Douglas Craig Emhoff (born October 13, 1964) is an American lawyer who is the second gentleman of the United States. He is married to the 49th

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

. As the first-ever husband of a vice president, Emhoff is the first second gentleman in American history. He is also the first

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

spouse of a vice president. Emhoff began his career as an entertainment lawyer. He was managing director of

Venable Venable is a surname shared by several notable people: * Venable Brothers, rock quarry business of Samuel and William Venable that included Stone Mountain, Georgia. * Abraham B. Venable (1758–1811), American state and national politician * Ab ...

's West Coast offices and later became a partner at

DLA Piper DLA Piper is a multinational law firm with offices in over 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2021, it had a total revenue of US$3.47 billion, an average profit per equity partner of U ...

. He is also a

distinguished visiting professor Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" informally refers collectively to the academic ranks of assistant professor, asso ...

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment a ...

Early life and education

Douglas Craig Emhoff was born on October 13, 1964 in the New York City borough of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, the son of

parents, Barbara (nee Kanzer) and Michael Emhoff. He has a brother Andy and a sister Jamie. From 1969 to 1981, he grew up in

Matawan Matawan is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A historic community located near the Raritan Bay in the much larger Raritan River, Raritan Valley region, the borough ...

and Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, and attended Cedar Ridge High School. His family were congregants of Temple Shalom, a Reform synagogue in Aberdeen Township, at which Emhoff became a bar mitzvah in 1977. The following summer, in 1978, Emhoff attended Camp Cedar Lake in Milford, Pennsylvania, where he was voted "most athletic" of his division at age 13. When he was 17, he moved with his family to Southern California, where he graduated from Agoura High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the

USC Gould School of Law The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 1896 and became affiliated with ...

in 1990.

Career

Emhoff is an entertainment litigator and began his career at Pillsbury Winthrop's litigation group. He moved to Belin Rawlings & Badal, a boutique firm, in the late 1990s. He opened his own firm with Ben Whitwell in 2000, which was acquired by

Venable LLP Venable LLP is an American law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is the largest law firm in the state of Maryland. Founded in 1900 by Richard Venable in Baltimore, today Venable has 10 offices across the United States and 800 attorneys ...

in 2006. His clients included

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

and Merck, and he became managing director of Venable's West Coast offices. Emhoff joined

as a partner in 2017, working at its Washington, D.C., and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

offices. Following the announcement that his wife would be Joe Biden's running mate in the 2020 United States presidential election, Emhoff took a leave of absence from the firm. Following the Biden–Harris ticket's win, the campaign announced Emhoff would permanently leave DLA Piper prior to

Inauguration Day The inauguration of the president of the United States is a ceremony to mark the commencement of a new four-year term of the president of the United States. During this ceremony, between 73 to 79 days after the presidential election, the pre ...

to avoid conflict of interest concerns. In December 2020,

announced that Emhoff would join the school's faculty as a distinguished visitor and as a distinguished fellow of the school's Institute for Technology Law and Policy.

Second Gentleman of the United States

Emhoff's wife Kamala Harris was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries before dropping out in December 2019. In August 2020, Harris was announced as Joe Biden's running mate for the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

, making Emhoff the third man in U.S. history to be a spouse of the vice presidential candidate of a major party, following John Zaccaro (widower of

Geraldine Ferraro Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee ...

) and Todd Palin (ex-spouse of

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 ...

). When Harris assumed office, Emhoff became the first second gentleman of the United States. He is also the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. vice president. Following this, Emhoff was popularly labeled as a "

wife guy In social media, a wife guy is a man whose fame is owed to the content he posts about his wife. The term has been applied more broadly to men who use their wife to upgrade their social standing or public persona. History The term was first coin ...

", an online slang term referring to a man whose fame is owed to his wife (or content posted about his wife), or one who is exceptionally supportive of his wife. In 2020, Emhoff referred to himself as a wife guy on Twitter. In his role as Second Gentleman, Emhoff plans to focus on equal access to justice and legal representation. In March 2021, while Second Gentleman, Emhoff began teaching a course entitled "Entertainment Law Disputes" at the

. Emhoff said he respected educators as he had "learned

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

teaching is really hard", saying he has "so much respect for the teachers out there doing this each and every day". Emhoff has led the U.S. delegations to several diplomatic events, including the opening ceremony of the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and the inaugurations of South Korean president

Yoon Suk-yeol Yoon Suk-yeol (; born 18 December 1960) is a South Korean politician, former public prosecutor and lawyer who has been serving as the 13th and current president of South Korea since 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as the prosecutor ...

and Philippine president

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. ( , , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials PBBM or BBM, is a Filipino politician who is the 17th and current president of the Philippines. He previously served as a sena ...

. In March 2022, Emhoff tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. In July 2022, Emhoff travelled to Oregon to participate in the opening ceremonies of the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the f ...

, held in Eugene, Oregon. In response to a November 2022 meeting involving former president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, and Nick Fuentes, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

announced that a

round table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying tha ...

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

would be led by the Second Gentlemen. It was held on December 7, 2022 and included many Jewish leaders, namely representatives from the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

Personal life

Emhoff was married for 16 years to Kerstin Emhoff, née Mackin. They have two children, Cole and Ella. He married

on August 22, 2014, in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coa ...

, with Kamala's sister Maya Harris officiating. As of August 2019, Emhoff and Harris had an estimated net worth of $5.8million. The couple temporarily resided at Blair House, the official guest house of the President, while the official residence of the Vice President

Number One Observatory Circle Number One Observatory Circle is the official residence of the vice president of the United States. Located on the northeast grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., the house was built in 1893 for the observatory superinte ...

underwent maintenance and renovation at the beginning of Harris's term. They also maintain homes in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, Washington, D.C. and the Brentwood neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

References

External links

Douglas Emhoff on White House website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emhoff, Douglas 1964 births 21st-century American lawyers American entertainment lawyers California lawyers California State University, Northridge alumni Georgetown University Law Center faculty Harris family Jewish American attorneys Lawyers from Brooklyn Living people People from Agoura Hills, California People from Matawan, New Jersey People from Old Bridge Township, New Jersey Second Gentlemen of the United States Spouses of California politicians USC Gould School of Law alumni