Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris: A history in the making?

The daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, Kamala Harris is the current Vice President (VP) of the United States. Ever since she has set foot in the political sphere of America, Harris has had many firsts. She became the first Black Indian-American senator in 2017.

She is also California’s first female and Black South Asian attorney general. In 2021, when the electoral votes turned out to be in Joe Biden’s favour, Harris became the country’s first woman vice president and the first African-Indian American in the position.

Biden has stepped back from the US presidential election 2024 and Harris has taken the Democratic charge for the election. If she wins in November, she will become the first-ever woman president of the United States.

Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County: Harris attended Howard University and she was involved in student government and other campus activities, she later graduated from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and got herself a Law degree.

After her education, Harris began her legal career in 1990 as a District Deputy Attorney in Alameda County, overseeing cases mostly involving robbery, burglary, sexual assault, homicide, etc.

Managing Attorney of Career Criminal Unit: After serving as Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, Harris became Managing Attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the California Department of Justice in 1998.

While serving there, she oversaw cases of reoffenders and brought in policies to deal with habitual criminals.

Head of Division on Children and Families: Harris was later appointed head of the Division on Children and Families, keenly focusing on cases of child abuse and neglect cases and issues related to weaker populations of the US.

Chief of Community and Neighborhood Division: After serving in the California Department of Justice from 1998 to the early 2000s, Harris became Chief of the Community and Neighborhood Division in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office from the early 2000s to 2003.

Harris oversaw civil code enforcement matters including consumer protection cases and lawsuits against predatory landlords. This role allowed the VP to engage more deeply with community issues and broaden her experience.

District Attorney of San Francisco: Harris was elected District Attorney (DA) of San Francisco in 2003 after she won the election against incumbent Terence Hallinan by promising to be “smart on crime” instead of being “tough on crime.”

She assumed office in 2004 and her tenure ended in 2011. Her time at the office is noted for several initiatives and controversies including her innovative approach to prevent crime.

She focused on criminal rehabilitation, her policies reflecting her mindset of seeking justice system reforms and addressing the root causes of crime.

Despite countless controversies, Harris was re-elected to office in 2007 after she gained massive support.

Attorney General of California: Harris was elected as Attorney General of California in 2010 and assumed office on January 3, 2011. She was re-elected in 2014 for the office.

Among the key initiatives and actions Harris took during her tenure, is a 20-billion-dollar settlement for California homeowners affected by the foreclosure crisis. She also worked on environmental issues including suing corporations for pollution and defending California’s climate change laws.

Harris has always worked for criminal reforms and during her time as Attorney General of California, she introduced the Open Justice initiative to increase transparency and accountability in law enforcement. She also advocated the use of body cameras and other measures to address police misconduct.

Harris also formed a Bureau of Children’s Justice and worked to combat human trafficking and secured significant convictions against traffickers.

US Senator from California

Before she became Vice President of the US, Harris was elected to the US Senate from California in 2016 succeeding Barbara Boxer. She served as a Senator from January 2017 until she became VP in 2021.

As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Harris gained popularity for her sharp questioning during hearings, including those involving Supreme Court nominees and investigations into the involvement of Russia in the 2016 election.

Harris also worked to co-sponsor bills to reform the criminal justice system, address racial disparities and protection of voting rights. She also advocated against police misconduct through the Policing Act.

She also worked for the betterment of the general public and their issues through the Affordable Care Act and co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation.

Harris for President 2020

Harris in 2019 announced that she would run for the presidency but she could not get very far. Her campaign lacked momentum and was riddled with obstacles.

Her stance on tough truancy policies, when she was attorney general for California, came back to haunt her as criticism rose that her stance had negatively affected families of colour. Harris later reiterated that the consequences were unintended.

Moreover, Harris failed to clearly state her set of ideas on key issues back in 2019-2020 and she also failed to gain funds. By December 2019, she dropped out of the race.

In August 2020, President Joe Biden — the then presumptive Democratic nominee — revealed Harris to be his running mate.

She then went on to serve as the country’s VP after Biden was elected to the Oval Office.

Vice President of the United States

Harris was inaugurated as VP of the US in 2021. During her administration, she remained involved in the Covid-19 pandemic responses, promoting vaccination efforts and advocating general preventive measures against the deadly virus.

Harris also handled migration issues from Central America to the US and worked on diplomatic and aid initiatives.

Harris for President 2024

For the 2024 US election, Biden won the support of most Democratic delegates and launched his campaign for the election with Harris as his running mate.

But the president’s declining health and his garbled public performances, led to calls from fellow Democrats — publicly and privately — for Biden to relinquish his presidential candidacy and make way for a more suitable nominee.

The Democrats started to call on Harris to lead their election campaign and on July 21, 2024, Biden pulled out of the race asking Harris to take charge, which she did as widely expected.

Her candidacy was made official with the votes of delegates before the Democratic National Convention. If Harris defeats Donald Trump on November 5, she will become the first woman president of the United States.

Advocacy for Abortion Rights

Harris has been championing abortion rights after Roe v Wade was overturned in June 2022. In January 2024, the VP started a reproductive freedom tour of multiple states including a visit to an abortion clinic in Minnesota. It was thought to be the first visit to an abortion clinic by a sitting VP.

Even during her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris embraced abortion policies more so than Biden and went on to criticise his support for the Hyde Amendment which stops federal funds from being used for abortions.

Economy

Harris has been leading the Democratic charge into the 2024 US election and during her campaign speeches she has advocated to make healthcare, childcare, elderly care and family leave more affordable and accessible.

During her 2020 presidential campaign and her time as a senator, Harris proposed to provide middle-class and working families with a refundable tax credit of $6,000 a year per couple to help them adjust to the rising inflation rate in the country.

The act would have been called Livable Incomes for Families Today or the Lift Middle Class Act and it would have cost an estimated $3 trillion over 10 years.

She also put her weight behind efforts to raise the corporate income tax rate to 35%. It was the same before Trump and the Republicans pushed for the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts through Congress and got the tax rate down to 21%.

Affordable housing has been on Harris’s radar after she called housing a basic human right and in 2019 stated that every American deserves to have security in their own homes.

As vice president, Harris has pushed for the Biden administration’s work on student loans, which has forgiven more than $168 billion for almost 4.8 million student borrowers.

Healthcare

Harris also pushed for a Medicare-for-All-type system during her 2020 campaign. The system would allow private insurance companies to offer Medicare plans.

Harris also urged to reduce drug costs. She supported a plan that would allow the government to leave behind the manufacturers if they were found to be price gouging and the government could import their drugs. The government could also use its “never used march in” authority to license a manufacturer to produce the medicines at a lower cost than their rival.

Climate

When she was California’s attorney general, Harris took legal action against big oil companies such as BP and ConocoPhillips. She also brought Exxon Mobil under investigation because the company was spreading disinformation about climate change.

Harris, as a Senator, promoted the Green New Deal resolution and during her 2020 presidential campaign, she called for a fracking ban but later backed off when she was nominated by Biden as his running mate.

Immigration

During her 2020 presidential campaign, she wanted to grant illegal immigrants government healthcare and decriminalise border crossings.

When Harris became vice president, Washington reversed some of Trump’s harshest immigration policies, and Harris worked to improve conditions in Central America to reduce the flow of immigrants to the US.

Despite her efforts, illegal border crossings hit an all-time high giving Republicans a chance to give Harris a broadside over her failure to secure the US border.

To calm the storm, Biden enforced restrictions on asylum seekers causing frustration among the immigration rights activists and advocates.

Law Enforcement

Having started her career as San Francisco’s district attorney, Harris praised the “defund the police” movement after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. She also questioned if the taxes were being effectively used or not to protect the public.

White House jacked up efforts to overhaul the police system but faced obstacles at Capitol Hill, forcing President Biden to issue an executive order.

Harris is utilising her law enforcement background against Trump in the US presidential election 2024 in November. The former president has been convicted of a felony and that makes the election much more interesting.

Israel-Gaza War

President Biden has expressed dismay over the mass deaths in Palestine due to Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip but he has also been a steadfast advocate of Israeli military operations despite constant calls and protests to cut off US support of weapons to the country.

The Democratic Party has been split over Biden’s approach and stance on the crisis.

Harris has publicly discussed plans for a 'day after' in Gaza, referring to the time when the Israeli military withdraws from the Palestinian territory and the strip will need reconstruction on a massive scale.

The VP met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July and later released a statement saying that “Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters.” The statement enraged people on both sides as some thought it was lacking in support of the Palestinian cause and some thought it was bordering on antisemitism.