Kamala Harris has made history as the first woman and the first woman of color to serve as Vice President. She has also broken barriers throughout her career as a former California attorney general and U.S. senator. Check out the following information about Vice President Kamala Harris, including her political and personal history.
On Oct. 20, 1964, Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California. Her mother, Shyamala, became a renowned breast cancer researcher after emigrating from India.
When Harris was seven, her parents divorced. At 12, she moved to Montreal with her mother and sister, Maya. Kamala and her sister organized a successful protest there against the owner of their apartment building, who prohibited children from playing on the lawn.
After graduating from Westmount High School, Harris returned to the United States and attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she earned a B.A. in political science and economics. After graduation, she returned to California and attended the University of California Hastings College of Law, where she earned a J.D. in 1989.
In Alameda County, Calif., Harris was a deputy district attorney, who specialized in sex crimes. After becoming managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in San Francisco, she became chief of the San Francisco DA's Community and Neighborhood Division in 2000 where she created the first Children's Justice Bureau in the state.
In 2003, Harris defeated her former boss, Terence Hallinan, in an election to become San Francisco District Attorney (the first black woman to hold the office). The conviction rate in San Francisco jumped from 52% to 67% during the first three years of her administration. Additionally, she launched a program called "Back on Track" that reduced recidivism by training low-level offenders and offering other programs.
As San Francisco DA, Kamala Harris went from police favorite to being shunned by the San Francisco Police Union due to a reputation for only prosecuting the most airtight of cases and because she handled a case against a cop killer. Kamala had an often-stated personal opposition to the death penalty and made a campaign promise to never seek it. Still, when she refused to request the death penalty for a gang member convicted of killing police officer Isaac Espinoza, it turned many on the blue line against her.
As a result of her narrow victory over Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley in November 2010, Harris became the first black and South Asian American Attorney General of California. After withdrawing from settlement negotiations with five of the largest financial institutions for improper mortgage practices, she eventually settled for five times the original amount proposed.
As a result of her narrow victory over Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley in November 2010, Harris became the first black and South Asian American Attorney General of California. After withdrawing from settlement negotiations with five of the largest financial institutions for improper mortgage practices, she eventually settled for five times the original amount proposed.
Harris became the first South Asian American to enter the U.S. Senate in 2016 when she defeated Loretta Sanchez. Leftists praised her for her pointed questioning of high-profile witnesses like former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Harris introduced legislation in the Senate to provide financial relief to people facing rising housing costs and supported a single-payer healthcare system.
Only 14% of Harris' 696 co-sponsored bills were introduced by Republicans, according to GovTrack, so she joined bipartisan bills less often than all other Senate Democrats. On the other hand, she received bicameral (House and Senate) support on more bills than any other member of her Senate class and had the most co-sponsors on her bills.
Throughout her public service career, Kamala Harris has achieved several firsts: the first African-American woman, the first Black woman & the first South Asian-American elected to serve in numerous government offices and positions, including the position of the state attorney general and the U.S. Senator. As one publication put it, "her political gifts made it easy to forget that she was making history with each step in her career."
Although her role is still evolving, it promises to be a major one, in areas such as voting rights and immigration, where she will bring her results-oriented liberalism.
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