Kamala Harris would like to become the first female president of the USA. But who is the woman who has so far remained rather pale as Joe Biden’s deputy?
Kamala Harris has been the focus of attention since this summer, when incumbent US President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race. He will not run for office again.
The 81-year-old Biden had come under massive pressure within the party in the previous weeks because of his old age and his many mistakes in public appearances. Biden proposed his deputy Kamala Harris as a replacement candidate for the November presidential election. Here are five facts you should know about the 59-year-old Democrat.
1. Kamala Harris is the first woman and the first Black person to serve as US Vice President
She was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California. Her father immigrated to the United States from Jamaica to study economics. The expectations of Harris as a pioneer in the office of vice were enormous. The former senator hasn’t really been able to score points in the role as Biden’s deputy in recent years.
2. Harris is also the first Asian American woman to serve as vice president
Her mother – a cancer researcher and civil rights activist – came from India and met Harris’ father in the USA in the 1960s. Harris’ parents later divorced. She herself says that India is an important part of her life. When she and her sister Maya were still children, her mother traveled with them to India almost every other year to see relatives there – and to awaken in them a love of Indian food.
3. Harris has a law-and-order past
She became San Francisco’s first black district attorney and later the first female attorney general in her native California. Her sometimes tough law-and-order course went too far for some in the party. When she entered the U.S. Senate in 2017, she used her experience as a prosecutor in the chamber of Congress, standing out at hearings time and time again with a tough and effective questioning style.
4. Harris likes to wear sneakers
The vice president has a thing for sneakers. Whenever the occasion allows, Harris can be seen in sneakers. Her favorite model: the iconic “Chucks” from the manufacturer Converse. “I love my Chucks,” she said during the 2021 election campaign while publicly shopping for sneakers for PR purposes.
5. Harris met her husband on a blind date
Harris found her partner, Doug Emhoff, relatively late in life. In 2013, a friend arranged a blind date for the two of them in California, where they were living at the time. The following year they married. Emhoff has two adult children from his first marriage: Cole and Ella. They call Harris “Momala.” Emhoff was the first man to become a “Second Gentleman” in the USA. He could possibly be promoted to “First Gentleman,” which would also be a novelty.
You can read in ours whether Harris will prevail against Trump in the 2024 US election News blog about the election results of the US election.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
