Douglas Emhoff is a lawyer, educator and Kamala Harris’s husband. From 2021 to 2025, while Harris was vice president, he served as the first Second Gentleman of the United States—and the first Jewish spouse of an American president or vice president. His public work focused on legal-aid access, gender and workplace equity, mental-health awareness, interfaith engagement and combating antisemitism.
Who is Douglas Emhoff?
Douglas Emhoff is an American entertainment and media lawyer who entered national public life after marrying Kamala Harris in 2014. When Harris became vice president in 2021, Emhoff became the first man to hold the spouse’s role at that level, receiving the title Second Gentleman. He served through 2025.
His other historical distinction is religious: the official vice-presidential biography identifies him as the first Jewish spouse of an American president or vice president. Emhoff publicly incorporated that identity into the role through Hanukkah observances, mezuzah placement at the vice president’s residence and interfaith programming.
Early life and education
Emhoff was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1964. His family raised him in Matawan, New Jersey, before moving to the Los Angeles area when he was a teenager. He earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Northridge, in 1987 and a Juris Doctor from the USC Gould School of Law in 1990.
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Entertainment, media and business litigation
Emhoff built more than three decades of legal experience in entertainment, media, sports, technology and business litigation. He held senior positions at major firms, including DLA Piper. His practice put him in the commercial and creative industries rather than in electoral politics, a background that later shaped his emphasis on access to legal services and workplace fairness.
Teaching and later professional roles
He began teaching law courses at Georgetown University Law Center in January 2020. A USC Gould profile dated October 9, 2025, lists him as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law and a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The same profile records that he campaigned for 107 days during Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign.
How Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff met
Harris and Emhoff met on a blind date in 2013. The introduction followed a client meeting connected to Emhoff’s legal work; a contact arranged the date, and the couple married in Santa Barbara in 2014.
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In her husband’s account of their relationship, their family settled into a blended arrangement that included Harris, Emhoff, his children and his former wife, Kerstin Emhoff. The adults describe Kerstin as a co-parent and friend rather than treating the previous marriage as a barrier to the new family.
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Doug Emhoff’s children and the blended family
Cole and Ella Emhoff
Emhoff has two children, Cole and Ella, from his first marriage. They call Harris “Momala,” a nickname combining “mom” and “Kamala.” Emhoff said in his August 21, 2024, Democratic National Convention speech that hearing the children use the name reassured him that the blended family was working.
Co-parenting with Kerstin Emhoff
Emhoff described the adults as a “three-headed parenting machine,” emphasizing cooperation among himself, Harris and Kerstin. That arrangement has been a visible part of Harris’s family story as well as Emhoff’s.
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What the Second Gentleman did
The Second Gentleman is not an elected office and has no single statutory job description. Emhoff represented the administration at domestic and international events, used the visibility of the vice-presidential spouse’s office for issue advocacy and developed a portfolio separate from Harris’s official responsibilities.
Access to justice and equity
The official biography says Emhoff advocated for access to legal aid and for removing legal, social and financial barriers that prevent people from using the justice system. His professional background informed work on workplace and gender equity.
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Combating antisemitism and building interfaith ties
USC’s profile credits him with helping lead the administration’s first National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism. He also convened interfaith dialogues and used Jewish observances to make religious inclusion part of his public work.
Mental health and loneliness
Emhoff worked with Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on initiatives addressing mental health and loneliness. Their message emphasized discussing mental-health challenges and substance-use disorders openly rather than treating them as private failures.
Arts, small business and sports diplomacy
His portfolio also included support for small businesses and the arts. He represented the United States at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics, giving the spouse’s office a role in sports diplomacy.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Faith and family traditions
Emhoff is Jewish, while Harris has a Christian background. In his convention speech, he said the family observes both Jewish and Christian holidays and that Harris attends synagogue with him for High Holiday services. The vice-presidential residence hosted Hanukkah celebrations and displayed a mezuzah during his tenure.
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Those practices made his role historically visible without reducing it to a ceremonial label: he was both the first male spouse in the vice-presidential residence and the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. president or vice president.
The 2024 disclosure about his first marriage
On August 3, 2024, CBS News reported that Emhoff acknowledged having an affair during his first marriage. He said, “I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side.”
Kerstin Emhoff said he remained a great father and friend and described the family’s supportive relationship. The disclosure and the family’s response are part of a complete account of Emhoff’s public biography, alongside his subsequent marriage to Harris and their continuing co-parenting relationship.
His public profile after the vice presidency
Emhoff’s service as Second Gentleman ended with Harris’s vice-presidential term in 2025. The USC Gould profile published October 9, 2025, presents his post-White House identity through law and higher education: Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at USC Gould and a Willkie Farr & Gallagher partner. His career therefore spans private legal practice, university teaching and a four-year national public role.
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At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Emhoff said, “I’m the first man to take this role, but I definitely don’t want to be the last.” The line captures the institutional significance of his tenure: the position was shaped by the individual holding it, but its precedent extends beyond one administration.
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