Kamala Harris: A Dynamic Journey from Prosecutor to Politician

President Joe Biden’s decision to step down from seeking reelection and instead endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the upcoming campaign has completely changed the dynamics of the presidential race and has once again put the spotlight on Harris.

Kamala Harris has had a remarkable career trajectory, transitioning from a prosecutor to a politician. She has achieved numerous milestones, including being the first Indian American senator in the nation and the first female and South Asian attorney general in California. Furthermore, Kamala Harris made history by becoming the first woman to hold the position of vice president and the first Black or Asian American to do so.

With increasing support to position her as the Democratic Party’s nominee for the 2024 presidential election, Harris stands at the brink of potentially becoming the first female president of the United States.

Learn more about Harris’s life and the key moments that have shaped her political journey.

Read Also: Biden Drops Out of 2024 Race, Endorses Harris

Kamala Harris: An Immigrant’s Daughter

Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964.

In her 2019 memoir, “The Truths We Hold,” Harris mentioned that her name is pronounced “‘comma-la,’ like the punctuation mark” and that it signifies “lotus flower,” paying tribute to an important symbol in Indian culture.

Her father, Donald, came to the United States from Jamaica to pursue economics studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently a professor emeritus of economics at Stanford.

On the other hand, her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, migrated to the US from southern India in the late 1950s. She obtained her doctorate in nutrition and endocrinology at Berkeley and became a renowned breast cancer researcher before her passing in 2009.

Kamala Harris mentioned that her parents “met and fell in love at Berkeley while participating in the civil rights movement,” but they later separated when Harris and her sister, Maya, were young.

She attributes her mother for “molding us into the women we would become” and for instilling in her daughters a sense of pride in both their Indian and Black heritage.

“Our traditional Indian names connected us to our roots, and we were brought up with a deep understanding of and respect for Indian culture,” Harris wrote in her memoir.

“My mother was well aware that she was raising two Black daughters. She understood that her new homeland would view Maya and me as Black girls, and she was committed to ensuring that we would grow up to be confident, proud Black women.”

A Trailblazing Career of Kamala Harris

In 1982, Harris started her journey at Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, DC.

While there, she became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest Black sorority in the country, and obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics. She would go on to make history as the first HBCU graduate to be elected vice president.

Following her undergraduate studies, Harris returned to California to attend law school at the University of California Hastings. Despite knowing, she would face criticism from her loved ones for choosing a career as a prosecutor, Harris remained determined.

Reflecting on the challenges, she wrote in her memoir, “America has a deep and dark history of people using the power of the prosecutor as an instrument of injustice. But I also knew that what was wrong with the system didn’t need to be an immutable fact. And I wanted to be a part of changing that.”

After completing law school, Harris dedicated thirty years to prosecuting. She started her career as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, Oakland, and won the 2004 election for San Francisco District Attorney.

In 2011, Kamala Harris became the first Black American, woman, and Asian American elected as California’s attorney general.

During her tenure as attorney general, Kamala Harris developed a close friendship with Beau Biden, the eldest son of Joe Biden, who was also serving as Delaware’s attorney general.

Kamala Harris faced criticism for some of her decisions as a prosecutor and as California’s top law enforcement official during her 2020 presidential campaign, with both progressive activists and law enforcement advocates questioning her stance on issues like the death penalty.

In 2014, Kamala Harris tied the knot with Doug Emhoff, a former managing partner at a law firm. The couple’s love story began with a blind date, and Harris humorously referred to that time as “A.D. – ‘After Doug'” in her memoir.

Emhoff made history as the nation’s first gentleman.

Prosecutor to Politician

In 2015, Harris began her campaign for the US Senate, aiming to take over the seat of long-serving California Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Former President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Biden both endorsed her campaign. In her memoir, she described the night of the 2016 election as “surreal” for various reasons, not just because of her victory.

Reflecting on that night, she wrote, “I was a US senator-elect – the first Black woman from my state, and the second in the nation’s history, to earn that job.”

As it became evident that Donald Trump would be the 45th president of the United States, Kamala Harris decided to set aside the speech she had prepared, assuming the country would elect its first female president. Instead, she urged her supporters to commit to uniting the country.

While serving in the US Senate, Kamala Harris was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence. In 2019, she announced her candidacy for the White House.

During a crowded presidential primary debate that year, Harris challenged then-Vice President Biden on his record, including his past views on desegregation and school busing.

Biden’s choice to select Harris as his running mate surprised some, but he later called it ‘the best decision I’ve made.’

On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris took the oath as the nation’s inaugural female, Black, and South Asian vice president. Serving as the Senate president, Kamala Harris, as per the White House, established a new milestone for the highest number of tie-breaking votes cast by a vice president.