2nd gentleman ready to work
WASHINGTON
It’s an unpaid position, but Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, says he is approaching the role of being the first second gentleman like a full-time job.
He and his team have offices within the vice president’s suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House, and aides to the former entertainment attorney who was active on the campaign trail said Emhoff has fully immersed himself in his new position.
Emhoff said this week that he has spent much of the first six weeks of the administration conducting research on White House priorities and connecting with experts as he builds out his portfolio.
“As second gentleman I’m taking every opportunity I can to educate myself, ” Emhoff said. “I’m taking it very seriously, I’m putting a lot of time into it.”
The position of second gentleman was created for
Emhoff after Harris became the first woman vice president. Sources familiar with the conversations could not pin down when exactly he landed on second gentleman as the title he would use but said it was one that he was comfortable with.
Emhoff gave up his job as a partner at the law firm DLA Piper, which has offices in Los Angeles and Washington after his wife was elected vice president. He currently teaches a two-credit course at Georgetown Law that meets once a week.
Current and former aides to Emhoff said that he views his responsibilities as second gentleman largely to be supportive of his wife’s efforts.
“I think he wants to continue to be a supportive partner, a great father and contribute to the goals of the administration,” Courtney O’Donnell, chief of staff to Emhoff during the campaign and transition, said in an interview.
“He’s referenced how the vice president often says, she’s the first but she won’t be the last. And I think he truly wants to ensure that there will be many supportive spouses