New history maker US Vice-President Kamla Harris: Life and Political Career

Washington: Kamala Harris is the first Black woman to be elected district attorney in California history, the first woman to be California's attorney general, first Indian American senator, and now, the first Black woman and first Asian American to be picked as a vice presidential running mate on a major-party ticket.

In March 2020, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden pledged to pick Kamala Harris as his running mate. Profile summary of Kamala Harris

Birth name: Kamala Devi Harris
Date of birth: October 20, 1964
Age: 55 Place of birth: Oakland,
California Parents: Donald J Harris, Shyamala Gopalan Harris
Sibling: Maya
Height: 1.57m

Harris, whose father is of Jamaican ancestry, has downplayed her family’s India ties although she has spoken of how the deep conversations with her grandfather during India visits helped shaped her political views. But social media users were quick to appropriate her as completely Indian. A video in which she’s seen with Mindy Kaling cooking a masala dosa, a south Indian savory crepe filled with spicy potatoes, is circulating wildly on WhatsApp groups in India.

Education

The young Kamala Harris first attended Thousand Oaks Elementary School. When Kamala was 12 years old, her mother moved the family to Canada and started performing research work at the Jewish General Hospital and teaching at the McGill University. Kamala and Maya then attended school in Montreal for five years. When they arrived at Montreal, Kamala and Maya attended the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges school on Côte-des-Neiges Rd. because their mother wanted them to learn French. For her high school education, Kamala attended Westmount High School, from where she graduated in 1981.

Marriage

On August 22 2014, Harris married lawyer Douglas Emhoff. Emhoff is a Brooklyn-born litigator and partner at DLA Piper Law Firm. They later got married four months after their engagement in a private ceremony at the Santa Barbara Courthouse. Harris' sister, Maya Harris West, acted as the officiant. Doug has two kids with his ex-wife, Kerstin. His son Cole is a graduate of Colorado College, while his younger daughter Ella studies at Parsons School of Design. Doug's kids, Cole and Ella, are Kamala Harris children (her step-children), who affectionately refer to her as 'Momala'.

Net Worth

Kamala was elected as district attorney of San Francisco in 2003. According to Forbes, she made more than $140,000 that year and would eventually make up to $260,000 a year during her time as district attorney. The job made her eligible for a pension worth at least $250,000 today, per Woman's Health. Together they have three homes together in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, per Forbes. The estimated cost of those assets: $5.8 million.

Political career

Kamala Harris, who sworn as a the Vice-President of the United States , is an inspiring story of many firsts. She will be the first woman, first African-American and first Asian-American Vice-President of the US. Her political career has been just as stunning.

After spending four years at Howard University, she went on to earn her law degree at the University of California, Hastings. She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and became the top prosecutor for San Francisco in 2003. In 2010, she was elected the first woman and the first black person to serve as California's attorney general and was re-elected to the post in 2014.

As she rose above the ranks, Harris' position in the Democratic party strengthened and she was elected as California's junior US senator in 2017. In August 2019, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked her as his running mate and Biden and Harris emerged victorious in the November 7 elections.