Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964. Her father, Donald Harris, immigrated from Jamaica, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, immigrated from India. Both parents participated in the American Civil Rights Movement, and they brought Kamala and her younger sister, Maya, to civil rights marches during childhood.

After her parents divorced, Harris and Maya were primarily raised by their mother. Harris grew up connected to both Indian and African American cultures and spent summers visiting her grandparents in India. She attended Howard University, where she studied politics and economics, and later earned a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of Law.

After earning her law degree, Harris began her legal career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. She later worked as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco before winning election as the city's district attorney in 2003. As district attorney, she created the Back on Track program, which gave some first-time drug offenders the opportunity to earn a high school degree and find employment instead of being imprisoned. The U.S. Department of Justice designated the program as a national model of innovation for law enforcement.

Harris was elected California attorney general in 2010, becoming the first woman and first African American to hold the office. She worked on criminal justice transparency through the Open Justice program, defended the Affordable Care Act in court, pursued major settlements involving foreclosed homes and for-profit education companies, and created efforts addressing transnational gangs, truancy, and recidivism. She also became a national leader in support of LGBTQ+ rights and officiated some of San Francisco's first same-sex weddings.

In 2016, Harris won election to the U.S. Senate from California. She became the second African American woman elected to the Senate and the first South Asian American senator in U.S. history. As a member of the Judiciary and Intelligence committees, she questioned Trump administration officials and participated in work concerning Russian election interference, Supreme Court nominations, and election security. She launched a presidential campaign in 2019 but suspended it in December of that year.

Harris and Joe Biden had encountered one another during Biden's service as vice president under Barack Obama. During the 2020 Democratic primary, Harris criticized Biden over his record on school busing, an issue connected to programs that had affected her own childhood. After ending her presidential campaign, she was selected by Biden as his vice-presidential running mate.

The Biden-Harris ticket won the 2020 presidential election. Harris's selection made her the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to appear on a major party's national ticket as a vice-presidential nominee. During the campaign, she toured several states and debated Vice President Mike Pence.

Harris was sworn in as the 49th vice president on January 20, 2021. She became the first woman, first African American woman, first Indian American, first person of Asian American descent, and first graduate of a historically Black college or university to hold the office. As vice president, she cast tie-breaking Senate votes, led diplomatic meetings, represented the United States abroad, and worked on issues including voting rights, reproductive rights, gun violence, climate change, immigration, and infrastructure.

Harris also presided over the Senate vote confirming Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. During her vice presidency, she traveled on 17 foreign trips to 21 countries and met with more than 150 world leaders. She and Biden advanced policies involving small businesses, infrastructure, prescription drug costs, maternal health, and climate investment.

In July 2024, after Biden withdrew his reelection bid and endorsed her, Harris announced her campaign for president. She became the Democratic presidential nominee in August 2024 and was the first Black woman and first South Asian woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party. Her campaign emphasized reproductive freedom, economic opportunity, housing affordability, and a new generation of leadership.