Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff met on a blind date and married less than two years after that. He is a father-of-two from his previous marriage.
The 2020 Presidential race also meant that a new vice president will be chosen and Kamala Harris was picked for this role by Joe Biden, the president-elect. Choosing her meant a lot of firsts for the US. She is the first woman and that too of color to be elected to be the vice president of the US. The interesting part of her role is that her husband, Douglas Emhoff, will be the first Second Gentleman in the country.
Interestingly, Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer, will be quitting his job to support his wife. The 56-year-old husband of Vice President-elect Harris will be leaving his job by Inauguration Day to take up the role of second gentleman, as per USA Today. "This gives us a model, and it is a fabulous model," Dartmouth College professor of business administration Ella L.J. Bell Smith said. "Mr. Harris," she said, referring to Emhoff, "is totally comfortable stepping back so his wife can show her brilliance, grace, grit, and power because he wants her to succeed." Emhoff is also quitting his job to avoid any conflict of interest, something the Trump administration faced because of their family's businesses, as per Town & Country.
Until now, women have been stepping away from their jobs to support their husbands and Emhoff will be a role model for men across the world for the reverse situation. What else do we know about him?
Born in Brooklyn, New York, he became a lawyer in California after graduating from the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law. He met Harris in California after being set up on a blind date, as per Town & Country. They were set up on the date by PR consultant Chrisette Hudlin, Harris' friend, who had met him through work.
Harris was California's attorney general back then and Emhoff had been divorced a few years. "I was looking at him as more of a lawyer, but by the end of the meeting I was just liking him as a person," Hudlin told Marie Claire. Emhoff mentioned to Hudlin that he was charmed by Harris, whom he had briefly met, so she played cupid.
Recently, Harris tweeted on her husband's birthday revealing a sweet gesture by him, the morning after they met. "The morning after our first date, @DouglasEmhoff
emailed me a list of his available dates for the next couple of months: 'I want to see if we can make this work.' And we did. Dougie, happy birthday. I could not imagine anyone else I’d rather be with on this journey called life," she tweeted.
The morning after our first date, @DouglasEmhoff emailed me a list of his available dates for the next couple of months: 'I want to see if we can make this work.' And we did.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 13, 2020
Dougie, happy birthday. I could not imagine anyone else I’d rather be with on this journey called life. pic.twitter.com/fh94VL4Uzk
Only a little over a year later, he proposed to her, and four months after that they married at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. They had a multicultural wedding, which was presided over by Harris' sister Maya, during which they exchanged vows. They also placed a flower garland around each others' necks, customary in Indian weddings, and broke a glass at the end of the service to mark Emhoff's Jewish heritage.
He was previously married to Kerstin Emhoff, co-founder of the production company Prettybird. They have two children, Cole and Ella. Kerstin and he are close after being wedded for 16 years. His children reportedly address Kamala as Mamala, which shows how well their blended family works. Ella told Glamour that even during the campaign trail Harris made time to message her to show that she was on her mind.
Emhoff too is a family man and doesn't forget to wish his close relatives on their special days. And, now he will dedicate his time to his wife. He has been an unabashed supporter of his wife's ambitions. Before Harris was announced as the VP pick, he was traveling between California and D.C. to support her. Eventually, he took a leave of absence from work to rally for her. Now, he will be by her side while she's in office, making history together.
References:
https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a34099869/doug-emhoff-interview-2020/
https://www.glamour.com/story/doug-emhoff-cole-and-ella-emhoff-zoom-interview
