V Ueirnguepqu&T 117S: Kamala Harris - Vice President-Elect of The United States

Kamala Harris - vice president-elect of the United
States
1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ueIRNgUEpqU&t=117s
2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKpf_mNAK4s
Kamala Harris, in full Kamala Devi Harris, (born

October 20, 1964, Oakland, California, U.S.), American
politician who was elected to the U.S. Senate as a
Democrat in 2016 and began her first term representing
California in that body the following year.
She was the first Indian American to serve as a U.S.
senator as well as the second African American woman.
Harris previously was the state’s attorney general (2011–
17). In November 2020 she was elected vice president of
the United States on a ticket with Joe Biden.
Her father, who was Jamaican, taught at Stanford
University, and her mother, the daughter of an Indian
diplomat, was a cancer researcher.
Her younger sister, Maya, later became a public policy
advocate. After studying political science and economics at
Howard University, Kamala earned a law degree (1989)
from Hastings College.
She subsequently worked as a deputy district attorney
(1990–98) in Oakland, earning a reputation for toughness as
she prosecuted cases of gang violence, drug trafficking, and
sexual abuse. Harris rose through the ranks, becoming
district attorney in 2004.
In 2010 she was narrowly elected attorney general of
California thus becoming the first female and the first African
American to hold the post. After taking office the following
year, she demonstrated political independence, rejecting, for
example, pressure from the administration of Pres. Barack
Obama for her to settle a nationwide lawsuit against
mortgage lenders for unfair practices. Instead, she pressed
California’s case and in 2012 won a judgment five times
higher than that originally offered.
Her refusal to defend Proposition 8 (2008), which
banned same-sex marriage in the state, helped lead to it
being overturned in 2013. Harris’s book, Smart on Crime,
was considered a model for dealing with the problem of
criminal recidivism.
In 2012 Harris delivered a memorable address at the
Democratic National Convention, raising her national profile.
Two years later she married attorney Douglas Emhoff.
Widely considered a rising star within the party, she was
recruited to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Barbara
Boxer, who was retiring. In early 2015 Harris declared her
candidacy, and on the campaign trail she called for
immigration and criminal-justice reforms, increases to the
minimum wage, and protection of women’s reproductive
rights. She easily won the 2016 election.
After taking office in January 2017, Harris began serving
on both the Select Committee on Intelligence and the
Judiciary Committee, among other assignments. She
became known for her prosecutorial style of questioning
witnesses during hearings, which drew criticism—and
occasional interruptions—from Republican senators.
In June 2017 she drew particular attention for her
questions to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was
testifying before the intelligence committee on alleged
Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election; she
had earlier called on him to resign.
Shortly thereafter Harris announced that she was
seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
From the outset she was seen as one of the leading
contenders, and she drew particular attention when, during
a primary debate, she had a contentious exchange with
fellow candidate Joe Biden over his opposition to school
busing in the 1970s and ’80s, among other race-related
topics.
Although Harris’s support initially increased, by
September 2019 her campaign was in serious trouble, and
in December she dropped out of the race. She continued to
maintain a high profile, notably becoming a leading
advocate for social-justice reform following the May 2020
death of George Floyd, an African American who had been
in police custody.
Her efforts silenced some who had criticized her tenure
as attorney general, alleging that she had failed to
investigate charges of police misconduct, including
questionable shootings. Others, however, felt that her
embrace of reform was a political maneuver to capitalize on
the increasing public popularity of social change.
As racial injustice became a major issue in the United
States, many Democrats called on Biden, the party’s
presumptive nominee, to select an African American woman
—a demographic that was seen as pivotal to his election
chances—as his vice presidential running mate.
In August 2020 Biden chose Harris, and she thus
became the first Black woman to appear on a major party’s
national ticket. In November 2020 she became the first
Black woman to be elected vice president of the United
States.

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Kamala Harris - vice president-elect of the United

Kamala Harris, in full Kamala Devi Harris, (born

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