving in President Joe Biden’s Democratic government. She was the first woman, Black American, and Asian American to hold this position. She in the past has served in the United States Senate from 2017 to 21 and as California’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017. Biden gave up his candidacy for reelection in July 2024, following a bad performance in a nationally broadcast debate with Republican contender and former President Donald Trump, and advocated Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for the 2024 presidential election.
Her Jamaican father taught at Stanford University, and her mother, the daughter of an Indian ambassador, worked in cancer research. Harris had close ties with her Indian relatives and came to Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, with her mother and sister on several occasions. Her younger sister, Maya, later became a public policy champion. Harris received her law degree from Hastings College in 1989 after studying political science and economics at Howard University (B.A., 1986).
Kamala Harris: Rise to Prominence
Harris rose to global prominence after giving a stunning speech at the Democratic Global Convention in 2012. Two years later, she married attorney Douglas Emhoff. She was widely regarded as a rising star within the party and was recruited to compete for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barbara Boxer, who was retiring. Harris launched her candidacy in early 2015, and while campaigning, she advocated for immigration and criminal justice reform, a rise in the minimum wage, and protection of women’s reproductive rights. She handily won the 2016 election.
Political Career: From Attorney General to U.S. Senator
When Harris entered office in January 2017, she became the first Indian American and only the second Black American woman in the Senate. She began serving on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Judiciary Committee, among other duties. She became recognized for her prosecutorial approach to questioning witnesses during hearings, which drew criticism—and occasional interruptions—from Republican senators. In June, she garnered notice for grilling US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was testifying before the intelligence committee about potential Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election; she had previously called for his resignation. Harris’s memoir, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, debuted in January 2019.
Shortly after, Harris announced her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. She was seen as one of the front-runners from the start, and she garnered special notice when, during a primary debate, she engaged in a heated dispute with fellow candidate Joe Biden about his opposition to school busing in the 1970s and 1980s, amid other race-related issues. Despite an initial surge in popularity, Harris’ candidacy was in serious peril by September 2019, and she dropped out of the contest in December. She maintained a high profile, most notably becoming a key campaigner for social justice reform following the May 2020 death of George Floyd, an African American in police custody.
Her actions quiet some critics of her tenure as attorney general, who said she failed to investigate allegations of police wrongdoing, including questionable shootings. Others, however, believed that her embrace of reform was a political ploy to capitalize on growing public support for social change.
Kamala Harris Historic Vice Presidency
As racial inequality became a prominent issue in the United States, many Democrats urged Biden, the party’s presumed nominee, to choose an African American woman—a demographic viewed as critical to his electoral prospects—as his vice presidential running mate. In August, Biden chose Harris, making her the first Black woman to appear on a major party’s national ticket. She became the first Black woman to be elected Vice President of the United States In November.
In the following weeks, Trump and other Republicans challenged the election results, alleging voting fraud. Although several lawsuits were brought, no proof was presented to substantiate the allegations, and the vast majority of the cases were dismissed. During this time, Harris and Biden began transitioning to a new administration by establishing an agenda and hiring people. By early December, all states had recognized the election results, and the process had progressed to Congress for final certification.
Following Trump’s repeated calls for Republicans to overturn the election, a group of Congress members, including Senators Josh Hawley (Missouri) and Ted Cruz (Texas), declared that they would challenge the electors in several states. On January 6, 2021, a crowd of Trump supporters assaulted the Capitol. It took several hours to secure the premises, but Biden and Harris were eventually declared the winners. She later described the siege, which many suspected was instigated by Trump, as “an assault on America’s democracy.” On January 18, she officially resigned from the Senate. Harris was sworn in as vice president two days later, surrounded by heavy security.
Challenges and Achievements as Vice President
As Biden’s vice president, Harris was tasked with addressing the root causes of increased migration from Latin America to the United States’ southern border, pointing up national legislation to protect voting rights, and preserving women’s abortion access, which was significantly limited in many states following the 2022 Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (see US abortion rights by state). Harris became a loud and effective campaigner for the right to comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including abortion. She used this issue throughout Biden’s 2024 campaign, warning that reelecting Trump would further restrict access to abortion care.
Biden’s Withdrawal and Harris’s 2024 Presidential Candidacy
As Senate president, Harris cast the most tie-breaking votes in history, breaking a nearly 200-year-old record. When Biden pulled out of the 2024 campaign and announced his support for Harris, she responded: On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and his decades of service to our country. I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and I intend to earn and win this nomination.