Kamala Harris made history as the first African-American and Asian- American to become the first female vice president.
On Sunday, after the US president Joe Biden withdrew from the race he endorsed her to become the possible representative of the party and president of the United State.
Harris, 59, was born in Oakland, California, the daughter of an Indian born mother and Jamaican born father.
She attended Howard University in Washington DC where she graduated with a degree in political science before getting her law degree from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco and was admitted to the California Bar in June 1990.
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She began working in the Alameda County district attorney’s office 1990 as a deputy district attorney, before shifting to the San Francisco district attorney’s office as an assistant district attorney.
She became San Francisco’s district attorney in 2003. Harris ran the Family and Children’s Services Division representing child abuse and neglected cases. She was then elected California’s attorney general, the state’s top law enforcement role, in 2010 and was re-elected four years later.
She was elected to the US Senate in 2016 and became a leading critic of Trump, particularly when it came to his immigration policies.
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Her aggressive questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 helped solidify her credentials as one of the Democratic Party’s top rising stars.
Harris was considered a top contender and potential frontrunner for the 2020 democratic nomination for president when she announced her candidacy but she withdrew from seeking the Democratic nomination, citing a shortage of funds then she endorsed Joe Biden.
As Biden solidified his lead in 2020, he vowed he would select a woman as his running mate. The selection of Harris was seen as an effort to appeal to Black voters, and to energize the party’s base.
Harris is married to lawyer Doug Emhoff, who became the first “second gentleman” in US history following the 2020 election. Harris and Emhoff have no children.
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