The Truths We Hold: An American Journey

Author Bio: Kamala Harris

Kamala D. Harris served as the forty-ninth vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025—the first woman in American history to hold the office. She began her career in the Alameda County district attorney’s office before being elected district attorney of San Francisco, where her “Back on Track” program became a national model for reducing recidivism. As California’s attorney general, she prosecuted transnational gangs, big banks that defrauded homeowners, and for-profit colleges that targeted students and veterans. She defended the Affordable Care Act, fought for marriage equality, and pioneered the nation’s first open-data initiative in the criminal justice system. In the United States Senate, she fought for civil, immigrant, and voting rights, and gained national recognition for her incisive questioning in committee hearings. As vice president, she led efforts to strengthen global alliances and address child poverty, gun violence, student debt, maternal health, economic opportunity, and reproductive rights—casting more tiebreaking votes than any vice president in history, including for pandemic relief and the largest climate investment ever. Throughout her career, she has always fought for the only client she has ever had: the people.