> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.europeans.today/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 85 minutes as president – Kamala Harris’ place in history. - URL: https://www.europeans.today/2021/11/20/85-minutes-as-president-kamala-harris-place-in-history/ - Published: 2021-11-20T11:11:00.000Z - Updated: 2021-11-21T05:19:51.000Z - Description: Kamala Harris became the first woman to formally assume the powers of the presidency... for 85 minutes, while Joe Biden underwent a routine examination. - Author: Rashmee Roshan Lall - Tags: COMMENT, Kamala Harris, United States, US Politics, Women in Politics, Women ### Kamala Harris became the first woman to formally assume the powers of the presidency... for 85 minutes, while Joe Biden underwent a routine examination. ###### First published in November 2021. --- Her DNA ensured [Kamala Harris](https://www.rashmee.com/2020/08/18/the-world-expected-too-much-from-obama-now-it-expects-too-much-of-kamala-harris/?ref=europeans.today) made history on November 3, 2020, when she became the first woman and the first black and South Asian to be elected vice-president of the United States. On Friday (November 19) she notched up another history-making moment… or roughly 85 historically significant minutes. She became the first woman to formally assume the powers of the presidency — albeit briefly — while Joe Biden underwent a routine colonoscopy. > .[@POTUS](https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=europeans.today) spoke with [@VP](https://twitter.com/VP?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=europeans.today) and [@WHCOS](https://twitter.com/WHCOS?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=europeans.today) at approximately 11:35am this morning. [@POTUS](https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=europeans.today) was in good spirits and at that time resumed his duties. He will remain at Walter Reed as he completes the rest of his routine physical. > > — Jen Psaki (@PressSec) [November 19, 2021](https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1461742012693196805?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=europeans.today) Mr Biden transferred power to [Ms Harris](https://www.rashmee.com/2020/08/25/kamala-harris-and-the-complexity-of-racial-identity/?ref=europeans.today), as part of a process set out in the US constitution. It’s not a big deal really, as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has pointed out. This too was “the case when President George W Bush had the same procedure in 2002 and 2007,” Ms Psaki said in a statement. Mr Bush’s vice-president assumed the presidency for a short period. No one paid particular heed at the time. But naturally, because Mr Bush’s vice-president was a man and men have always held the US presidency. How then to parse the hype over [Ms Harris](https://www.rashmee.com/2019/05/18/sexist-politics-the-rest-of-the-world-is-no-different-from-india/?ref=europeans.today)’ achievement — for all of 85 minutes? Well, it is historic, in that it has never happened before. But (and there is a but) the repeated shoehorning of Ms Harris into a ‘first’ and ‘only’ category in the history books brought back memories of Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency in 2016\. At the time, her bid to be commander-in-chief of America’s armed forces was touted as a vote for history, rather than the best candidate. It was a chance to shatter what Mrs Clinton once described, as “the hardest, highest glass ceiling”. I remember [writing at the time](https://www.rashmee.com/2015/04/16/not-the-time-to-bang-the-gender-drum-mrs-clinton/?ref=europeans.today) that “it is almost as patronising for a woman to get a job on account of her gender as it is to be denied it for that reason.” So too the history books. ![PMP Magazine](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2021/09/end-flat-1.png "PMP Magazine") --- | **— AUTHOR —**▫ *[Rashmee Roshan Lall](https://www.europeans.today/author/rashmee-roshan-lall/), Journalist by trade & inclination. World affairs columnist.* ***∞*** *[www.rashmee.com](https://www.rashmee.com/?ref=europeans.today)* | GET THEM INVOLVED: Contact Your Politician | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | --- --- ##### Sources **Text:** This piece was originally published in [Medium](https://rashmee.medium.com/85-minutes-as-president-kamala-harris-place-in-history-96bd4bf5429b?ref=europeans.today) and re-published in PMP Magazine on 20 November 2021, with the author’s consent. | The author writes in a personal capacity. - **Cover:** Flickr/[Gage Skidmore](https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/48571349961/?ref=europeans.today). - Kamala Harris speaking in 2019\. | 9 August 2019\. (Licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=europeans.today).) ![Creative Commons License](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png "Cover photograph license")