Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California. She attended Howard University where she studied political science and economics. After she graduated in 1986 with a B.A., she earned a law degree in 1989 from the University of California College of the Law, previously known as Hastings College. From 1990 to 1998, Harris worked as a deputy district attorney, and she became the first woman and Black person to be elected as the attorney general of California.

She refused to bow to President Barack Obama’s demand for her to settle a nationwide lawsuit against mortgage lenders for unfair practices, and she won a judgment five times higher than originally offered in 2012 for the state. She also declined to support Proposition 8 in 2008, which banned same-sex marriage in California. She helped overturn it in 2013. She co-wrote a book Smart on Crime with Joan O’C. Hamilton. She married attorney Douglas Emhoff in 2014.

She ran for Barbara Boxer’s U.S. Senate seat and won the election in 2016 with a campaign of calling for immigration and criminal justice reform, minimum wage increase and the protection of women’s reproductive rights. Her memoir The Truths We Hold: An American Journey was published in January 2019. She sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, and Joe Biden picked her as his running mate for the candidacy, which they ultimately won. She became the first Indian American, African American and woman to hold the position of Vice President of the United States.

As the 49th Vice President of the U.S., Harris’ tasks included getting to the heart of migration at the country’s southern border, preserving women’s access to abortion and protecting voting rights.

After President Biden performed poorly in an early debate against former President Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential election, Biden stepped down from running for re-election and endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee.