85 minutes: American ‘Kamala’ shines, gets all-important Presidential powers

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Nirendra Dev

Though for a short time, Kamala Harris became the first female President of the United States, when Joe Biden transferred the presidential powers to Harris.

 

New Delhi: Only the other day, Americans debated on whether Kamala Harris, as Vice President, was able to deliver. But as luck would have it, for 85 minutes on Nov 19, Kamala Harris became the first woman with presidential power.

To officially transfer the presidential powers to Harris, albeit temporarily as stipulated by Constitutional norms, Joe Biden sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Senate's president pro tempore. The oldest person to be America's President, Biden, turns 79 on Saturday. Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution allows the President to delegate powers to the Vice President.

"@POTUS 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," White House spokesperson Jen Psaki tweeted.

"The nation's first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president broke yet another barrier when she temporarily stepped into the acting role. Harris worked from her office in the West Wing while Biden was under anesthesia," said a CNN report.

Of course, Kamala Harris could be just a year away from launching a presidential campaign of her own. She is the daughter of cancer biologist Shyamala Gopalan, who migrated from Chennai. Kamala's father is, of course, a Jamaican.

The India-US relations have blossomed during the Trump stint, and of course, the chemistry has survived the Democrats' rule in Washington.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit recently has been an important strategic agenda for the year. So has been the two separate meetings he held with Joe Biden and Vice President Ms Harris.

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