Vice President Kamala Harris: Everything to know

WASHINGTON -- She's already breached barriers, and present Kamala Harris could shatter respective much aft President Joe Biden abruptly ended his reelection bid and endorsed her.

Biden announced Sunday that helium was stepping aside aft a disastrous statement show catalyzed fears that the 81-year-old was excessively frail for a 2nd term.

Harris is the archetypal woman, Black idiosyncratic oregon idiosyncratic of South Asian descent to service arsenic vice president. If she becomes the Democratic nominee and defeats Republican campaigner Donald Trump successful November, she would beryllium the archetypal pistillate to service arsenic president.

Biden said Sunday that choosing Harris arsenic his moving mate was "the champion determination I've made" and endorsed her arsenic his successor.

"Democrats - it's clip to travel unneurotic and bushed Trump," helium wrote connected X, the societal media level formerly known arsenic Twitter. "Let's bash this."

Harris described Biden's determination to measurement speech arsenic a "selfless and patriotic act," saying helium was "putting the American radical and our state supra everything else."

"I americium honored to person the President's endorsement and my volition is to gain and triumph this nomination," Harris said. "Over the past year, I person traveled crossed the country, talking with Americans astir the wide prime successful this momentous election."

Democratic leaders followed Biden's pb by swiftly coalescing astir Harris connected Sunday. However, her information is not a foregone conclusion, and determination person been suggestions that the enactment should clasp a lightning-fast "mini primary" to see different candidates earlier its normal successful Chicago adjacent month.

A caller canvass from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research recovered that astir 6 successful 10 Democrats judge Harris would bash a bully occupation successful the apical slot. About 2 successful 10 Democrats don't judge she would, and different 2 successful 10 accidental they don't cognize capable to say.

The canvass showed that astir 4 successful 10 U.S. adults person a favorable sentiment of Harris, whose sanction is pronounced "COMM-a-la," portion astir fractional person an unfavorable opinion.

A erstwhile authoritative and U.S. legislator from California, Harris' ain bid for the 2020 Democratic statesmanlike information imploded earlier a azygous superior ballot was cast. She aboriginal became Biden's moving mate, but she struggled to find her footing aft taking bureau arsenic vice president. Assigned to enactment connected issues involving migration from Central America, she was repeatedly blamed by Republicans for problems with amerciable borderline crossings.

However, Harris recovered much prominence arsenic the White House's astir outspoken advocator for termination rights aft the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade successful 2022. She has besides played a cardinal relation successful reaching retired to young radical and voters of color.

In addition, Harris' dependable show aft Biden's statement debacle solidified her lasting among Democrats successful caller weeks.

Even earlier Biden's endorsement, Harris was wide viewed arsenic the favourite to regenerate him connected the ticket. With her overseas argumentation acquisition and nationalist sanction recognition, she has a caput commencement implicit imaginable challengers, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Harris volition question to debar the destiny of Hubert Humphrey, who arsenic vice president won the Democratic information successful 1968 aft President Lyndon Johnson declined to tally for reelection amid nationalist dissatisfaction implicit the Vietnam War. Humphrey mislaid that twelvemonth to Republican Richard Nixon.

Nixon resigned successful 1974 during the Watergate ungraded and was replaced by Vice President Gerald Ford. Ford ne'er won a word of his own.

Vice presidents are ever successful enactment to measurement into the apical occupation if the president dies oregon is incapacitated. However, Harris has faced an antithetic level of scrutiny due to the fact that of Biden's age. He was the oldest president successful history, taking bureau astatine 78 and announcing his reelection bid astatine 80. Harris is 59.

She addressed the question of succession successful an interrogation with The Associated Press during a travel to Jakarta successful September 2023.

"Joe Biden is going to beryllium fine, truthful that is not going to travel to fruition," she stated. "But fto america besides recognize that each vice president - each vice president - understands that erstwhile they instrumentality the oath they indispensable beryllium precise wide astir the work they whitethorn person to instrumentality implicit the occupation of being president."

"I'm nary different."

RELATED: Watch Kamala Harris' travel from Berkeley to beryllium 1st Black, Asian pistillate elected to vice presidency

Harris was calved Oct. 20, 1964, successful Oakland, California, to parents who met arsenic civilian rights activists. Her hometown and adjacent Berkeley were astatine the bosom of the radical and societal justness movements of the time, and Harris was some a merchandise and a beneficiary.

She spoke often astir attending demonstrations successful a stroller and increasing up astir adults "who spent afloat clip marching and shouting astir this happening called justice." In archetypal grade, she was bused to schoolhouse arsenic portion of the 2nd people to integrate Berkeley nationalist education.

Harris' parents divorced erstwhile she was young, and she was raised by her parent alongside her younger sister, Maya. She attended Howard University, a historically Black schoolhouse successful Washington, and joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, which became a root of sisterhood and governmental enactment implicit the years.

After graduating, Harris returned to the San Francisco Bay Area for instrumentality schoolhouse and chose a vocation arsenic a prosecutor, a determination that amazed her activistic family.

She said she believed that moving for alteration wrong the strategy was conscionable arsenic important arsenic agitating from outside. By 2003, she was moving for her archetypal governmental office, taking connected the longtime San Francisco territory attorney.

Few metropolis residents knew her name, and Harris acceptable up an ironing committee arsenic a array extracurricular market stores to conscionable people. She won and rapidly showed a willingness to illustration her ain path. Months into her tenure, Harris declined to question the decease punishment for the slayer of a young constabulary serviceman slain successful the enactment of duty, fraying her narration with metropolis cops.

The occurrence did not halt her governmental ascent. In precocious 2007, portion inactive serving arsenic territory attorney, she was knocking connected doors successful Iowa for then-candidate Barack Obama. After helium became president, Obama endorsed her successful her 2010 contention for California lawyer general.

Once elected to statewide office, she pledged to uphold the decease punishment contempt her motivation absorption to it. She refused to support Proposition 8, a voter-backed inaugural banning same-sex marriage. Harris besides played a cardinal relation successful a $25 cardinal colony with the nation's owe lenders pursuing the foreclosure crisis.

As killings of young Black men by constabulary received much attention, Harris implemented immoderate changes, including tracking radical information successful constabulary stops, but didn't prosecute much assertive measures specified arsenic requiring autarkic prosecutors to analyse constabulary shootings.

Harris' grounds arsenic a authoritative would yet canine her erstwhile she launched a statesmanlike bid successful 2019, arsenic immoderate progressives and younger voters demanded swifter change. But during her clip connected the job, she besides forged a fortuitous narration with Beau Biden, Joe Biden's lad who was past Delaware's lawyer general. Beau Biden died of encephalon crab successful 2015, and his relationship with Harris figured heavy years aboriginal arsenic his begetter chose Harris to beryllium his moving mate.

Harris joined amusement lawyer Douglas Emhoff successful 2014, and she became stepmother to Emhoff's 2 children, Ella and Cole, who referred to her arsenic "Momala."

Harris had a uncommon accidental to beforehand politically erstwhile Sen. Barbara Boxer, who had served much than 2 decades, announced she would not tally again successful 2016.

In office, Harris rapidly became portion of the Democratic absorption to Trump and gained designation for her pointed questioning of his nominees. In 1 memorable moment, she pressed now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh connected whether helium knew immoderate laws that gave authorities the powerfulness to modulate a man's body. He did not, and the enactment of questioning galvanized women and termination rights activists.

A small much than 2 years aft becoming a senator, Harris announced her run for the 2020 Democratic statesmanlike nomination. But her run was marred by infighting and she failed to summation traction, yet dropping retired earlier the Iowa caucuses.

Eight months later, Biden selected Harris arsenic his moving mate. As helium introduced her to the nation, Biden reflected connected what her information meant for "little Black and brownish girls who truthful often consciousness overlooked and undervalued successful their communities."

"Today, conscionable maybe, they're seeing themselves for the archetypal clip successful a caller way, arsenic the worldly of presidents and vice presidents," helium said.