 "Kamala Harris did not win the race to White House. But she has many other firsts under her belt")
It was a heartbreaking defeat for Kamala Harris as she lost the United States presidential election to her Republican rival Donald Trump. If she had won, the Democrat would have broken the last glass ceiling in American politics, becoming the first woman president of the country.
She would have been the first Indian-American and second African-American president of the US. While Trump’s victory shattered her dreams of occupying the White House, Harris has other historic firsts to her name.
Let’s take a look.
Kamala Harris’ many firsts
Harris is the first woman Vice President of the US, along with being the first black woman and South Asian American to occupy the post.
Harris has served as the district attorney for San Francisco, the first woman to do so. She was also the first African-American and the first person of Indian origin to be elected to the position.
When US President Joe Biden picked her as his running mate in 2020, she was only the third woman to be chosen as the vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket.
Harris was among the only three Asian Americans in the US Senate and the first Indian-American to serve in the chamber. In the Senate, she championed legislation to fight hunger, provide rent relief, improve maternal health care, expand access to capital for small businesses, revitalise America’s infrastructure, and combat the climate crisis.
As president of the chamber, Harris set a new record for the most tie-breaking votes cast by a Vice President in history – surpassing one that had stood for nearly 200 years. And her votes have been consequential.
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Harris was once likened to Barack Obama, the US’ first African-American president.
More than a decade ago, journalist Gwen Ifill called Harris “the female Barack Obama” on the Late Show With David Letterman. Later, a small businessman from Willoughby, Tony Pinto, called her “a young, female version of the president”.
She is considered close to Obama, who endorsed her in various elections, including that for the US Senate in 2016, Vice President in 2020 and the presidential election in 2024.
Kamala Harris’ family and career
Harris was born to two immigrant parents: a Black father and an Indian mother. Her father, Donald Harris, is from Jamaica, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, migrated to the US from Tamil Nadu’s Chennai in 1958. The US VP, however, defines herself simply as “American”.
After her parents divorced, Harris was raised primarily by her Hindu mother. She says that her mother adopted Black culture and immersed her two daughters — Kamala and her younger sister Maya — in it. Harris grew up embracing her Indian culture but living a proudly African American life.
“My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters,” she wrote in her autobiography The Truths We Hold. “She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women.”
Harris was born in Oakland and grew up in Berkeley. She spent her high school years living in French-speaking Canada — her mother was teaching at McGill University in Montreal.
Harris is a graduate of Howard University, describing her time there as a formative experience of her life. After Howard, she went on to earn her law degree at the University of California, Hastings and began her career at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
“Harris was raised in a middle-class family by a working mother who taught her to believe in the promise of America. Her mother also taught her the value of hard work, bringing Kamala to her breast cancer research lab and showing her how to clean test tubes as a child,” according to the Harris campaign website.
In 2003, she became the top prosecutor for San Francisco before being elected the first woman and the first black person to serve as California’s attorney general in 2010, the top lawyer in America’s most populous state.
In her nearly two terms in office as attorney general, Harris gained a reputation as one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party.
Harris has been married to Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer, for the past 10 years. She is the stepmother of two children, Ella and Cole, who are her “endless source of love and pure joy.” Her role as vice president was more than just symbolic. Unlike her predecessors, she wielded considerable power during Biden’s presidency.
Harris’ presidential nomination came after Biden abandoned his re-election bid in July. Her defeat marks the end of her presidency dream (for now) but her nomination has given hope to women that this door in public life is not closed to them.
With inputs from PTI
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