US gets first female, black and South Asian vice president

The California senator had surged to the front of a crowded field of Democratic candidates on the back of a series of strong debate performances — and a searing critique of her rival Joe Biden over the presidential race in June 2019. By the end of the year, however, her campaign was dead.

Now the 55-year-old will be running the country alongside Joe Biden at a critical time in its history — trying to unite after a bitter few months and arresting the surge of coronavirus cases gripping parts of the US, reports BBC.

She will also be the first black and the first South Asian vice-president.

Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris sent out a tweet: "This election is about so much more than Joe Biden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started."

Harris' triumph, in particular, marks a new high point in a career of barrier-breaking accomplishments, from San Francisco district attorney to California attorney general to just the second-ever black female US senator.

"That I am here tonight is a testament to the dedication of generations before me," Harris said during her Democratic National Convention acceptance speech in August, mentioning women such as Constance Baker Motley, Fannie Lou Hamer and Shirley Chisholm.

"Women and men who believed so fiercely in the promise of equality, liberty and justice for all," she said.

The California Democrat was born in Oakland, California, to two immigrant parents — an Indian-born mother and Jamaican-born father.