Kamala Harris on Being a ‘Historic Figure’: ‘There Will Be a Marble Bust of Me in Congress’

by Xara Aziz
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has remained firmly in the national spotlight in 2025 as she promoted her post-2024 election memoir107 Days, a candid reflection on her historic run for the White House and her years at the pinnacle of American politics. The book tour, marked by sold-out venues and strong sales, has underscored that public interest in Harris has hardly faded following her defeat to President Donald Trump last fall.

In a recent profile with The New York Times, Harris addressed speculation about whether she will seek the presidency again in 2028, signaling both confidence in her legacy and patience about her next move. “I understand the focus on ’28 and all that,” she said. “But there will be a marble bust of me in Congress. I am a historic figure like any vice president of the United States ever was.”

At 61, Harris’s résumé is already one of the most groundbreaking in modern American politics. Over a four-decade career, she served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, U.S. senator, and vice president—frequently as the first woman, the first Black woman, or the first South Asian woman to hold each office. That historic ascent culminated in her 2024 campaign to become the nation’s first female president, an effort that ultimately fell short.

Still, Harris has not been ruled out as a future contender. Many Democrats view her loss as shaped by unprecedented political circumstances rather than a rejection of her leadership. Dallas Jones, a Democratic strategist who worked on the Biden-Harris 2020 campaign, argued that structural challenges constrained her run. “If Kamala Harris would have had more time, her own infrastructure, her own people, we would have seen a different result,” he said.

Harris herself pointed to tangible signs of public engagement in the Times interview, noting that voters continue to pack event halls across the country. “Thousands of people are coming to hear my voice,” she said. “Every place we’ve gone has been sold out.”

The Times also reported that Harris is unfazed by the growing list of potential Democratic rivals for 2028, with aides suggesting she feels no urgency to decide her political future.

Her defeat has renewed broader conversations about gender in American politics. Former First Lady Michelle Obama recently remarked that Harris’s loss reflected lingering resistance to female leadership at the highest level. “We’ve got a lot of growing up to do,” Obama said.

Whether or not Harris runs again, her influence—and the debates her career continues to spark—remain a central force in the Democratic Party.

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