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Doug Emhoff was the obedient political spouse when his wife Kamala Harris was seeking the Democratic nomination. He plans to fill the same role now that she has been sworn in as vice president.
Emhoff, a 56-year-old entertainment attorney with the international firm DLA Piper, left his law practice to avoid a conflict of interest. And by leaving American corporations, where the careers of white men like him often take precedence, to take on the duties of second gentleman, he is changing gender norms to a level the nation has never seen before. In addition, she will play a supporting role for the country’s first Black and South Asian female vice president.
“This gives us a model, and it’s a fabulous model,” Ella LJ Bell Smith, professor of business administration at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, told USA TODAY.
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Vice President Kamala Harris, her husband Doug Emhoff and their family walk in front of the White House during a presidential escort to the White House, after Harris took over as the 46th Vice President of the United States.
“Mr. Harris,” he said, referring to Emhoff, “is totally comfortable stepping back so that his wife can show her brilliance, grace, courage and power because he wants her to succeed.”
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As such, it could set a powerful example for workplaces and executive suites across the United States, says Michael Useem, director of the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management at the University of Pennsylvania.
Andrew Harnik / AP
Kamala Harris turns to hug her husband Doug Emhoff after Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is sworn in as vice president during the 59th presidential inauguration at the United States Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, January 20, 2021.
“Your position will be extremely visible and your behavior will send a message,” Useem said.
Emhoff seems to have heeded the advice President-elect Joe Biden gave him during his first joint appearance with Harris as his running mate: “Doug, you’ll have to learn what it means to be a barrier breaker yourself.”
Alex Brandon / AP
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff place their hands over their hearts during the performance of the national anthem during a virtual presidential inaugural prayer service.
The second gentleman is not the only White House spouse making history: New first lady Jill Biden has said she plans to continue teaching at a community college, just as she did during her husband’s eight years as vice president.
Both are making history at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has set the careers of working mothers back.
According to the National Center for Women’s Law, approximately 156,000 women left the workforce in December in the US, while men gained 16,000 jobs, meaning that all the lost jobs were held by women. . At that time, there were nearly 2.1 million fewer women in the workforce than in February 2020, just before the pandemic began.
Andrew Harnik / AP
Vice President Kamala Harris receives a hug from her husband Doug Emhoff after being sworn in on January 20, 2021.
Women who were still employed were more than three times more likely than their male counterparts to do most of the housework and childcare, according to a LeanIn.org report that looked at more than 40,000 workers.
“Particularly at a time when Americans are having really tough discussions about a division of … chores, of childcare tasks at home due to the pandemic, I think this example is very important,” said Andy Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement company that assists with job search, executive coaching and corporate restructuring.
Harris and Emhoff will also be a prominent example of a relationship dynamic that is more typical than some realize.
“There are so many couples in which the woman is the breadwinner today, but it is not seen in public life as often, particularly in our political life,” Challenger said. “Seeing that day after day for the next four years or more will just normalize that version of a relationship.”
Emhoff and Harris met on a blind date in 2013 after a friend set them up and they got married the following year. Harris became “Momala” to her two adult children, Cole and Ella from her first marriage.
So what will the country’s first second gentleman focus on during his time in Washington?
“Everyone has an opinion on this, which is good to hear,” Emhoff said during a fundraiser in September. “Which means people are really excited about the prospect of someone like me in this position, and I understand that.”
During the fundraiser, Emhoff expressed interest in using his platform to expand “access to justice.”
He recalled being surprised, when a young attorney went to Los Angeles Superior Court, by all the people who lined the corridors seeking legal help.
“Just pulling my – at the time, double-breasted jacket – to say, ‘Help. Help,'” he said. “It was so shocking.”
But his main focus seems to be that of the second gentleman.
Just before the election, when asked by a 9-year-old in Fatherly’s “Ask an Adult” online session what he would do if Biden and Harris won, Emhoff replied, “Well, first I’d say ‘Yay!’ And then I’ll do what I always do, Atticus. I’m going to support her because it’s so important to men, and even little boys, to support the strong and wonderful women in their lives, and I’ll do that, and I hope you will too. you do it “. – USA Today
Contributor: Maureen Groppe
