Kamala Devi Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States.
139 Facts About Kamala Harris
2.
Kamala Harris is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in US history, as well as the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president.
3.
Kamala Harris began her career in the office of the district attorney of Alameda County, before being recruited to the San Francisco DA's Office and later the City Attorney of San Francisco's office.
4.
Kamala Harris was elected AG of California in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
5.
Kamala Harris served as the junior US senator from California from 2017 to 2021; she defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to become the second African-American woman and the first South Asian American to serve in the US Senate.
6.
Kamala Harris sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, but withdrew from the race prior to the primaries.
7.
Kamala Harris was selected by Joe Biden to be his running mate, and their ticket went on to defeat the incumbent president and vice president, Donald Trump and Mike Pence, in the 2020 election.
8.
Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20,1964.
9.
Kamala Harris's mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a Tamil Indian biologist, whose work on the progesterone receptor gene stimulated advances in breast cancer research.
10.
Kamala Harris came to the United States from India in 1958, as a 19-year-old graduate student in nutrition and endocrinology at the University of California, Berkeley, and received her PhD in 1964.
11.
Kamala Harris is a Stanford University professor of economics who arrived in the United States from British Jamaica in 1961, for graduate study at UC Berkeley, receiving a PhD in economics in 1966.
12.
Donald Kamala Harris met his future wife Shyamala Gopalan at a college club for African-American students.
13.
In 1966, the Harris family moved to Champaign, Illinois when her parents took positions at the University of Illinois.
14.
When Kamala Harris began kindergarten, she was bused as part of Berkeley's comprehensive desegregation program to Thousand Oaks Elementary School, a public school in a more prosperous neighborhood in northern Berkeley which previously had been 95 percent white, and after the desegregation plan went into effect became 40 percent black.
15.
Kamala Harris has remained in touch with her Indian aunts and uncles throughout her adult life.
16.
Kamala Harris has said that when she and her sister visited their father in Palo Alto on weekends, other children in the neighborhood were not allowed to play with them because they were black.
17.
Kamala Harris said that Harris told her mother, who then insisted Kagan come to live with them for the remainder of her final year of high school.
18.
Kagan said Kamala Harris had recently told her that their friendship, and playing a role in countering Kagan's exploitation, helped form the commitment Kamala Harris felt in protecting women and children as a prosecutor.
19.
Kamala Harris graduated from Howard in 1986 with a degree in political science and economics.
20.
Kamala Harris then returned to California to attend law school at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law through its Legal Education Opportunity Program.
21.
Kamala Harris graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1989 and was admitted to the California Bar in June 1990.
22.
In 1990, Kamala Harris was hired as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California, where she was described as "an able prosecutor on the way up".
23.
In 1994, Speaker of the California Assembly Willie Brown, who was then dating Kamala Harris, appointed her to the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and later to the California Medical Assistance Commission.
24.
Kamala Harris took a six-month leave of absence in 1994 from her duties, then afterward resumed as prosecutor during the years she sat on the boards.
25.
In 2000, Kamala Harris reportedly clashed with Hallinan's assistant, Darrell Salomon, over Proposition21, which granted prosecutors the option of trying juvenile defendants in Superior Court rather than juvenile courts.
26.
Salomon opposed directing media inquiries about Prop21 to Kamala Harris and reassigned her, a de facto demotion.
27.
Kamala Harris ran the Family and Children's Services Division representing child abuse and neglect cases.
28.
In 2002, Kamala Harris prepared to run for District Attorney of San Francisco against Hallinan and Bill Fazio.
29.
Kamala Harris was the least-known of the three candidates but persuaded the Central Committee to withhold its endorsement from Hallinan.
30.
Kamala Harris argued that she left his office because it was technologically inept, emphasizing his 52-percent conviction rate for serious crimes despite an 83-percent average conviction rate statewide.
31.
Kamala Harris charged that his office was not doing enough to stem the city's gun violence, particularly in poor neighborhoods like Bayview and the Tenderloin, and attacked his willingness to accept plea bargains in cases of domestic violence.
32.
Kamala Harris won with 56 percent of the vote, becoming the first person of color elected as district attorney of San Francisco.
33.
Kamala Harris ran unopposed for a second term in November 2007.
34.
Kamala Harris described the case as "about protecting the integrity of our political process, which is part of the core of our democracy".
35.
The rate at which Kamala Harris's office prosecuted marijuana crimes was higher than the rate under Hallinan, but the number of defendants sentenced to state prison for such offenses was substantially lower.
36.
Kamala Harris took 49 violent crime cases to trial and secured 36 convictions.
37.
From 2004 to 2006, Kamala Harris achieved an 87-percent conviction rate for homicides and a 90-percent conviction rate for all felony gun violations.
38.
Kamala Harris pushed for higher bail for criminal defendants involved in gun-related crimes, arguing that historically low bail encouraged outsiders to commit crimes in San Francisco.
39.
SFPD officers credited Kamala Harris with tightening the loopholes defendants had used in the past.
40.
Kamala Harris created a Hate Crimes Unit, focusing on hate crimes against LGBT children and teens in schools.
41.
Kamala Harris has said life imprisonment without parole is a better and more cost-effective punishment than the death penalty, and has estimated that the resultant cost savings could pay for a thousand additional police officers in San Francisco alone.
42.
In 2004, Kamala Harris recruited civil rights activist Lateefah Simon to create the San Francisco Reentry Division.
43.
In 2006, as part of an initiative to reduce the city's skyrocketing homicide rate, Kamala Harris led a city-wide effort to combat truancy for at-risk elementary school youth in San Francisco.
44.
In 2008, Kamala Harris issued citations against six parents whose children missed at least fifty days of school, the first time San Francisco prosecuted adults for student truancy.
45.
Kamala Harris's office prosecuted seven parents in three years, with none jailed.
46.
Kamala Harris stated she would run only if then-Attorney General Jerry Brown did not seek re-election for that position.
47.
Brown instead chose to run for governor and Kamala Harris consolidated support from prominent California Democrats.
48.
Kamala Harris was sworn in on January 3,2011; she was the first woman, the first African American, and the first South Asian American to hold the office of Attorney General in the state's history.
49.
Kamala Harris announced her intention to run for re-election in February 2014 and filed paperwork to run on February 12.
50.
On November 4,2014, Kamala Harris was re-elected against Republican Ronald Gold, winning 57.5 percent of the vote to 42.5 percent.
51.
In 2011, Kamala Harris announced the creation of the Mortgage Fraud Strike Force in the wake of the 2010 United States foreclosure crisis.
52.
Kamala Harris worked with Assembly speaker John Perez and Senate president pro tem Darrell Steinberg in 2013 to introduce the Homeowner Bill of Rights, considered one of the strongest protections nationwide against aggressive foreclosure tactics.
53.
Kamala Harris achieved multiple nine-figure settlements for California homeowners under the bill mostly for robo-signing and dual-track abuses, as well as prosecuting instances in which loan processors failed to promptly credit mortgage payments, miscalculated interest rates, and charged borrowers improper fees.
54.
Kamala Harris secured hundreds of millions in relief, including $268million from Ocwen Financial Corporation, $470million from HSBC, and $550million from SunTrust Banks.
55.
From 2013 to 2015, Kamala Harris pursued financial recoveries for California's public employee and teacher's pensions, CalPERS and CalSTRS against various financial giants for misrepresentation in the sale of mortgage-backed securities.
56.
In 2013, Kamala Harris declined to authorize a civil complaint drafted by state investigators who accused OneWest Bank, owned by an investment group headed by future US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, of "widespread violation" of California foreclosure laws.
57.
Kamala Harris was criticized for accepting the donation because Mnuchin purportedly profited from the subprime mortgage crisis through OneWest Bank; she later voted against his confirmation as treasury secretary in February 2017.
58.
In 2019, Kamala Harris's campaign stated that the decision not to pursue prosecution hinged on the state's inability to subpoena OneWest.
59.
In 2014, Kamala Harris settled charges she had brought against rent-to-own retailer Aaron's, Inc on allegations of incorrect late charges, overcharging customers who paid off their contracts before the due date, and privacy violations.
60.
That same year, Kamala Harris secured a $60million settlement with JP Morgan Chase to resolve allegations of illegal debt collection with respect to credit card customers, with the bank agreeing to change practices that violated California consumer protection laws by collecting incorrect amounts, selling bad credit card debt, and running a debt-collection mill that "robo-signed" court documents without first reviewing the files as it rushed to obtain judgments and wage garnishments.
61.
In 2015, Kamala Harris opened an investigation of the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison regarding the closure of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
62.
The investigation was closed amidst Kamala Harris's 2016 run for the US Senate position.
63.
In February 2012, Kamala Harris announced an agreement with Apple, Amazon, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Research in Motion to mandate that apps sold in their stores display prominent privacy policies informing users of what private information they were sharing, and with whom.
64.
That summer, Kamala Harris announced the creation of a Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit to enforce laws related to cyber privacy, identity theft, and data breaches.
65.
Later the same year, Kamala Harris notified a hundred mobile-app developers of their non-compliance with state privacy laws and asked them to create privacy policies or face a $2,500 fine each time a non-compliant app is downloaded by a resident of California.
66.
In 2015, Kamala Harris secured two settlements with Comcast, one totaling $33million over allegations that it posted online the names, phone numbers and addresses of tens of thousands of customers who had paid for unlisted voice over internet protocol phone service and another $26million settlement to resolve allegations that it discarded paper records without first omitting or redacting private customer information.
67.
Kamala Harris settled with Houzz over allegations that the company recorded phone calls without notifying customers or employees.
68.
In November 2013, Kamala Harris launched the California Department of Justice's Division of Recidivism Reduction and Re-Entry in partnership with district attorney offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Alameda County.
69.
In March 2015, Kamala Harris announced the creation of a pilot program in coordination with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department called "Back on Track LA".
70.
Law professor Lara Bazelon contends Kamala Harris "weaponized technicalities to keep wrongfully convicted people behind bars rather than allow them new trials".
71.
In September 2014, Kamala Harris's office argued unsuccessfully in a court filing against the early release of prisoners, citing the need for inmate firefighting labor.
72.
In February 2013, Kamala Harris filed an amicus curiae brief, arguing Prop8 was unconstitutional and that the initiative's sponsors did not have legal standing to represent California's interests by defending the law in federal court.
73.
The next day Kamala Harris delivered a speech in downtown Los Angeles urging the Ninth Circuit to lift the stay banning same-sex marriages as soon as possible.
74.
In 2014, Attorney General Kamala Harris co-sponsored legislation to ban the gay and trans panic defense in court, which passed and California became the first state with such legislation.
75.
Kamala Harris, representing CDCR, appealed the order to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that psychotherapy, as well as the hormone therapy Norsworthy had been receiving for her gender dysphoria over the preceding fourteen years, were sufficient medical treatment, and there was "no evidence that Norsworthy is in serious, immediate physical or emotional danger".
76.
In 2019, Kamala Harris stated that she took "full responsibility" for briefs her office filed in Norsworthy's case and others involving access to gender-affirming surgery for trans inmates.
77.
In 2011, Kamala Harris urged criminal penalties for parents of truant children as she did as District Attorney of San Francisco, allowing the court to defer judgment if the parent agreed to a mediation period to get their child back in school.
78.
From 2015 to 2016, Kamala Harris secured multiple multi-million-dollar settlements with fuel service companies Chevron, BP, ARCO, Phillips 66, and ConocoPhillips to resolve allegations they failed to properly monitor the hazardous materials in its underground storage tanks used to store gasoline for retail sale at hundreds of California gas stations.
79.
In 2012, Kamala Harris announced that the California Department of Justice had improved its DNA testing capabilities such that samples stored at the state's crime labs could now be analyzed four times faster, within thirty days.
80.
In 2015, Kamala Harris conducted a 90-day review of implicit bias in policing and police use of deadly force.
81.
Kamala Harris announced a new state law requiring every law enforcement agency in California to collect, report, and publish expanded statistics on how many people are shot, seriously injured or killed by peace officers throughout the state.
82.
Kamala Harris noted that it was unnecessary to ban all 250 prosecutors from working on the case, as only a few had been directly involved, later promising a narrower criminal investigation.
83.
In 2016, Kamala Harris announced a patterns and practices investigation into purported civil rights violations and use of excessive force by the two largest law enforcement agencies in Kern County, California, the Bakersfield Police Department and the Kern County Sheriff's Department.
84.
In 2016, Kamala Harris's office seized videos and other information from the apartment of an antiabortion activist who had made secret recordings and then accused Planned Parenthood doctors of illegally selling fetal tissue.
85.
Kamala Harris had announced that her office would investigate the activist in the summer of 2015.
86.
Kamala Harris was facing increasing criticism for not taking public action by the time Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit against the activist.
87.
Kamala Harris commented that the Internet had "opened up a new frontier for crime".
88.
Later that year, Kamala Harris created the eCrime Unit within the California Department of Justice, a 20-attorney unit targeting technology crimes.
89.
Kamala Harris brought up these cases when California Congresswoman Katie Hill was targeted for similar cyber exploitation by her ex-husband and forced to resign in late 2019.
90.
In 2016, Kamala Harris announced the arrest of Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer on felony charges of pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping.
91.
Significant arrests and seizures under Kamala Harris targeted the Tijuana Cartel, the Nuestra Familia, Nortenos, and the Vagos Motorcycle Club, the Nortenos, the Crips, the Mexican Mafia, and businesses in the Los Angeles Fashion District accused of operating a major money-laundering hub for Mexican narcotics traffickers.
92.
In summer 2012, Kamala Harris signed an accord with the Attorney General of Mexico, Marisela Morales, to improve coordination of law enforcement resources targeting transnational gangs engaging in the sale and trafficking of human beings across the San Ysidro border crossing.
93.
In November, Kamala Harris presented a report titled "The State of Human Trafficking in California 2012" at a symposium attended by US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Attorney General Morales, outlining the growing prevalence of human trafficking in the state, and highlighting the involvement of transnational gangs in the practice.
94.
In early 2014, Kamala Harris issued a report titled, "Gangs Beyond Borders: California and the Fight Against Transnational Crime", addressing the prominent role of drug, weapons, and human trafficking, money laundering, and technology crimes employed by various drug cartels from Mexico, Armenian Power, 18th Street Gang, and MS-13 and offering recommendations for state and local law enforcement to combat the criminal activity.
95.
Later that year, Kamala Harris led a bipartisan delegation of state attorneys general to Mexico City to discuss transnational crime with Mexican prosecutors.
96.
Kamala Harris then convened a summit focused on the use of technology to fight transnational organized crime with state and federal officials from the US, Mexico, and El Salvador.
97.
Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for the Senate seat the following week.
98.
Kamala Harris was a top contender from the beginning of her campaign.
99.
Kamala Harris faced congresswoman and fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez in the general election.
100.
Kamala Harris called White House Chief of Staff John F Kelly at home to gather information and push back against the executive order.
101.
Later that month, Kamala Harris took her first foreign trip to the Middle East, visiting California troops stationed in Iraq and the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, the largest camp for Syrian refugees.
102.
In June, Kamala Harris garnered media attention for her questioning of Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, over the role he played in the May 2017 firing of James Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
103.
Later that month, Kamala Harris questioned Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for favoring Norwegian immigrants over others and claiming to be unaware that Norway is a predominantly white country.
104.
Kamala Harris was a target of the October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts.
105.
In March 2019, after Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, Kamala Harris called for US Attorney General William Barr to testify before Congress in the interests of transparency.
106.
Later that month, Kamala Harris was one of twelve Democratic senators to sign a letter led by Mazie Hirono questioning Barr's decision to offer "his own conclusion that the President's conduct did not amount to obstruction of justice" and called for an investigation into whether Barr's summary of the Mueller Report and his statements at a news conference were misleading.
107.
Kamala Harris later called for Barr to resign, and accused him of refusing to answer her questions because he could open himself up to perjury, and stating his responses disqualified him from serving as US attorney general.
108.
Two days later, Harris demanded again that the Department of Justice inspector general Michael E Horowitz investigate whether Attorney General Barr acceded to pressure from the White House to investigate Trump's political enemies.
109.
On May 5,2019, Kamala Harris said "voter suppression" prevented Democrats Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum from winning the 2018 gubernatorial elections in Georgia and Florida; Abrams lost by 55,000 votes and Gillum lost by 32,000 votes.
110.
Kamala Harris later asked Senate Judiciary chairman Lindsey Graham to halt all judicial nominations during the impeachment trial, to which Graham acquiesced.
111.
Kamala Harris voted to convict the president on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
112.
Kamala Harris has worked on bipartisan bills with Republican co-sponsors, including a bail reform bill with Senator Rand Paul, an election security bill with Senator James Lankford, and a workplace harassment bill with Senator Lisa Murkowski.
113.
Kamala Harris had been considered a top contender and potential frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president.
114.
On January 21,2019, Kamala Harris officially announced her candidacy for president of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election.
115.
Kamala Harris's support rose by between six and nine points in polls following that debate.
116.
At a time when liberals were increasingly concerned about the excesses of the criminal justice system, Kamala Harris faced criticism from reformers for tough-on-crime policies she pursued while she was California's attorney general.
117.
On December 3,2019, Kamala Harris withdrew from seeking the 2020 Democratic nomination, citing a shortage of funds.
118.
Kamala Harris was the first African American, the first Indian American, and the third woman after Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin to be picked as the vice-presidential nominee for a major party ticket.
119.
Kamala Harris is the first resident of the Western United States to appear on the Democratic Party's national ticket.
120.
Kamala Harris is the United States' first female vice president, the highest-ranking female elected official in US history, and the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president.
121.
Kamala Harris is the second person of color to hold the post, preceded by Charles Curtis, a Native American and member of the Kaw Nation, who served under Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933.
122.
Kamala Harris is the third person with acknowledged non-European ancestry to reach one of the highest offices in the executive branch, after Curtis and former president Barack Obama.
123.
Kamala Harris resigned her Senate seat on January 18,2021, two days before her swearing-in as vice president.
124.
Kamala Harris's first act as vice president was swearing in her replacement Alex Padilla and Georgia senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who were elected in the 2021 Georgia runoff elections.
125.
Kamala Harris cast her first two tie-breaking votes on February 5,2021.
126.
On July 20,2021, Kamala Harris broke Mike Pence's record for tie-breaking votes in the first year of a vice presidency when she cast the seventh tie-breaking vote in her first six months and cast 13 tie-breaking votes during her first year in office, the most tie-breaking votes in a single year in US history, surpassing John Adams who cast 12 votes in 1790.
127.
Kamala Harris weighs in during those meetings, often providing unique perspectives.
128.
On March 24,2021, Biden tasked Kamala Harris with reducing the number of unaccompanied minors and adult asylum seekers.
129.
Kamala Harris is tasked with leading the negotiations with Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
130.
Kamala Harris conducted her first international trip as vice president in June 2021, visiting Guatemala and Mexico in an attempt to address the root causes of an increase in migration from Central America to the United States.
131.
Kamala Harris met with French President Emmanuel Macron in November 2021 to strengthen ties after the cancellation of a submarine program.
132.
On November 19,2021, Kamala Harris served as acting president from 10:10 to 11:35 am EST, while President Biden underwent a colonoscopy.
133.
Kamala Harris became the first woman, and the third person overall, to assume the powers and duties of the US presidency under Section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
134.
Biden and Kamala Harris were jointly named Time Person of the Year for 2020.
135.
Kamala Harris was selected for the inaugural 2021 Forbes 50 Over 50; made up of entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists and creators who are over the age of 50.
136.
Kamala Harris met her husband, attorney Doug Emhoff, through a mutual friend who set up Kamala Harris and Emhoff on a blind date in 2013.
137.
Kamala Harris is a stepmother to Emhoff's two children, Cole and Ella, from his previous marriage to the film producer Kerstin Emhoff.
138.
Kamala Harris is a multiracial American and a Baptist, holding membership of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, a congregation of the American Baptist Churches USA.
139.
Kamala Harris has written two non-fiction books and one children's book.