Douglas Emhoff became the United States’ first-ever Second Gentleman in 2021; he is the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris. Gratefully, Emhoff’s addition was much more than a name change but rather a cultural evolution within American politics as traditional gender roles were broken within the highest levels of government.
He was born on October 13, 1964, in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family. He would later move to California to attend college. Emhoff attended California State University, Northridge, and then the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. During his career, Emhoff has worked as an attorney concentrating his work in entertainment and intellectual property law. Until his position as Second Gentleman, Emhoff was a partner at one of the most powerful law firms in the country, DLA Piper.
The two, who started dating in 2013 after a friend set them up on a blind date, married in 2014. He has been supportive of Harris as she rose in politics-from Attorney General of California to U.S. Senator, and now Vice President. He has received great praise in supporting her and her career, and especially how he handles the public scrutiny that comes with being married to such a high-profile political figure.
The fact that Emhoff had to assume the role made it a symbolically disruptive one to the status quo in gender roles within politics. A spouse of a Vice President-commonly referred to as the Second Lady-then assumes certain ceremonial responsibilities and usually highlights work or causes they champion. Emhoff has taken up that mantle-using his platform to speak about access to justice and legal representation, while continuing to support efforts to combat hate crimes-particularly antisemitism.
Besides all the advocacy work, Emhoff has been greatly engaged in public outings and events hand in glove with Harris on behalf of the Office of the Vice President. He has stood cooperating full well with her administration, starting with attending official ceremonies to engaging with different communities, serving as a public face for the advocacy of equality and justice.
That Douglas Emhoff is the very first Second Gentleman says much about how the gender roles of American politics shift. By supporting Kamala Harris and being dedicated to being an advocate in his own right, he underlined in important ways just one of the influences spouses can have on public life while reconceptualizing expectations of their roles for successive generations.
