Photos: Kamala Harris through the years
On Jan. 20, 2021, Kamala Harris became vice president of the United States — the first woman, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first African American to do so. Here's a look at her life and career in photos.
San Francisco district attorney candidate Kamala Harris, left, serves lunch to an unidentified visitor while volunteering at Thanksgiving service at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2003. Glide church has been feeding the needy for years, this Thanksgiving about 1,200 volunteers helped prepare 6,000 meals from 1,000 turkeys and 600 hams. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
San Francisco's new district attorney, Kamala Harris, right, receives the oath of office from California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George, left, during inauguration ceremonies Thursday, Jan. 8, 2004, in San Francisco. In the center is Harris' mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, who holds a copy of "The Bill of Rights." Harris, a political novice and career prosecutor, became San Francisco's chief law enforcer Thursday and California's first district attorney of Indian and black descent. (AP Photo/George Nikitin)
FILE - In this June 18, 2004, file photo San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris poses for a portrait in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris speaks against prop 8 Tuesday, October 21, 2008, at City Hall in Oakland, Calif., during a statewide demonstration organized by African American communities and prop 8 opponents. Proposition 8 is the California initiative on the upcoming ballot that would eliminate the right for same-sex couples to marry. (photo by Ron Lewis)
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, right, Democratic candidate for Attorney General of California, serves union members at a Labor Day Breakfast at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles on Monday, Sept. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris responds to questions on the ongoing investigation of evidence tampering in the city's crime lab in San Francisco, Friday, April 23, 2010. Deborah Madden, a crime technician in the lab, is being accused of skimming cocaine evidence from the lab, compromising hundreds of cases. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, left, the Republican candidate for Attorney General, shakes hands with his Democratic opponent, San Francisco County District Attorney Kamala Harris following their debate at the University of California, Davis, School of Law in Davis, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
San Francisco District Attorney, Kamala Harris, right, the Democratic candidate for Attorney General, laughs at a light-hearted comment made by her opponent, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, left, during their debate at the University of California, Davis, School of Law in Davis, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris laughs during the arrival of President Obama in San Francisco, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010 for fund raising events. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
California Attorney General Kamala Harris gives her first news conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010. Republican Steve Cooley conceded the California attorney general's race to Democrat Harris last week, giving Democrats a sweep of all statewide offices and ushering in the first woman and first minority elected to the post. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
President Barack Obama walks along the tarmac with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, after Obama arrived on Air Force One, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011, in San Francisco, at San Francisco International Airport. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Attorney General Kamala Harris looks over some of the guns seized from individuals legally barred from possessing them following a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, June 16, 2011. In a recently concluded six-week sweep conducted by agents from the Department of Justice, 1,200 firearms were seized from individuals barred from owning them,including those determined to be mentally unstable and with active restraining orders against them.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, and Michael Troncoso, Senior Counsel to the Attorney General, left, listen as mortgage fraud victim Jacqueline Marcelos speaks at a roundtable of foreclosure victims at Mission Economic Development Agency in San Francisco, on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Attorneys General Kamala D. Harris of California, left, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada announce a joint investigation alliance to assist homeowners who have been harmed by misconduct and fraud in the mortgage industry, during a news conference in Los Angeles Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Calif. Attorney General Kamala Harris speaks during a news conference as counterfeit jewelry is shown in foreground in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011, that was confiscated during an investigation before the jewelry was sold on eBay. Harris announced the creation of the eCrime Unit to investigate and prosecute identity theft, child exploitation and other cyber crimes. (AP Photo/Paui Sakuma)
In this photo taken Monday, April 16, 2012, Attorney General Kamala Harris discusses her package of banking reform bills intended to protect homeowners in the foreclosure process, during a hearing of the Assembly banking and finance committee at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. The Legislature on Thursday, April 19 started moving ahead with Harris' bills. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
California Attorney General Kamala Harris at Showtime's 2012 "EMMYEVE" Soiree held at Sunset Tower on September 22, 2012 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP Images)
Attorney General of California Kamala Harris during Game 4 of a Western Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff series between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, May 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Attorney General Kamala Harris smiles as she walks on stage to address delegates to the 2013 Democratic Party state convention in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday, April 13, 2013. Harris implored fellow Democrats to use their gains at California's ballot box to pushing their most important initiatives, ranging from immigration reform and gay marriage to strengthening labor unions and pushing for stricter gun laws. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, announces the takedown of a California-based drug trafficking organization during a news conference Monday, April 14, 2014, in Fresno, Calif. On the table are bags of crystal methamphetamine that authorities say the organization smuggled in along with cocaine from Mexico. Once in the Central Valley of California, officials say the drugs were distributed across the United States. At the left is King County Sheriff Dave Robinson and to the far right is Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward. (AP Photo/Scott Smith)
Kamala Harris, California’s attorney general keynotes the UCLA Law Review Symposium: "Examining the Roots of Human Trafficking and Exploitation," at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Harris has announced her candidacy for U.S. Sen Barbara Boxer,’s open seat. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones, left, California Attorney. Gen. Kamala Harris, Los Angeles County Sheriff, Jim McDonnell, and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck, far right, announce the results of a 90-day review of the state Department of Justice's special-agent training programs on "implicit bias and use of force" during a news conference in downtown Los Angeles Friday, April 17, 2015. Harris also said that under a pilot program Department of Justice special agents would be outfitted with on-body cameras similar to those worn by officers of some local forces in California. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
California Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris takes questions from the media after being briefed on the Santa Barbara oil spill at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif., on Thursday, June 4, 2015. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Attorney General Kamala Harris, right, votes with her husband, Douglas Emhoff in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Attorney General Kamala Harris greets supporters at a election night rally Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
California Attorney General Kamala Harris with her husband, Douglas Emhoff vote at the Kenter Canyon Elementary School in Los Angeles, on Tuesday, June 7, 2016. The top two candidates for California's first open U.S. Senate seat in 24 years will advance to a runoff election in November to replace the retiring Barbara Boxer. Harris is a heavy favorite and a fellow Democrat, U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, is looking to hold off three Republican challengers for second place. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
San Bernardino Sheriff's Corporal Rafael Ixco is congratulated by Attorney General Kamala Harris, after Gov. Jerry Brown, center, presented him with the Governor's Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor, Monday, Sept. 12, 2016, in Sacramento, Calif. Ixco was one of several law enforcement officers honored for their actions in the terrorist attack at a San Bernardino government building that left 14 dead and 22 wounded, last December. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Vice President Joe Biden administers the Senate oath of office to Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as her husband Douglas Emhoff, holds the Bible during a a mock swearing in ceremony in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017, as the 115th Congress begins. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during the Women's March on Washington, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., left, talks with Sequita Thompson, the grandmother of Stephon Clark, who was shot and killed by Sacramento police on March 18, during a town hall meeting Thursday, April 5, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. Harris spoke about the shooting, where two officers chased Clark, an unarmed black man who was suspected of breaking into cars, into his grandparents' backyard and opened fire. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., listens to a question from the audience during a town hall meeting, Thursday, April 5, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. Harris discussed the shooting death of Stephon Clark on March 18 by two Sacramento police officers, saying that Clark should not have lost his life. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., joins activists at the Supreme Court as President Donald Trump prepares to choose a replacement for Justice Anthony Kennedy, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2018, file photo Senate Judiciary Committee members Sen. Cory Booker, D.-N.J., top left, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., right, talk as Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., discusses his concerns before the committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., are seated. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., left, pause as protesters disrupt the confirmation hearing of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., questions President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018, for the third day of his confirmation hearing to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., waves to another member of the committee during a hearing of the the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for Steven D. Dillingham to be Director of the Census, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, of California, waves to the crowd as she formally launches her presidential campaign at a rally in her hometown of Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, holds her niece Amara Ajagu, right, next to her husband, Douglas Emhoff, as she formally launches her presidential campaign at a rally in her hometown of Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, of California, speaks as she formally launches her presidential campaign at a rally in her hometown of Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., left, meets with civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, President of the National Action Network, during lunch at Sylvia's Restaurant in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, Thursday Feb. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, Pool)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., talks during her first campaign organizing event at Los Angeles Southwest College in Los Angeles, Sunday, May 19, 2019. ((AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
Former Vice President Joe Biden listens as Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during the second of two Democratic presidential primary debates hosted by CNN Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in the Fox Theatre in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at the Iowa State Fair, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at a rally Monday, Aug. 12, 2019, in Davenport, Iowa. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., center, and former Vice President Joe Biden all speak at the same time during a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN/New York Times at Otterbein University, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Westerville, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., listens as senators make their arguments on advancing the nomination of Bill Barr to be attorney general, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on police use of force and community relations on on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, June 16, 2020 in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., watch fireworks during the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., talk as they asses the damage during the Creek Fire at Pine Ridge Elementary, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Auberry, Calif. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., sitting in a barber chair, speaks at Headliners Barbershop in Detroit, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., walks off stage with her husband Douglas Emhoff after the vice presidential debate with Vice President Mike Pence Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, at Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden listens as Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at Carpenters Local Union 1912 in Phoenix, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020, to kick off a small business bus tour. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks virtually during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks to supporters at a campaign event Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris with her husband Doug Emhoff listen as Cardinal Wilton Daniel Gregory speaks during a COVID-19 memorial Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff arrive at the steps of the U.S. Capitol for the start of the official inauguration ceremonies, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, arrive for the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, right, meets former First Lady Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris speaks during a COVID-19 memorial Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Kamala Harris is sworn in as Vice President by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as her husband Doug Emhoff holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris stand on stage at the Democratic National Committee winter meeting on Feb. 3 in Philadelphia. Harris is poised to play a critical role in next year's election as President Joe Biden seeks a second term.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to reporters before boarding her airplane July 12, 2021, at Detroit Metropolitan Wane County Airport in Detroit to travel back to Washington.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, left, and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, right, listen as Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a meeting with a task force on reproductive health care access at the White House in Washington.
FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris hugs a friend at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Friday, March 3, 2023. Harris is poised to play a critical role in next year's election as President Joe Biden seeks a second term. (Juliana Yamada/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)
FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris, second right, is greeted by traditional dancers after landing in Lusaka, Zambia, Friday, March 31, 2023. Harris is poised to play a critical role in next year's election as President Joe Biden seeks a second term. (AP Photo/Salim Dawood, File)
FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on reproductive freedom at Howard University on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in Washington. Harris, the first woman and person of color in her position, will be put to the test as President Joe Biden seeks a second term. Although vice presidents are rarely decisive in reelection efforts, Harris is poised to be an exception. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)
FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris walks at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. This castle in was one of around 40 "slave castles" that served as prisons and embarkation points for slaves en route to the Americas. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on reproductive freedom April 25 at Howard University in Washington. Harris, the first woman and person of color in her position, will be put to the test as President Joe Biden seeks a second term.
FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris talks to the media, Friday, June 25, 2021, after her tour of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas. Harris is poised to play a critical role in next year's election as President Joe Biden seeks a second term. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris walk off stage after speaking in support of changing the Senate filibuster rules that have stalled voting rights legislation, at Atlanta University Center Consortium, on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Atlanta. Harris is poised to play a critical role in next year's election as President Joe Biden seeks a second term. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Interviews with dozens of insiders reveal a complex reality inside the White House. Many in the vice president's circle say she's being sidelined. Biden aides see a lack of focus.
President Joe Biden briefly transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday to undergo a routine colonoscopy at Walter Reed hospital before resuming his duties, the White House said.
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to travel to Africa at the end of March as the United States seeks to pitch itself as a better partner for the continent than China is.
Vice President Kamala Harris is poised to play a critical role in next year's election as President Joe Biden seeks a second term. Not only is she leading the charge on the battle over abortion rights, she's the running mate for the oldest commander-in-chief in history.
Harris cast her 31st tiebreaking vote on Wednesday to advance the nomination of Kalpana Kotagal to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The only other VP to play the role of tiebreaker so many times was John C. Calhoun.
Politicians often recalibrate in the face of shifting public opinion and circumstance. Across two decades in elected offices, Vice President Kamala Harris is no exception.