Kamala Harris

Kamala Devi Harris was an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She made history as the first female, first African American, and first Asian American vice president, marking a significant moment for women and Asian Americans in U.S. politics.

Born in Oakland, California, Harris graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Before becoming vice president, she served as a United States Senator from California from 2017 to 2021 and was the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017.

As a senator, Harris advocated for important changes like stricter gun control laws, better healthcare, and reforms to taxation. She became well-known for her strong questions during Senate hearings. In 2020, she was chosen as Joe Biden’s running mate, and they won the election.

During her time as vice president, Harris helped break tie votes in the U.S. Senate, including important laws like the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. In 2024, after Biden withdrew his candidacy from the 2024 presidential election, she launched her own presidential campaign and became the nominee. Unfortunately, she and her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, lost the election to the Republican nominees.

Early life and career

Main article: Early life and career of Kamala Harris

Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was a scientist from India who worked on important medical research. Her father, Donald Jasper Harris, came from Jamaica and was a teacher and scholar.

Kamala went to school in California and later in Montreal, where she finished high school. She studied science and politics in college and later went to law school. She began her career working in the legal system, helping to solve crimes and support families. In 2002, she was elected as a leader in San Francisco, working to make the city safer and supporting programs to help young people stay in school.

Attorney general of California (2011–2017)

Kamala Harris became the first woman, African American, and South Asian American to serve as attorney general of California in 2011. She was reelected in 2014 and worked until 2017 when she joined the United States Senate.

During her time in this role, Harris focused on helping protect people’s rights. She worked to make sure big companies treated customers fairly and helped create rules to stop unfair housing practices. She also pushed for better privacy laws to keep people’s personal information safe. Harris supported changes to the justice system to help people who made mistakes get back on their feet, offering education and job training to those who committed nonviolent crimes. She also stood for fair treatment for everyone, opposing laws that limited people’s rights to marry who they loved.

U.S. senator (2017–2021)

Main article: US Senate career of Kamala Harris

Election

Main article: 2016 United States Senate election in California

Kamala Harris decided to run for the U.S. Senate after Senator Barbara Boxer announced she wouldn’t run again in 2016. Harris started her campaign and quickly became a top candidate. In California’s special voting system, the top two candidates from the primary election go to the general election, no matter their political party. Harris won the most votes in the primary and faced another Democrat, Loretta Sanchez, in the general election. With support from many people and leaders like President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Harris won the election with over 60% of the vote. She made history as the second Black woman and first Asian American senator in the United States.

Tenure and political positions

See also: Political positions of Kamala Harris

As a senator, Harris focused on many important issues. She pushed for stronger laws about guns, supported a plan to help young people who were brought to the U.S. as children, and talked about making healthcare better and changing how taxes work. She became well-known for asking tough questions to leaders chosen by President Trump, including Jeff Sessions and Brett Kavanaugh.

2017

In 2017, Harris spoke out against a rule that made it harder for people from some countries to visit the U.S. She also asked questions to leaders chosen by President Trump, like Betsy DeVos for schools and Jeff Sessions for the country’s main law enforcement job. Harris worried that Sessions had talked to people from Russia when he said he hadn’t. She also visited troops in Iraq and a refugee camp in Jordan. Harris asked tough questions to a leader about why a top FBI person was let go, which caused some other senators to tell her to be quieter. Later, she asked the attorney general about the same thing. In December, Harris said leaders should not treat anyone unfairly, no matter who they are.

2018

In 2018, Harris joined a committee that helps make laws about courts and justice. She asked tough questions to a leader about treating people from Norway better than others. Harris also asked questions about why children were being separated from their families at the border. After visiting a place where families were kept apart, she was the first senator to ask for that leader to leave her job. Harris also asked questions during hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, who was being considered for a very important court job. She worried about some things he said and voted against him. Sadly, there were some dangerous letters sent to people, including Harris. Harris also helped pass a law that would make hurting people in a very bad way a serious crime.

2019

In 2019, Harris talked about making schools more fair for everyone. She supported a big plan to use clean energy in the country. After a report about possible problems with the 2016 election, Harris asked for more information. She worried that some leaders were not telling the whole truth. Harris also asked leaders to keep helping countries in Central America and worked with others to ask for an investigation into a sad situation involving someone who died while in care. Harris also asked for an investigation into some emails that showed bad ideas being shared.

In May 2019, Harris talked about problems with voting in some states. In July, she asked leaders to look into a very sad situation with people in China. In December, she asked for a leader to be removed after some bad ideas were shared online.

2020

Before a big vote about a president, Harris spoke about fairness in the justice system. She voted to say a president should follow the same rules as everyone else. Harris worked with people from different parties on laws to help with things like fair pay and keeping elections safe.

2021

After being chosen as Vice President, Harris left her job as senator in January 2021. Alex Padilla took her place.

Committee assignments

While in the Senate, Harris was a member of the following committees:

• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management
  • Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management
• Select Committee on Intelligence
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution
  • Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts
  • Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• Congressional Black Caucus
• Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues

2020 presidential election

Presidential campaign

Kamala Harris was seen as a strong candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president. She announced her candidacy for president on January 21, 2019, and many people came to her first event in Oakland, California. During debates, she spoke up about important issues, which helped her gain more support for a short time. However, later in the campaign, her support dropped, and she faced questions about some of her past decisions as California's attorney general.

Vice presidential campaign

Main articles: Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign and 2020 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection

In 2020, after winning several important primaries, Joe Biden said he would choose a woman as his running mate. In August 2020, he announced that Kamala Harris would be his running mate. She became the first African American, the first Indian American, and the third woman to be chosen for this role by a major political party. After Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Harris became the vice president–elect.

Vice presidency (2021–2025)

Main article: Vice presidency of Kamala Harris

See also: Inauguration of Joe Biden and Presidency of Joe Biden

Kamala Harris became the vice president of the United States on January 20, 2021. She was the first woman, the first African American, and the first Asian American to hold this position. As vice president, she had an important role in helping to make decisions when the Senate was evenly split between two groups.

Harris helped pass important laws, like a big plan to help the country during tough times. She also took on special duties, like acting as president for a short time when the main president needed a medical test.

In 2021, she was asked to help work with countries in Central America to address reasons why people were moving to the United States. She visited Guatemala and Mexico and encouraged people not to make the dangerous journey. Her work led to new programs to help with issues like fairness and support for women.

Harris also worked on international relationships. She met with leaders from France to improve ties and discussed important topics like space cooperation. She played a role in discussions about big world events, like the situation in Ukraine, and visited places like a space center in Maryland with the president of South Korea.

In 2023, she talked about helping Israel during a difficult time, but later called for a pause to allow help to reach people in need.

2024 presidential election

Vice-presidential campaign

In April 2023, President Joe Biden announced his reelection campaign, and Kamala Harris was expected to stay as his running mate. After the Democratic primaries, the pair became the likely candidates for the 2024 presidential election. Some people worried about Biden’s age and health during his first term, especially after his performance in the first debate on June 27.

Presidential campaign

On July 21, 2024, Biden stopped his campaign and supported Harris to be the party’s candidate for president. Many important leaders, including former presidents and Congress members, also supported her. In the first day of her campaign, she collected $81 million from many small donors, the most any candidate has ever collected in one day. Harris became the first candidate to become president nominee without running in the primaries since 1968.

By August 5, Harris officially became the candidate. She chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. On August 22, she accepted the party’s nomination at their big meeting. On September 10, she debated her opponent and was said to have done very well. After the debate, famous singer Taylor Swift supported her.

Harris lost the election to her opponent on November 5, 2024. She gave a speech the next day at Howard University. She lost by a small margin in some important states, which helped her opponent win. If she had won, she would have been the first woman and first Asian American president, and the second African American president.

Post-vice presidency (2025–present)

After leaving office on January 20, 2025, Kamala Harris moved to Los Angeles with her husband. They helped provide food to people affected by a fire.

In February 2025, Harris joined a company to work on speaking and writing projects. Later that month, she received an award at a special event. In March 2025, a change was made to her safety protections.

In April 2025, Harris spoke at an event where she talked about issues important to many people. She also made a surprise appearance at a big fashion event the next week.

There was talk about Harris running for office in 2026, but she decided not to. Some people think she might run for president in 2028.

Harris wrote a book about her time during a recent election and has been traveling to talk about it. She has also supported many candidates in recent elections.

Electoral history

Main article: Electoral history of Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris has been part of many important elections. She worked hard to become a leader in California and then across the United States. Her journey shows how people can achieve big things through voting and elections.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris supports important rights like allowing people to choose what is best for their own health, protecting people who love who they want, and making rules about guns to keep everyone safer. She also wants to help with problems caused by climate change and supports fair ways for people to become citizens.

She believes in helping Ukraine and Israel while also working for peace. Harris has different ideas from her president on economic matters, suggesting ways to help everyday people more. She has been a strong voice for health choices and equality, earning support from groups that fight for these rights. She has worked on laws to protect people from unfair treatments in court and supported efforts to help people in prison during difficult times.

Personal life

See also: Family of Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris dated Willie Brown, who was a leader in California and later became mayor of San Francisco, during the 1990s. She later dated a television host for a short time.

In 2013, Harris met her husband, lawyer Doug Emhoff, through a friend. They married in 2014 in Santa Barbara, California. She has two stepchildren from his earlier marriage. As of August 2024^[update], they had a net worth of about $8 million.

Harris belongs to a church in San Francisco and is part of a special group for well-known Black women. She also owns a gun.

Public image

Main article: Public image of Kamala Harris

When Kamala Harris was vice president, many people did not think highly of her, and her approval ratings were at a record low. However, after President Biden decided not to run for reelection, more people began to support her, especially among Democrats.

During her time as vice president, Harris had many changes in her team, with several key staff members leaving. Some people thought this showed problems in her team, but others said it was because the work was very hard and there were other personal reasons. For much of her time in office, she had one of the lowest approval ratings ever for a vice president. However, this changed when she became the likely Democratic candidate for president in 2024, and her ratings improved.

In 2024, an old video from 2023 where Harris made a memorable comment at a White House event became very popular online. Since she started her presidential campaign, many of her statements have been shared a lot, affecting how people see her. One of her well-known traits is her loud laughter, which she says she got from her mother.

Publications

Kamala Harris has written three nonfiction books and one children's book. Her books include Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, Superheroes Are Everywhere, and 107 Days. Each book offers insights into her experiences and journey.