Kamala Harris’ Road to the White House – VG

On Saturday, Kamala Harris (56) made history:

The first female vice president of the United States was elected.

With that, she also becomes the first female vice president with an immigrant background.

Many now predict that, in a few years, she too could become the first female president of the United States, if she continues in politics.

At the age of 78, Joe Biden will be the oldest president of the United States at the inauguration in January. Therefore, the possibility of Harris assuming power at a later date has been an issue in the election campaign.

Kamala Harris went out for a walk with her husband, attorney Doug Emhoff (56), when Joe Biden’s victory became apparent, a video she posted on Twitter shows:

– We did it, we did it, Joe, he says in the video clip.

A few hours later, Harris took the stage to pay tribute to President Joe Biden and the campaign. He also praised American women:

“Women have fought and sacrificed so much for equality, freedom and justice for all, including black women, that they are often overlooked but often proven to be the backbone of our democracy,” Harris said.

Additionally, Harris said that even though she is the first woman in her role, she won’t be the last:

– Every girl who sees this tonight knows that this is a country with opportunities. Our country has sent a clear message to all children, regardless of their gender. Have big dreams, be confident in your leadership, and look at yourself as others might not, because they’ve never seen you before, Harris said in his speech.

– She believed so deeply in America.

For more than 200 years, America’s leading politicians have been predominantly white men. Harris praised President Joe Biden for daring to bet on a woman.

Most of all, Harris paid tribute to his mother, Shymala Gopalan Harris, who moved to the United States from India when she was 19 years old.

“He may never have imagined this moment,” Harris said.

– But she believed deeply in America.

Children of immigrant parents

Kamala’s journey to the White House has been long.

It was not a routine matter that she was elected as the first female vice president of the United States. For several years he has worked, and at the same time escalated, in politics.

Kamala’s mother, Shymala Gopalan Harris, moved to the United States from India to study. During his studies, he met Donald J. Harris. He came from Jamaica and later became an economist and professor.

Kamala’s mother was an active human rights activist. She also became a cancer researcher and researched breast cancer, among other things.

The two married and had daughters Kamala and Maya. The marriage lasted eight years.

In the autobiography “The Truths We Hold,” Kamala Harris writes that her mother was determined that she and her sister grow up to be self-confident black women.

She has repeatedly stated that her mother was an important role model for her and her sister.

In 2009, Shymala Gopalan died of cancer.

Historically multiple times

When his parents divorced, Harris was seven years old. She and her sister lived in Canada for many years, before returning to the United States.

Back in the United States, Harris graduated from the University of California with a law degree.

And from there it began to rise:

Harris received his law degree in 1990 and began the same year as an Assistant Attorney General in Alameda County, California.

From 1990 to 1998, he worked in the San Francisco Attorney General’s Office.

Kamala Harris has also previously experienced being “first” in various positions:

She was the first woman elected attorney general in San Francisco, a job she held between 2004 and 2011.

She was also the first black woman to be elected California State Attorney.

Nominated as a presidential candidate

Harris has been featured several times, also in national politics. Especially for his harsh interrogation style during Senate hearings in 2018, in the Supreme Court nomination process.

In 2019, Kamala Harris decided to run as a presidential candidate in the 2020 elections. The campaign was initially successful, but did not achieve:

“His presidential campaign clearly struggled to find its own voice, and therefore it became difficult to find a position among 20 fellow Democrats,” Mark Leno, a former Harris colleague, told the Financial Times.

Harris withdrew from the election campaign in December 2019. At the same time, he declared his support for Biden’s campaign.

He was appointed vice president

In August 2020, Joe Biden announced that he would name Kamala Harris as his vice presidential candidate.

Biden has previously stated that he wanted a person he could trust, who was politically close and with whom he had chemistry.

He also wanted a vice president who could oppose him and offer independent advice.

During the campaign, Harris has repeatedly spoken out about her background as an immigrant daughter.

She has also spoken about her love of cooking and her role as a stepmother to her husband’s children Cole and Ella.

Harris was first married in adulthood and has no children of her own.

– Cole and Ella couldn’t have been more welcome. They are bright, talented and easy-going children who have grown into unique adults, Harris wrote in an article in Elle last year.