Since her historic victory in the 2020 US elections, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has captivated not only her home country, but the world.
“But while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” the 56-year-old politician told the cheering crowds in her speech following her and President-elect Joe Biden’s momentous win.
“Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”
It’s safe to say that Kamala earned hoards more fans following her victory speech, but one person who has always stood in her corner is her beloved husband and love of her life, Doug Emhoff, who will become the first Second Gentleman the US has ever seen.
The 56-year-old entertainment lawyer has been Kamala’s hubby since 2014, but this isn’t his first marriage.
Doug was married from 1992 until 2008 to his first wife, Kerstin and shares two children with her – son, Cole and daughter, Ella, named after John Coltrane and Ella Fitzgerald, respectively.
However there’s no bad blood between Kerstin and Kamala – in fact. the former even volunteered to help with Kamala’s presidential bid.
Kamala and Doug met when they were set up on a blind date in 2013 and he wasted no time in organising a second date.
“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,” she wrote on social media to mark Doug’s 56th birthday.
After a little over a year of dating, Doug proposed and just four months after that in August 2014, the couple tied the knot in a small intimate ceremony, presided over by Kamala’s sister.
The wedding ceremony honoured both Kamala’s Indian background and Doug’s Jewish heritage.
Writing in a piece for ELLE, Kamala says that Doug wanted to introduce his teenage children to her after their second date, but the politician had reservations.
“As a child of divorce, I knew how hard it could be when your parents start to date other people. And I was determined not to insert myself in their lives until Doug and I had established we were in this for the long haul,” she wrote.
“Children need consistency; I didn’t want to insert myself into their lives as a temporary fixture because I didn’t want to disappoint them. There’s nothing worse than disappointing a child.”
However Cole and Ella were welcoming to their father’s new partner, and Kamala admitted that though she was “already hooked on Doug”, she believes it was his children who “reeled [her] in.”
“A few years later when Doug and I got married, Cole, Ella, and I agreed that we didn’t like the term ‘stepmom.’ Instead they came up with the name ‘Momala’.”
Doug put his own career on hold when he took a leave of absence from law firm DLA Piper to join his wife full-time on the campaign trail and Kamala has been so grateful.
“Doug has been a prince, he has been so supportive. I love my husband,” she said in an official campaign video.
In a piece for Glamour, Doug admitted: “I have even more empathy for Kamala and more respect for her after being on this campaign. Whether it’s a full day of Zooms or a full day out on the trail, you really leave a piece of yourself out there. It’s intense. Even when I come back and I’m exhausted, and she’s like, See?”
“And for the record, Kamala is so supportive of me behind the scenes. Now she’s starting to be a little more public with it. She’s tweeting about it more. Like for our anniversary and my birthday, I’m like, ‘Wow, okay!’ But behind the scenes she is so loving and supportive of me, and the kids will attest to that.”
Throughout the campaign, Doug shared many adorable pictures with Kamala, but it was the one taken when Kamala learned she would be the first Madame Vice President that made our hearts melt.
Captioning a photo of he and his wife sharing a tender hug, Doug simply wrote: “So proud of you.”
We can’t wait for Kamala and Doug’s first official visit to Australia!