152-459: Kamala Devi Harris (born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 49th vice president of the United States since 2021 under President Joe Biden . She is the first female U.S. vice president, making her the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history. She is also the first African American and the first Asian American vice president. A member of
304-787: A Juris Doctor in 1989. In 1990, Harris was hired as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California , where she was described as "an able prosecutor on the way up". In 1994, Speaker of the California Assembly Willie Brown , who was then dating Harris, appointed her to the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and later to the California Medical Assistance Commission. In February 1998, San Francisco district attorney Terence Hallinan recruited Harris as an assistant district attorney. There, she became
456-755: A historically black university in Washington, D.C. At Howard, she became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha , one of the "Divine Nine" historically black sororities. She graduated in 1986 with a degree in political science and economics. Harris then attended the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, where she served as president of its chapter of the Black Law Students Association . She graduated with
608-595: A "forceful" campaign and differentiating herself from Hallinan by attacking his performance. Harris won the election with 56% of the vote, becoming the first person of color elected district attorney of San Francisco. She ran unopposed for a second term in 2007. Within the first six months of taking office, Harris cleared 27 of 74 backlogged homicide cases. She also 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. SFPD officers credited Harris with tightening
760-476: A Hate Crimes Unit, focusing on hate crimes against LGBT children and teens in schools, and supported A.B. 1160, the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act. As District Attorney, she created an environmental crimes unit in 2005. Harris expressed support for San Francisco's sanctuary city policy of not inquiring about immigration status in the process of a criminal investigation. In 2004, she created
912-459: A bail reform bill with Rand Paul , an election security bill with James Lankford , and a workplace harassment bill with Lisa Murkowski . Following her election as Vice President of the United States, Harris resigned from her seat on January 18, 2021, before taking office on January 20, and was replaced by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla . While in the Senate, Harris was a member of
1064-467: A candidate of national character. Additionally, to guard against the possibility that electors might strategically waste their second votes, it was specified that the first runner-up would become vice president. The resultant method of electing the president and vice president, spelled out in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 , allocated to each state a number of electors equal to
1216-502: A case of succession. Debate records from the 1787 Constitutional Convention, along with various participants' later writings on the subject, show that the framers of the Constitution intended that the vice president would temporarily exercise the powers and duties of the office in the event of a president's death, disability or removal, but not actually become the president of the United States in their own right. This understanding
1368-411: A challenge to party delegate selection rules to improve Reagan's chances. In the end, Ford narrowly won the presidential nomination and Reagan's selection of Schweiker became moot. In the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, which pitted Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama , Clinton suggested a Clinton–Obama ticket with Obama in the vice president slot, which she said would be "unstoppable" against
1520-468: A death row inmate, while others did not withstand scrutiny. In the immediate aftermath of the debate, Harris fell in the polls. Over the next few months her poll numbers fell to the low single digits. Harris faced criticism from reformers for tough-on-crime policies she pursued while she was California's attorney general. In 2014, she defended California's death penalty in court. Before and during her presidential campaign, an online informal organization using
1672-399: A decision that will damage our national security and aggravate conditions inside Central America....Since taking office, you have consistently expressed a flawed understanding of U.S. foreign assistance. It is neither charity, nor is it a gift to foreign governments. Our national security funding is specifically designed to promote American interests, enhance our collective security, and protect
SECTION 10
#17327727848061824-708: A few years in college towns in the Midwest where her parents held teaching or research positions: Urbana, Illinois (where her sister Maya was born in 1966); Evanston, Illinois ; and Madison, Wisconsin . By 1970, the marriage had faltered, and Shyamala moved back to Berkeley with her two daughters; the couple divorced when Kamala was seven. In 1972, Donald Harris accepted a position at Stanford University; Kamala and Maya spent weekends at their father's house in Palo Alto and lived at their mother's house in Berkeley during
1976-617: A fire marshal failed to recognize him when Coolidge's Washington residence was evacuated. John Nance Garner , who served as vice president from 1933 to 1941 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt , claimed that the vice presidency "isn't worth a pitcher of warm piss". Harry Truman , who also served as vice president under Franklin Roosevelt, said the office was as "useful as a cow's fifth teat". Walter Bagehot remarked in The English Constitution that "[t]he framers of
2128-414: A graduate student in economics from Jamaica , Donald J. Harris , who was that day's speaker. According to Donald Harris, who is now an emeritus professor of economics at Stanford University , "We talked then, continued to talk at a subsequent meeting, and at another, and another." In 1963, they were married without following the convention of introducing Harris to Shyamala's parents beforehand or having
2280-457: A majority, the Senate must meet to elect a vice president using a contingent election procedure in which senators, casting votes individually, choose between the two candidates who received the most electoral votes for vice president. For a candidate to win the contingent election, they must receive votes from an absolute majority of senators (currently 51 of 100). Shyamala Gopalan Shyamala Gopalan (December 7, 1938 – February 11, 2009)
2432-540: A matter of public safety and pointing out that the majority of prison inmates and homicide victims are dropouts or habitual truants, she issued citations against six parents whose children missed at least 50 days of school, the first time San Francisco prosecuted adults for student truancy. Harris's office ultimately prosecuted seven parents in three years, with none jailed. By April 2009, 1,330 elementary school students were habitual or chronic truants, down 23% from 1,730 in 2008, and from 2,517 in 2007 and 2,856 in 2006. Harris
2584-553: A meeting he may have had regarding the Mueller Investigation with a member of Kasowitz Benson Torres , the law firm founded by Donald Trump 's personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz . Kavanaugh was unable to answer and repeatedly deflected. Harris also participated in questioning the FBI director's limited scope of the investigation of Kavanaugh regarding allegations of sexual assault. She voted against his confirmation. Harris
2736-400: A memo following the 1976 election, that his most important role would be as a "general adviser" to the president. Al Gore was an important adviser to President Bill Clinton on matters of foreign policy and the environment . Dick Cheney was widely regarded as one of President George W. Bush's closest confidants. Joe Biden asked President Barack Obama to let him always be the "last person in
2888-412: A national profile while asking pointed questions of officials within the first administration of President Donald Trump during Senate hearings, including Trump's second U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh . Harris sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in 2019, but withdrew from the race before the primaries . Biden selected her as his running mate , and their ticket defeated
3040-414: A particular constituency. The vice presidential candidate might also be chosen on the basis of traits the presidential candidate is perceived to lack, or on the basis of name recognition. To foster party unity, popular runners-up in the presidential nomination process are commonly considered. While this selection process may enhance the chances of success for a national ticket, in the past it often resulted in
3192-756: A peer reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and as a site visit team member for the Federal Advisory Committee. She also served on the President's Special Commission on Breast Cancer. She mentored dozens of students in her lab. For her last decade of research, Shyamala worked in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory . Shyamala's research led to advancements in the knowledge of hormones pertaining to breast cancer . Her work in
SECTION 20
#17327727848063344-495: A point to enter into an agreement with Vice President Richard Nixon that provided for Nixon to act on his behalf if Eisenhower became unable to provide effective presidential leadership (Nixon did informally assume some of the president's duties for several weeks on each of three occasions when Eisenhower was ill), discussions began in Congress about clearing up the Constitution's ambiguity on the subject. The present-day power of
3496-452: A result, the vice presidency originally had authority in only a few areas, although constitutional amendments have added or clarified some matters. Article I, Section 3, Clause 4 confers upon the vice president the title "President of the Senate", authorizing the vice president to preside over Senate meetings . In this capacity, the vice president is responsible for maintaining order and decorum, recognizing members to speak, and interpreting
3648-459: A second-tier politician, chosen either to appease the party's minority faction, satisfy party bosses, or to secure a key state. Factors playing a role in the selection included: geographic and ideological balance, widening a presidential candidate's appeal to voters from outside their regional base or wing of the party. Candidates from electoral-vote rich swing states were usually preferred. A 2016 study, which examined vice-presidential candidates over
3800-552: A similar manner. In December, Harris called for the resignation of Senator Al Franken , writing on Twitter, "Sexual harassment and misconduct should not be allowed by anyone and should not occur anywhere." In January, Harris was appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee after Franken resigned. Later that month, she questioned Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for favoring Norwegian immigrants over others and for claiming to be unaware that Norway
3952-689: A teenager. Shyamala went to the MEA school in Delhi and received her Higher Secondary Certificate in 1955. She studied for a Bachelor of Science in Home Science at Lady Irwin College , University of Delhi . Her father thought the subject—which taught skills considered helpful in homemaking—was a mismatch for her abilities; her mother expected the children to seek careers in medicine, engineering, or law. In 1958, aged 19, Shyamala unexpectedly applied to
4104-537: A violation of the Constitution, he adhered to his position. His view ultimately prevailed as both the Senate and House voted to acknowledge him as president. The "Tyler Precedent" that a vice president assumes the full title and role of president upon the death, resignation, or removal from office (via impeachment conviction) of their predecessor was codified through the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967. Altogether, nine vice presidents have succeeded to
4256-669: Is a predominantly white country. Also in January, Harris and Senators Heidi Heitkamp , Jon Tester , and Claire McCaskill co-sponsored the Border and Port Security Act, legislation to mandate that U.S. Customs and Border Protection "hire, train and assign at least 500 officers per year until the number of needed positions the model identifies is filled" and require the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection to determine potential equipment and infrastructure improvements for ports of entry. In May, Harris heatedly questioned Nielsen about
4408-471: Is also a statutory member of the United States Cabinet and United States National Security Council and thus plays a significant role in executive government and national security matters. As the vice president's role within the executive branch has expanded, the legislative branch role has contracted; for example, vice presidents now preside over the Senate only infrequently. The role of
4560-427: Is both head of state and head of government , and the ceremonial duties of the former position are often delegated to the vice president. The vice president will on occasion represent the president and the U.S. government at state funerals abroad, or at various events in the United States. This often is the most visible role of the vice president. The vice president may also meet with other heads of state at times when
4712-560: Is empowered to preside over the United States Senate , but may not vote except to cast a tie-breaking vote . The vice president is indirectly elected at the same time as the president to a four-year term of office by the people of the United States through the Electoral College , but the electoral votes are cast separately for these two offices. Following the passage in 1967 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to
Kamala Harris - Misplaced Pages Continue
4864-566: Is entitled to a number of electors equal to the size of its total delegation in both houses of Congress. Additionally, the Twenty-third Amendment provides that the District of Columbia is entitled to the number it would have if it were a state, but in no case more than that of the least populous state. Currently, all states and D.C. select their electors based on a popular election held on Election Day . In all but two states,
5016-456: Is not from their own state. Prior to the 2000 election , both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney lived in and voted in Texas. To avoid creating a potential problem for Texas's electors, Cheney changed his residency back to Wyoming prior to the campaign. Often, the presidential nominee will name a vice presidential candidate who will bring geographic or ideological balance to the ticket or appeal to
5168-458: Is offering vice presidency to the person who's in first place." Obama said the nomination process would have to be a choice between himself and Clinton, saying "I don't want anybody here thinking that 'Somehow, maybe I can get both ' ", by nominating Clinton and assuming he would be her running mate. Some suggested that it was a ploy by the Clinton campaign to denigrate Obama as less qualified for
5320-569: The Democratic Party , she was the party's nominee in the 2024 presidential election , becoming the second woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party. From 2017 to 2021, she represented California in the U.S. Senate , and was Attorney General of California from 2011 to 2017. From 2004 to 2011, she served as District Attorney of San Francisco . Born in Oakland, California , Harris graduated from Howard University and
5472-562: The Electoral College votes, and then, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, opens the sealed votes. The votes are counted during a joint session of Congress as prescribed by the Electoral Count Act and the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act . The former specifies that the president of the Senate presides over the joint session, and the latter clarifies
5624-534: The Inflation Reduction Act . After Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election , Harris launched her campaign with Biden's endorsement and soon became the presumptive nominee. She lost the election to Trump. Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California , on October 20, 1964. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan (1938–2009), was a biologist who arrived in the United States from India in 1958 to enroll in graduate school in endocrinology at
5776-627: The Trump administration family separation policy , under which children were separated from their families when their parents were taken into custody for illegally entering the U.S. In June, after visiting one of the detention facilities near the border in San Diego, Harris became the first senator to demand Nielsen's resignation. In the September and October Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings , Harris questioned Brett Kavanaugh about
5928-545: The US–Mexico border . The vice president is often an important liaison between the administration and Congress, especially in situations where the president has not previously served in Congress or served only briefly. Vice presidents are often selected as running mates in part due to their legislative relationships, notably including Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Walter Mondale, Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, and Mike Pence among others. In recent years, Dick Cheney held weekly meetings in
6080-786: The University of California, Berkeley . A research career of over 40 years followed, during which her work on the progesterone receptor gene led to advances in breast cancer research. Kamala's father, Donald J. Harris (1938–), is an Afro-Jamaican who immigrated to the United States in 1961 and also enrolled in UC Berkeley, specializing in development economics . The first Black scholar to be granted tenure at Stanford University 's economics department, he has emeritus status there. Kamala's parents met in 1962 and married in 1963. The Harris family lived in Berkeley until they moved in 1966, around Kamala's second birthday. The Harrises lived for
6232-524: The University of California, Hastings College of the Law . She began her law career in the office of the district attorney of Alameda County . She was recruited to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and later to the office of the city attorney of San Francisco . She was elected district attorney of San Francisco in 2003 and attorney general of California in 2010 , and reelected as attorney general in 2014 . Harris
Kamala Harris - Misplaced Pages Continue
6384-484: The election of 1800 , Jefferson and fellow Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr each received 73 electoral votes. In the contingent election that followed, Jefferson finally won the presidency on the 36th ballot, leaving Burr the vice presidency. Afterward, the system was overhauled through the Twelfth Amendment in time to be used in the 1804 election . For much of its existence, the office of vice president
6536-548: The gay panic defense in California courts and opposing Proposition 8 , the state's same-sex marriage ban. After more than 20 years as a U.S. senator from California, Senator Barbara Boxer announced on January 13, 2015, that she would not run for reelection in 2016. Harris announced her candidacy for the Senate seat the next week. She was a top contender from the beginning of her campaign. The 2016 California Senate election used California's new top-two primary format, where
6688-451: The loopholes defendants had used in the past. During her campaign, Harris pledged never to seek the death penalty, and kept to this in the cases of a San Francisco Police Department officer, Isaac Espinoza, who was shot and killed in 2004, and of Edwin Ramos , an illegal immigrant and alleged MS-13 gang member who was accused of murdering a man and his two sons in 2009. Harris created
6840-533: The 1930s, with the Office of the Vice President being created in the executive branch in 1939, and has since grown much further. Due to its increase in power and prestige, the vice presidency is now often considered to be a stepping stone to the presidency. Since the 1970s, the vice president has been afforded an official residence at Number One Observatory Circle . The Constitution does not expressly assign
6992-515: The 1970s and working with them to oppose mandatory school bussing. Harris's support rose by between six and nine points in polls after that debate. In the second debate in August, Biden and Representative Tulsi Gabbard confronted Harris over her record as attorney general. The San Jose Mercury News assessed that some of Gabbard's and Biden's accusations were on point, such as blocking the DNA testing of
7144-431: The 19th century and first half of the 20th century, several presidents experienced periods of severe illness, physical disability or injury, some lasting for weeks or months. During these times, even though the nation needed effective presidential leadership, no vice president wanted to seem like a usurper, and so power was never transferred. After President Dwight D. Eisenhower openly addressed his health issues and made it
7296-458: The 2016 election , Harris called for U.S. Attorney General William Barr to testify before Congress in the interests of transparency. Two days later, Barr released a four-page "summary" of the redacted Mueller Report, which was criticized as a deliberate mischaracterization of its conclusions. Later that month, Harris was one of 12 Democratic senators led by Mazie Hirono to sign a letter questioning Barr's decision to offer "his own conclusion that
7448-440: The 20th century. By adopting primary voting, the field of candidates for vice president was expanded by both the increased quantity and quality of presidential candidates successful in some primaries, yet who ultimately failed to capture the presidential nomination at the convention. At the start of the 21st century, Dick Cheney (2001–2009) held a tremendous amount of power and frequently made policy decisions on his own, without
7600-522: The 25th Amendment, were inaugurated in the House and Senate chambers respectively. At the 1940 Democratic National Convention , Roosevelt selected his own running mate, Henry Wallace , instead of leaving the nomination to the convention, when he wanted Garner replaced. He then gave Wallace major responsibilities during World War II . However, after numerous policy disputes between Wallace and other Roosevelt Administration and Democratic Party officials, he
7752-419: The Constitution does not specifically require it. However, whenever the president of the United States is on trial, the Constitution requires that the chief justice of the United States must preside. This stipulation was designed to avoid the possible conflict of interest in having the vice president preside over the trial for the removal of the one official standing between them and the presidency. In contrast,
SECTION 50
#17327727848067904-651: The Constitution expected that the vice -president would be elected by the Electoral College as the second wisest man in the country. The vice-presidentship being a sinecure, a second-rate man agreeable to the wire-pullers is always smuggled in. The chance of succession to the presidentship is too distant to be thought of." When the Whig Party asked Daniel Webster to run for the vice presidency on Zachary Taylor 's ticket, he replied "I do not propose to be buried until I am really dead and in my coffin." This
8056-414: The Constitution is silent about which federal official would preside were the vice president on trial by the Senate. No vice president has ever been impeached, thus leaving it unclear whether an impeached vice president could, as president of the Senate, preside at their own impeachment trial. The Twelfth Amendment provides that the vice president, in their capacity as the president of the Senate, receives
8208-624: The Democratic primary and narrowly defeated Republican nominee Steve Cooley in the general election. Her tenure was marked by significant efforts in consumer protection, criminal justice reform, and privacy rights. In 2014, Harris was reelected, defeating Republican nominee Ronald Gold with 58% of the vote. During her second term, she expanded her focus on consumer protection, securing major settlements against corporations like Quest Diagnostics , JPMorgan Chase , and Corinthian Colleges , recovering billions for California consumers. She spearheaded
8360-664: The Department of Justice inspector general Michael E. Horowitz investigate whether Barr acceded to pressure from the White House to investigate Trump's political enemies. On May 5, 2019, 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 by 32,000. According to election law expert Richard L. Hasen , "I have seen no good evidence that
8512-546: The Executive branch. In addition, the vice presidential nominee has always been an official resident of a different state than the presidential nominee. While nothing in the Constitution prohibits a presidential candidate and his or her running mate being from the same state, the "inhabitant clause" of the Twelfth Amendment does mandate that every presidential elector must cast a ballot for at least one candidate who
8664-457: The House dais . Most recently, Vice President Mike Pence , on January 6, 2021, announced the election of his successor , Kamala Harris . Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 stipulates that the vice president takes over the "powers and duties" of the presidency in the event of a president's removal, death, resignation, or inability. Even so, it did not clearly state whether the vice president became president or simply acted as president in
8816-607: The OEOB has since been designated the "Ceremonial Office of the Vice President" and is today used for formal events and press interviews. President Jimmy Carter was the first president to give his vice president, Walter Mondale , an office in the West Wing of the White House, which all vice presidents have since retained. Because of their function as president of the Senate, vice presidents still maintain offices and staff members on Capitol Hill. This change came about because Carter held
8968-527: 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. In April 2019, Harris was one of 34 Senate Democrats and independents to write a letter urging President Trump not to cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The group wrote: We encourage you to listen to members of your own Administration and reverse
9120-533: The San Francisco Reentry Division. Over six years, the 200 people graduated from the program had a recidivism rate of less than 10%, compared to the 53% of California's drug offenders who returned to prison within two years of release. In 2006, as part of an initiative to reduce the city's homicide rate, Harris led a citywide effort to combat truancy for at-risk elementary school youth in San Francisco. In 2008, declaring chronic truancy
9272-493: The Senate's rules, practices, and precedent. With this position also comes the authority to cast a tie-breaking vote . In practice, the number of times vice presidents have exercised this right has varied greatly. Incumbent vice president Kamala Harris holds the record at 33 votes, followed by John C. Calhoun who had previously held the record at 31 votes; John Adams ranks third with 29. Nine vice presidents, most recently Joe Biden , did not cast any tie-breaking votes. As
SECTION 60
#17327727848069424-448: The U.S. for 90 days, she condemned the order and was one of many to call it a "Muslim ban". She called White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly at home to gather information and push back against the executive order. In February, Harris spoke in opposition to Trump's cabinet picks Betsy DeVos for secretary of education and Jeff Sessions for United States Attorney General . In early March, she called on Sessions to resign, after it
9576-469: The US Constitution, a vacancy in the office of vice president may be filled by presidential nomination and confirmation by a majority vote in both houses of Congress. The modern vice presidency is a position of significant power and is widely seen as an integral part of a president's administration. The presidential candidate selects the candidate for the vice presidency, as their running mate in
9728-479: The United States The vice president of the United States ( VPOTUS ) is the second-highest ranking office in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government , after the president of the United States , and ranks first in the presidential line of succession . The vice president is also an officer in the legislative branch , as the president of the Senate . In this capacity, the vice president
9880-532: The Vice President's Room at the United States Capitol , Joe Biden played a key role in bipartisan budget negotiations, and Mike Pence often met with House and Senate Republicans. Kamala Harris, the current vice president, presided over a 50–50 split Senate during the 117th Congress , which provided her with a key role in passing legislation. Under the American system of government the president
10032-448: The above qualifications is still disqualified from holding the office of vice president under the following conditions: The vice presidential candidates of the major national political parties are formally selected by each party's quadrennial nominating convention, following the selection of the party's presidential candidate. The official process is identical to the one by which the presidential candidates are chosen, with delegates placing
10184-630: The administration wishes to demonstrate concern or support but cannot send the president personally. Since 1949, the vice president has legally been a member of the National Security Council . Harry Truman , having not been told about any war or post-war plans during his vice presidency (notably the Manhattan Project ), recognized that upon assuming the presidency a vice president needed to be already informed on such issues. Modern vice presidents have also been included in
10336-578: The balloting. Eagleton nevertheless received a majority of the votes and the nomination, though he later resigned from the ticket, resulting in Sargent Shriver from Maryland becoming McGovern's final running mate; both lost to the Nixon–Agnew ticket by a wide margin, carrying only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia . During times in a presidential election cycle before the identity of
10488-790: The ceremony in her hometown. In the later 1960s, Donald and Shyamala took their daughters, Kamala, then four or five years old, and Maya, two years younger, to newly independent Zambia , where Shyamala's father, P. V. Gopalan, was on an advisory assignment. After Shyamala and Donald divorced in the early 1970s, she took her daughters to India several times to visit her parents in Chennai , where they had retired. The children also visited their father's family in Jamaica during their childhood. Wanda Kagan, one of Kamala's high school friends in Montreal, described how after she told Kamala her stepfather
10640-655: The chief of the Career Criminal Division, supervising five other attorneys, where she prosecuted homicide , burglary , robbery , and sexual assault cases—particularly three-strikes cases . In August 2000, Harris took a job at San Francisco City Hall , working for city attorney Louise Renne . Harris ran the Family and Children's Services Division, representing child abuse and neglect cases. Renne endorsed Harris during her D.A. campaign. In 2002, Harris ran for District Attorney of San Francisco , running
10792-425: The combined total of its Senate and House of Representatives membership. Each elector was allowed to vote for two people for president (rather than for both president and vice president), but could not differentiate between their first and second choice for the presidency. The person receiving the greatest number of votes (provided it was an absolute majority of the whole number of electors) would be president, while
10944-412: The committee chairman, to interrupt her and request that she be more respectful of the witness. A week later, she questioned Jeff Sessions , the attorney general , on the same topic. Sessions said her questioning "makes me nervous". Burr's singling out of Harris sparked suggestions in the news media that his behavior was sexist, with commentators arguing that Burr would not treat a male Senate colleague in
11096-476: The common fate." Thomas R. Marshall , who served as vice president from 1913 to 1921 under President Woodrow Wilson , lamented: "Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea; the other was elected Vice President of the United States. And nothing was heard of either of them again." His successor, Calvin Coolidge , was so obscure that Major League Baseball sent him free passes that misspelled his name, and
11248-490: The country." Vice President Charles Curtis regularly attended Cabinet meetings on the invitation of President Herbert Hoover . In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt raised the stature of the office by renewing the practice of inviting the vice president to cabinet meetings, which every president since has maintained. Roosevelt's first vice president, John Nance Garner , broke with him over the " court-packing " issue early in his second term, and became Roosevelt's leading critic. At
11400-717: The creation of the Homeowner Bill of Rights to combat aggressive foreclosure practices during the housing crisis, recording multiple nine-figure settlements against mortgage servicers. Harris also worked on privacy rights. She collaborated with major tech companies like Apple , Google , and Facebook to ensure that mobile apps disclosed their data-sharing practices. She created the Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit, focusing on cyber privacy and data breaches. California secured settlements with companies like Comcast and Houzz for privacy violations. Harris
11552-526: The date of the congressional joint session, Humphrey was in Norway attending the funeral of Trygve Lie , the first elected Secretary-General of the United Nations . The president pro tempore, Richard Russell , presided in his absence. On February 8, 1933, Vice President Charles Curtis announced the election of his successor, House Speaker John Nance Garner , while Garner was seated next to him on
11704-543: The death of Roxsana Hernández, a transgender woman and immigrant who died in ICE custody. In December, Harris led a group of Democratic senators and civil rights organizations in demanding the removal of White House senior adviser Stephen Miller after emails published by the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed frequent promotion of white nationalist literature to Breitbart website editors. Before
11856-422: The election, the electors convene in their respective states (and in Washington D.C.) to vote for president and, on a separate ballot, for vice president. The certified results are opened and counted during a joint session of Congress, held in the first week of January. A candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes for vice president (currently 270 of 538) is declared the winner. If no candidate has
12008-405: The family every few years between Madras (now Chennai ), New Delhi , Bombay (now Mumbai ), and Calcutta (now Kolkata ). He and Rajam had an arranged marriage , but according to Shyamala's brother, Balachandran, their parents were broad-minded in raising the children, all of whom led somewhat unconventional lives. A gifted singer of Carnatic music , Shyamala won a national competition in it as
12160-572: The first 24 hours after her announcement, she tied a record set by Bernie Sanders in 2016 for the most donations raised in the day after an announcement. More than 20,000 people attended her campaign launch event in her hometown of Oakland, California, on January 27, according to a police estimate. During the first Democratic presidential debate in June 2019, Harris scolded former vice president Joe Biden for "hurtful" remarks he made, speaking fondly of senators who opposed integration efforts in
12312-484: The first hundred years of the United States' existence no fewer than seven proposals to abolish the office of vice president were advanced. The first such constitutional amendment was presented by Samuel W. Dana in 1800; it was defeated by a vote of 27 to 85 in the United States House of Representatives . The second, introduced by United States Senator James Hillhouse in 1808, was also defeated. During
12464-502: The first woman in U.S. history to have presidential powers and duties. Sections 3 and 4 were added because there was ambiguity in the Article II succession clause regarding a disabled president, including what constituted an " inability ", who determined the existence of an inability, and if a vice president became president for the rest of the presidential term in the case of an inability or became merely "acting president". During
12616-431: The following committees: Harris had been considered a top contender and potential front-runner for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president . In June 2018, she said she was "not ruling it out". In July 2018, it was announced that she would publish a memoir, a sign of a possible run. On January 21, 2019, Harris officially announced her candidacy for president of the United States in the 2020 presidential election . In
12768-616: The four-page summary he had released ahead of the full report. When asked by Harris whether he had reviewed the underlying evidence before deciding not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice, Barr admitted that neither he, Rod Rosenstein , nor anyone in his office had reviewed the evidence supporting the report before making the charging decision. Harris later called for Barr to resign, accusing him of refusing to answer her questions because he could open himself up to perjury , and saying his responses disqualified him from serving as U.S. attorney general. Two days later, Harris demanded again that
12920-434: The framers of the Constitution anticipated that the vice president would not always be available to fulfill this responsibility, the Constitution provides that the Senate may elect a president pro tempore (or " president for a time ") in order to maintain the proper ordering of the legislative process. In practice, since the early 20th century, neither the president of the Senate nor the pro tempore regularly presides; instead,
13072-546: The general election. On July 19, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden endorsed Harris. In the November 2016 election , Harris defeated Sanchez with over 60% of the vote, carrying all but four counties. After her victory, she promised to protect immigrants from the policies of President-elect Donald Trump and announced her intention to remain Attorney General through the end of 2016. Harris became
13224-587: The hashtag # KHive formed to support Harris's candidacy and defend her from racist and sexist attacks. According to the Daily Dot , Joy Reid first used the term in an August 2017 tweet saying "@Dr JasonJohnson @ ZerlinaMaxwell and I had a meeting and decided it's called the K-Hive." On December 3, 2019, Harris withdrew from the 2020 presidential election, citing a shortage of funds. In March 2020, she endorsed Joe Biden for president. Vice president of
13376-475: The incumbent Republican president and vice president, Trump and Mike Pence , in the 2020 presidential election . Presiding over an evenly split U.S. Senate upon entering office, Harris played a crucial role as President of the Senate. She cast more tie-breaking votes than any other vice president , which helped pass bills such as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 stimulus package and
13528-514: The individual who received the next largest number of votes became vice president. If there were a tie for first or for second place, or if no one won a majority of votes, the president and vice president would be selected by means of contingent elections protocols stated in the clause. The first two vice presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson , both of whom gained the office by virtue of being runners-up in presidential contests, presided regularly over Senate proceedings and did much to shape
13680-567: The isolation and characterization of the progesterone receptor gene in mice changed research on the hormone-responsiveness of breast tissue . In the fall of 1962, at a meeting of the Afro-American Association —a students' group at Berkeley whose members would go on to give structure to the discipline of Black studies , propose the holiday of Kwanzaa , and help establish the Black Panther Party —Shyamala met
13832-419: The knowledge of the president. This rapid growth led to Matthew Yglesias and Bruce Ackerman calling for the abolition of the vice presidency while 2008 's both vice presidential candidates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden , said they would reduce the role to simply being an adviser to the president. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Although delegates to the constitutional convention approved establishing
13984-620: The largest camp for Syrian refugees. In June, 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 . The prosecutorial nature of her questioning caused Senator John McCain , an ex officio member of the Intelligence Committee , and Senator Richard Burr ,
14136-412: The late 1860s and 1870s, five additional amendments were proposed. One advocate, James Mitchell Ashley , opined that the office of vice president was "superfluous" and dangerous. Garret Hobart , the first vice president under William McKinley , was one of the very few vice presidents at this time who played an important role in the administration. A close confidant and adviser of the president, Hobart
14288-422: The lead-up to the presidential election. While the exact nature of the role varies in each administration, since the vice president's service in office is by election, the president cannot dismiss the vice president, and the personal working-relationship with the president varies, most modern vice presidents serve as a key presidential advisor, governing partner, and representative of the president. The vice president
14440-430: The master's program in nutrition and endocrinology at the University of California, Berkeley , and was accepted. Her parents used some of their retirement savings to pay her tuition and board during the first year. Lacking a phone line at home, they communicated with her by aerogram after she arrived in the U.S. She earned a Ph.D. in nutrition and endocrinology at UC Berkeley in 1964. Shyamala's dissertation, which
14592-421: The mode of election of the executive but had not reached consensus. This all changed on September 4, when the committee recommended that the nation's chief executive be elected by an Electoral College , with each state having a number of presidential electors equal to the sum of that state's allocation of representatives and senators . Recognizing that loyalty to one's individual state outweighed loyalty to
14744-538: The names of candidates into nomination, followed by a ballot in which candidates must receive a majority to secure the party's nomination. In modern practice, the presidential nominee has considerable influence on the decision, and since the mid 20th century it became customary for that person to select a preferred running mate, who is then nominated and accepted by the convention. Prior to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, only two presidents—Andrew Jackson in 1832 and Abraham Lincoln in 1864 —had done so. In recent years, with
14896-416: The new federation, the Constitution's framers assumed individual electors would be inclined to choose a candidate from their own state (a so-called " favorite son " candidate) over one from another state. So they created the office of vice president and required the electors to vote for two candidates, at least one of whom must be from outside the elector's state, believing that the second vote would be cast for
15048-564: The office flows primarily from formal and informal delegations of authority from the president and Congress. These delegations can vary in significance; for example, the vice president is a statutory member of both the National Security Council and the board of regents of the Smithsonian Institution . The extent of the roles and functions of the vice president depend on the specific relationship between
15200-462: The office, with both its executive and senatorial functions, not many understood the office, and so they gave the vice president few duties and little power. Only a few states had an analogous position. Among those that did, New York's constitution provided that "the lieutenant-governor shall, by virtue of his office, be president of the Senate, and, upon an equal division, have a casting voice in their decisions, but not vote on any other occasion". As
15352-590: The opening of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump on January 16, 2020, Harris delivered remarks on the floor of the Senate, stating her views on the integrity of the American justice system and the principle that nobody, including an incumbent president, is above the law. She later asked Senate Judiciary chairman Lindsey Graham to halt all judicial nominations during the impeachment trial, to which Graham acquiesced. Harris voted to convict Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Harris worked on bipartisan bills with Republican co-sponsors, including
15504-406: The original Constitution. In the election of 1796 , Federalist candidate John Adams won the presidency, but his bitter rival, Democratic-Republican candidate Thomas Jefferson, came second and thus won the vice presidency. As a result, the president and vice president were from opposing parties; and Jefferson used the vice presidency to frustrate the president's policies. Then, four years later, in
15656-497: The party whose presidential–vice presidential ticket receives a plurality of popular votes in the state has its entire slate of elector nominees chosen as the state's electors. Maine and Nebraska deviate from this winner-take-all practice, awarding two electors to the statewide winner and one to the winner in each congressional district . On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, about six weeks after
15808-440: The period 1884-2012, found that vice presidential candidates increased their tickets’ performance in their home states by 2.67 percentage points on average. The vice president is elected indirectly by the voters of each state and the District of Columbia through the Electoral College, a body of electors formed every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president to concurrent four-year terms. Each state
15960-509: The presidency (the state of Roosevelt's health had also been kept from Truman). At the time he said, "I felt like the moon, the stars and all the planets fell on me." Determined that no future vice president should be so uninformed upon unexpectedly becoming president, Truman made the vice president a member of the National Security Council , a participant in Cabinet meetings and a recipient of regular security briefings in 1949. The stature of
16112-610: The presidency intra-term. In addition to Tyler, they are Millard Fillmore , Andrew Johnson , Chester A. Arthur , Theodore Roosevelt , Calvin Coolidge , Harry S. Truman , Lyndon B. Johnson , and Gerald Ford . Four of them—Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson—were later elected to full terms of their own. Four sitting vice presidents have been elected president: John Adams in 1796 , Thomas Jefferson in 1800 , Martin Van Buren in 1836 , and George H. W. Bush in 1988 . Likewise, two former vice presidents have won
16264-519: The presidency, Richard Nixon in 1968 and Joe Biden in 2020 . Also, in recent decades four incumbent vice presidents lost a presidential election: Nixon in 1960 , Hubert Humphrey in 1968, Al Gore in 2000 , and Kamala Harris in 2024 . Additionally, former vice president Walter Mondale lost in 1984 . In total, 15 vice presidents have become president. Sections 3 and 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment provide for situations where
16416-442: The presidency. Later, when Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former president Jimmy Carter cautioned against Clinton being picked as the vice presidential nominee on the ticket, saying "I think it would be the worst mistake that could be made. That would just accumulate the negative aspects of both candidates", citing opinion polls showing 50% of US voters with a negative view of Hillary Clinton. Though
16568-595: The president and the vice president, but often include tasks such as drafter and spokesperson for the administration's policies, adviser to the president, and being a symbol of American concern or support. The influence of the vice president in these roles depends almost entirely on the characteristics of the particular administration. Most recent vice presidents have been viewed as important presidential advisors. Walter Mondale, unlike his immediate predecessors, did not want specific responsibilities to be delegated to him. Mondale believed, as he wrote President-elect Jimmy Carter
16720-595: The president is temporarily or permanently unable to lead, such as if the president has a surgical procedure, becomes seriously ill or injured, or is otherwise unable to discharge the powers or duties of the presidency. Section 3 deals with self-declared incapacity, and Section 4 addresses incapacity declared by the joint action of the vice president and of a majority of the Cabinet. While Section 4 has never been invoked, Section 3 has been invoked on four occasions by three presidents, first in 1985. When invoked on November 19, 2021, Kamala Harris became
16872-542: The president or Congress. Nevertheless, many vice presidents have previously served in Congress, and are often tasked with helping to advance an administration's legislative priorities. Kamala Harris is the 49th and current vice president of the United States. A former senator, she is the first African American , first Asian American and first female occupant of the office. Harris is the highest ranking female official in United States history. She assumed office on January 20, 2021. No mention of an office of vice president
17024-505: The president pro tempore usually delegates the task to other Senate members. Rule XIX , which governs debate, does not authorize the vice president to participate in debate, and grants only to members of the Senate (and, upon appropriate notice, former presidents of the United States) the privilege of addressing the Senate, without granting a similar privilege to the sitting vice president. Thus, Time magazine wrote in 1925, during
17176-526: The president's daily intelligence briefings and frequently participate in meetings in the Situation Room with the president. To be constitutionally eligible to serve as the nation's vice president, a person must, according to the Twelfth Amendment, meet the eligibility requirements to become president (which are stated in Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 ). Thus, to serve as vice president, an individual must: A person who meets
17328-408: The presidential nomination usually being a foregone conclusion as the result of the primary process, the selection of a vice presidential candidate is often announced prior to the actual balloting for the presidential candidate, and sometimes before the beginning of the convention itself. The most recent presidential nominee not to name a vice presidential choice, leaving the matter up to the convention,
17480-537: The presidential nominee is clear, including cases where the presidential nomination is still in doubt as the convention approaches, campaigns for the two positions may become intertwined. In 1976, Ronald Reagan , who was trailing President Gerald Ford in the presidential delegate count, announced prior to the Republican National Convention that, if nominated, he would select Pennsylvania Senator Richard Schweiker as his running mate. Reagan
17632-446: The presumptive Republican nominee. Obama rejected the offer outright, saying, "I want everybody to be absolutely clear. I'm not running for vice president. I'm running for president of the United States of America," adding, "With all due respect. I won twice as many states as Senator Clinton. I've won more of the popular vote than Senator Clinton. I have more delegates than Senator Clinton. So, I don't know how somebody who's in second place
17784-405: The role of Senate president. Several 19th-century vice presidents—such as George Dallas , Levi Morton , and Garret Hobart —followed their example and led effectively, while others were rarely present. The emergence of political parties and nationally coordinated election campaigns during the 1790s (which the Constitution's framers had not contemplated) quickly frustrated the election plan in
17936-439: The room" when a big decision was made; later, as president himself, Biden adopted this model with his own vice president, Kamala Harris. Recent vice presidents have been delegated authority by presidents to handle significant issue areas independently. Joe Biden (who has held the office of President and Vice President of the United States) has observed that the presidency is "too big anymore for any one man or woman". Dick Cheney
18088-410: The safety of our citizens... By obstructing the use of [Fiscal Year 2018] national security funding and seeking to terminate similar funding from [Fiscal Year 2017], you are personally undermining efforts to promote U.S. national security and economic prosperity. On May 1, 2019, Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee . During the hearing, he remained defiant about the misrepresentations in
18240-539: The second Black woman and first South Asian American senator in history. As a senator, Harris advocated stricter gun control laws, the DREAM Act , federal legalization of cannabis , and healthcare and taxation reforms. She became well known nationally after questioning several Trump appointees such as Jeff Sessions and Brett Kavanaugh . On January 28, after Trump signed Executive Order 13769 , barring citizens from several Muslim-majority countries from entering
18392-728: The solely ministerial role the president of the Senate serves in the process. The next such joint session will next take place following the 2024 presidential election , on January 6, 2025 (unless Congress sets a different date by law). In this capacity, four vice presidents have been able to announce their own election to the presidency: John Adams, in 1797, Thomas Jefferson , in 1801, Martin Van Buren , in 1837 and George H. W. Bush , in 1989. Conversely, John C. Breckinridge , in 1861, Richard Nixon , in 1961, and Al Gore , in 2001, all had to announce their opponent's election. In 1969, Vice President Hubert Humphrey would have done so as well, following his 1968 loss to Richard Nixon; however, on
18544-466: The start of that term, on January 20, 1937 , Garner had been the first vice president to be sworn into office on the Capitol steps in the same ceremony with the president, a tradition that continues. Prior to that time, vice presidents were traditionally inaugurated at a separate ceremony in the Senate chamber. Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller , who were each appointed to the office under the terms of
18696-600: The suppressive effects of strict voting and registration laws affected the outcome of the governor's races in Georgia and Florida." In July, Harris teamed with Kirsten Gillibrand to urge the Trump administration to investigate the persecution of Uyghurs in China by the Chinese Communist Party ; in this question she was joined by Senator Marco Rubio . In November, Harris called for an investigation into
18848-409: The tenure of Vice President Charles G. Dawes , "once in four years the Vice President can make a little speech, and then he is done. For four years he then has to sit in the seat of the silent, attending to speeches ponderous or otherwise, of deliberation or humor." In their capacity as president of the Senate, the vice president may preside over most impeachment trials of federal officers , although
19000-573: The top two candidates in the primary advance to the general election regardless of party. On February 27, 2016, Harris won 78% of the California Democratic Party vote at the party convention, allowing her campaign to receive financial support from the party. Three months later, Governor Jerry Brown endorsed her. In the June 7 primary, Harris came in first with 40% of the vote and won with pluralities in most counties. Harris faced representative and fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez in
19152-555: The vice presidency grew again while Richard Nixon was in office (1953–1961). He attracted the attention of the media and the Republican Party, when Dwight Eisenhower authorized him to preside at Cabinet meetings in his absence and to assume temporary control of the executive branch, which he did after Eisenhower suffered a heart attack on September 24, 1955, ileitis in June 1956, and a stroke in November 1957. Nixon
19304-450: The vice presidency has changed dramatically since the office was created during the 1787 Constitutional Convention . Originally something of an afterthought, the vice presidency was considered an insignificant office for much of the nation's history, especially after the Twelfth Amendment meant that vice presidents were no longer the runners-up in the presidential election. The vice president's role began steadily growing in importance during
19456-405: The vice presidency to a branch of the government, causing a dispute among scholars about which branch the office belongs to (the executive, the legislative, both, or neither). The modern view of the vice president as an officer of the executive branch—one isolated almost entirely from the legislative branch—is due in large part to the assignment of executive authority to the vice president by either
19608-405: The vice president does not need to have any political experience, most major-party vice presidential nominees are current or former United States senators or representatives, with the occasional nominee being a current or former governor, a high-ranking former military officer (active military officers being prohibited under US law from holding political office), or a holder of a major position within
19760-408: The vice presidential nominee representing regions, constituencies, or ideologies at odds with those of the presidential candidate. As a result, vice presidents were often excluded from the policy-making process of the new administration. Many times their relationships with the president and his staff were aloof, non-existent, or even adversarial. Historically, the vice presidential nominee was usually
19912-430: The view that the office of the vice presidency had historically been a wasted asset and wished to have his vice president involved in the decision-making process. Carter pointedly considered, according to Joel Goldstein, the way Roosevelt treated Truman as "immoral". Another factor behind the rise in prestige of the vice presidency was the expanded use of presidential preference primaries for choosing party nominees during
20064-549: The week. Shyamala was friends with African-American intellectuals and activists in Oakland and Berkeley. In 1976, she accepted a research position at the McGill University School of Medicine , and moved with her daughters to Montreal, Quebec . Kamala graduated from Westmount High School on Montreal Island in 1981. Kamala Harris attended Vanier College in Montreal in 1981–82, and then Howard University ,
20216-411: Was Democrat Adlai Stevenson in 1956. The convention chose Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver over Massachusetts Senator (and later president) John F. Kennedy . At the tumultuous 1972 Democratic convention, presidential nominee George McGovern selected Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton as his running mate, but numerous other candidates were either nominated from the floor or received votes during
20368-427: Was a biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , whose work in isolating and characterizing the progesterone receptor gene has stimulated advances in breast biology and oncology . She was the mother of Kamala Harris (former attorney general of California and senator, who became vice president of the United States ) and Maya Harris , a lawyer and political commentator . Shyamala
20520-528: Was a target of the October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts . In December, the Senate passed the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act (S. 3178), sponsored by Harris. The bill, which died in the House, would have made lynching a federal hate crime. Harris supported busing for desegregation of public schools , saying, "the schools of America are as segregated, if not more segregated, today than when I
20672-579: Was also visible on the world stage during his time in office. Until 1961, vice presidents had their offices on Capitol Hill , a formal office in the Capitol itself and a working office in the Russell Senate Office Building . Lyndon B. Johnson was the first vice president to also be given an office in the White House complex, in the Old Executive Office Building . The former Navy Secretary's office in
20824-655: Was born on December 7, 1938, in Madras , Madras Province , British India (present-day Chennai , Tamil Nadu , India) to P. V. Gopalan , a civil servant , and Rajam, her mother. Her parents were from two villages near the town of Mannargudi in Madras Province . Gopalan had begun his professional life as a stenographer , and, as he rose through the ranks of the Imperial Secretariat Service and later Central Secretariat Service , he moved
20976-709: Was called "Assistant President". However, until 1919, vice presidents were not included in meetings of the President's Cabinet . This precedent was broken by Woodrow Wilson when he asked Thomas R. Marshall to preside over Cabinet meetings while Wilson was in France negotiating the Treaty of Versailles . President Warren G. Harding also invited Calvin Coolidge, to meetings. The next vice president, Charles G. Dawes , did not seek to attend Cabinet meetings under President Coolidge, declaring that "the precedent might prove injurious to
21128-443: Was considered to hold a tremendous amount of power and frequently made policy decisions on his own, without the knowledge of the president. Biden was assigned by Barack Obama to oversee Iraq policy; Obama was said to have said, "Joe, you do Iraq." In February 2020, Donald Trump appointed Mike Pence to lead his response to COVID-19 and, upon his ascension to the presidency, Biden put Kamala Harris in charge of controlling migration at
21280-482: Was denied re-nomination at the 1944 Democratic National Convention . Harry Truman was selected instead. During his 82-day vice presidency, Truman was never informed about any war or post-war plans, including the Manhattan Project . Truman had no visible role in the Roosevelt administration outside of his congressional responsibilities and met with the president only a few times during his tenure as vice president. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, and Truman succeeded to
21432-551: Was elected Attorney General of California in 2010 , becoming the first woman, African American , and South Asian American to hold the office in the state's history. She took office on January 3, 2011, and was reelected in 2014 . She served until resigning on January 3, 2017, to take her seat in the United States Senate . In 2010, Harris announced her candidacy for attorney general and was endorsed by prominent California Democrats, including U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi . She won
21584-467: Was first tested in 1841, following the death of President William Henry Harrison , only 31 days into his term. Harrison's vice president, John Tyler , asserted that under the Constitution, he had succeeded to the presidency, not just to its powers and duties. He had himself sworn in as president and assumed full presidential powers, refusing to acknowledge documents referring to him as "Acting President". Although some in Congress denounced Tyler's claim as
21736-476: Was in elementary school." She viewed busing as an option to be considered by school districts, rather than the responsibility of the federal government. Harris was an early co-sponsor of the Green New Deal , a plan to transition the country towards generating 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030. In March 2019, after Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report on Russian interference in
21888-595: Was instrumental in advancing criminal justice reform. She launched the Division of Recidivism Reduction and Re-Entry and implemented the Back on Track LA program, which provided educational and job training opportunities for nonviolent offenders. Despite her focus on reform, Harris faced criticism for defending the state's position in cases involving wrongful convictions and for her office's stance on prison labor. She continued to advocate for progressive reforms, including banning
22040-447: Was made at the 1787 Constitutional Convention until near the end, when an eleven-member committee on "Leftover Business" proposed a method of electing the chief executive (president). Delegates had previously considered the selection of the Senate's presiding officer, deciding that "the Senate shall choose its own President", and had agreed that this official would be designated the executive's immediate successor. They had also considered
22192-450: Was molesting her, Shyamala insisted she move in with them for her final year of high school. Kagan said that Shyamala helped her navigate the system to get the support she needed to live independently of her family. Shyamala died of colon cancer in Oakland on February 11, 2009, at age 70. She requested that donations be made to the organization Breast Cancer Action . Later in 2009, Kamala Harris carried her mother's ashes to Chennai on
22344-793: Was reported that Sessions, who had previously said he "did not have communications with the Russians", spoke twice with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak . In April, Harris voted against the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court . Later that month, she took her first foreign trip to the Middle East, visiting California troops stationed in Iraq and the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan ,
22496-459: Was seen as little more than a minor position. John Adams, the first vice president, was the first of many frustrated by the "complete insignificance" of the office. To his wife Abigail Adams he wrote, "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man ... or his imagination contrived or his imagination conceived; and as I can do neither good nor evil, I must be borne away by others and met
22648-474: Was supervised by Richard L. Lyman, was titled The isolation and purification of a trypsin inhibitor from whole wheat flour . Shyamala conducted research in UC Berkeley's Department of Physiology and Cancer Research Lab. She worked as a breast cancer researcher at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Wisconsin . She worked for 16 years at Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and McGill University Faculty of Medicine . She served as
22800-450: Was the first presidential aspirant to announce his selection for vice president before the beginning of the convention. Reagan's supporters then unsuccessfully sought to amend the convention rules so that Gerald Ford would be required to name his vice presidential running mate in advance as well. This move backfired to a degree, as Schweiker's relatively liberal voting record alienated many of the more conservative delegates who were considering
22952-457: Was the first woman, the first African American, and the first Asian American to hold each office. Harris was the junior U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021. She won the 2016 Senate election , becoming the second Black woman and first South Asian American U.S. senator. As a senator, Harris advocated for stricter gun control laws, the DREAM Act , federal legalization of cannabis , and reforms to healthcare and taxation . She gained
23104-506: Was the second time Webster declined the office, which William Henry Harrison had first offered to him. Ironically, both the presidents making the offer to Webster died in office, meaning the three-time candidate would have become president had he accepted either. Since presidents rarely die in office, however, the better preparation for the presidency was considered to be the office of Secretary of State , in which Webster served under Harrison, Tyler, and later, Taylor's successor, Fillmore. In
#805194