Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ new memoir, 107 Days, offers an unusually candid look at her marriage to Doug Emhoff, the nation’s first “second gentleman,” as the couple weathered personal scandal and campaign stress during her brief 2024 presidential run.
Harris revisits headlines from last year, when The Daily Mail reported that Emhoff’s first marriage ended following an affair with his children’s nanny. Emhoff acknowledged the affair soon after the story broke, a revelation Harris said was no surprise. “Of course, I knew about this. Doug had told me about it when we were dating. We disclosed it during my vetting for VP,” she wrote. While Harris condemned the resurfaced allegations as “hurtful and degrading,” she praised her husband for owning up to his past “like the mensch that he is.”
The book also recounts the ordinary frictions of married life, magnified under campaign pressure. Just weeks before Election Day, Harris recalled a blow-up sparked when Emhoff repurposed an anniversary gift for her birthday and failed to hear her calling for a towel while he watched the Dodgers in the playoffs. “It was a bridge too far,” Harris admitted, describing how stress had finally boiled over between them.
But the couple rebounded. Emhoff reminded her, “We can’t turn on each other. With the hits coming from every direction, we have to stay united.” Harris said his words became a guiding mantra for their campaign and marriage alike.
The memoir touches on lighter moments too, including notes Emhoff left on Harris’ pillow during long stretches apart and the support she received from his children, Cole and Ella, who affectionately call her “Momala.” Still, Harris acknowledged that politics offered little precedent for a male spouse. “In D.C., there are long-standing social structures and well-understood roles for wives. Not for the very few husbands,” she observed.
Although rumors persist about possible strains in their marriage, Harris portrays Emhoff as her anchor during the most bruising chapter of her political career. “Back-to-back, swords raised against all outside attacks,” she wrote. “We had to protect each other.”
