On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, Madam Vice President Kamala D. Harris was sworn into the White House. She made history as not only the first female to hold the position, but also as our nation’s inaugural Black and South Asian VP. Doug Emhoff, her husband, achieved his own record as the first Second Gentleman—and now the power couple is making history once more. Harris officially accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, August 22, 2024, which just so happened to be the couple’s tenth wedding anniversary. A few days prior, Emhoff took the stage to share the milestone with the crowd and share a few poignant words about his wife. “With your help, she’ll lead with joy and toughness. With that laugh and that look,” he said, reports ABC.
As the political duo marks a decade of love, we’re taking a look back at their journey. From their blind first date (which Emhoff set up by way of a very hilarious voicemail, which Harris breaks out every anniversary, per The Wrap) to their courthouse wedding, here is a complete timeline of Vice President Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff’s relationship.
- Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff first met on a blind first date in 2013.
- A year later, the couple wed at the Santa Barbara courthouse. Harris became stepmother to stepchildren Cole and Ella Emhoff, whom Doug had during a previous marriage.
- On January 20, 2021, Harris was sworn in as Vice President of the United States as her husband held the Bible.
- In August 2024, Emhoff joined his wife at the Democratic National Convention and gave a speech to honor the presidential candidate. The final night of the convention, during which Harris accepted the Democratic nomination, took place on the couple’s tenth wedding anniversary.
2013: A Rambling Voicemail and a Blind Date
While Harris was the attorney general of California, Emhoff was an entertainment lawyer living in Los Angeles. The two were set up by Harris’ friend Chrisette Hudlin. During a joint interview for CBS Sunday Morning in 2021, Harris made a very relatable and hilarious confession about her first date with Doug—she googled him! This was a shock to him as well.
Emhoff recently recounted how he set up the couple’s first date at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. “In 2013 I walked into a contentious client meeting, we worked through the issue, and by the end of the meeting, the now happy client offered to set me up on a blind date,” Emhoff said on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. “Which is how I ended up with Kamala Harris’ phone number.”
“Now for generations, people have debated when to call the person you’re being set up with, and never in history, has anyone suggested 8:30 a.m. And yet that’s when I dialed,” he continued. “I got Kamala’s voicemail, and I just started rambling, hey, it’s Doug. I’m on my way to an early meeting. Again. It’s Doug. I remember I was trying to grab the words out of the air and just put them back in my mouth.” Harris never let him live it down. “By the way, Kamala saved that voicemail. And she makes me listen to it on every anniversary,” Emhoff shared.
2013: Ready for the Second Date
After their first date, Emhoff got straight to the point and asked her on date number two. “The morning after our first date, @DouglasEmhoff emailed me a list of his available dates for the next couple of months,” Harris revealed on Instagram. “He said, ‘I want to see if we can make this work.’ We’ve been making it work ever since.”
2014: A Marriage Proposal
After less than a year of dating, the lawyer popped the question. Which, according to Marie Claire was a “decidedly unromantic conversation” as Harris was deciding between two pad thai dishes.
August 22, 2014: A Courthouse Wedding
On August 22, 2014, at a Santa Barbara, California, courthouse, Harris and Emhoff wed as her sister, Maya Harris, performed the nuptials. Given Emhoff’s Jewish upbringing, the pair included the traditional breaking of the glass in their ceremony.
2014: Harris Gains Stepchildren Cole and Ella Emhoff
When Harris married Emhoff, she married his two kids along with him. Cole and Ella Emhoff are from his previous marriage to Kerstin Emhoff—who actually helped during Harris’ presidential campaign alongside Joe Biden and attended the 2021 presidential inauguration.
In an essay for Elle, Harris wrote about her first meeting with them and how nervous she was. But they got along and she described them as “welcoming” and “brilliant, talented, funny.” Not to mention, stylish. (Yes, we’re talking about that inauguration coat.)
After Harris and Emhoff got married, she and the kids decided they did not like the term “stepmom.” So they came up with something a little more fun: Momala. Harris has been “Momala” to the kids for years, supporting them in all their endeavors (like swim meets and graduations). According to Vogue, Cole went to Colorado College and became an assistant at William Morris Endeavor after his 2017 graduation. Ella was a student at Parsons School of Design in New York City; she majored in apparel and textiles, according to Oprahmag.com, and is now a fashion designer and artist.
January 3, 2017: Harris Becomes a Senator
When Harris became a California Senator in 2017, Emhoff held the Bible as she gave her oath.
January 17, 2021: Still in the Honeymoon Phase
Emhoff and Harris’ sweet, affectionate banter and nicknames aren’t reserved for behind closed doors. Cole Emhoff told the New York Times that Harris and Emhoff are “almost vomit-inducingly cute and coupley.” Ella echoed that sentiment saying, “It’s so insane. It’s like the honeymoon phase forever. Like, the rest of the world gets to see it on social media, but we live that.”
January 20, 2021: Inauguration Day
And as Harris was sworn in as the first female Vice President of the United States on January 20, 2021, her husband was by her side holding the Bible, again. He also earned a new title that day: Second Gentleman.
January 28, 2021: Officially the Second Gentleman
Emhoff tweeted a link to Merriam-Webster’s newest word: second gentleman. “Well, now it’s official. @MerriamWebster just added “Second Gentleman” to the dictionary.” he wrote. “I might be the first, but I won’t be the last.”
Merriam-Webster defines “Second Gentleman” as “the husband or male partner of a vice president or second in command of a country or jurisdiction.” The new word was made official just one week after Madam Vice President Harris was sworn into office.
August 2024: A Presidential Nomination and a Decade of Marriage
Accepting your party’s nomination to become President of the United States while simultaneously celebrating 10 years of marriage? That’s an experience that belongs entirely to Harris, who become the official Democratic presidential candidate on Thursday, August 22, 2024. Emhoff joined Harris at the convention, which kicked off a few days prior; he gave a few remarks on the second day, recounting the pair’s decade together. He noted that, come Thursday, he’d likely have to listen to the “rambling” voicemail he left her just before their first date—and thanked her for being a pillar of their blended family. “She’s always been there for our children and I know she’ll always be there for yours, too. Kamala Harris was exactly the right person for me at an important moment of my life,” he shared. “And at this moment in our nation’s history, she is exactly the right president.”
On the convention’s final evening, Harris took the stage. Before accepting the presidential nomination, she gave a warm shout-out to her rock right at the jump. “Let me start by thanking my most incredible husband, Doug, for being an incredible partner to me, an incredible father to Cole and Ella,” she said. “Happy anniversary, Dougie. I love you so very much.”