A Kamala Harris presidency would mark a series of historic milestones for the nation that go beyond electing the first female commander-in-chief.
Not only would it see Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff become America’s first First Gentleman, it would also make him the first Jewish person to be a presidential spouse.
Emhoff, 59, a successful law partner in California before becoming the first Second Gentleman, came from working class roots in New Jersey.
His family moved to the Garden State from Brooklyn when young Douglas was just five years old. They had lived on Ocean Avenue in the neighborhood of Midwood.
The family moved to Old Bridge, New Jersey in 1969, settling into a modest house where Emhoff spent most of his childhood and adolescence alongside older sister Jamie, now 62, and younger brother Andy, 57, before moving to the West Coast.
Rabbi Laurence Malinger welcomed Emhoff back to Temple Shalom in Aberdeen, where the potential First Gentleman had worshipped as a child
Should Vice President Kamala Harris be elected president in November, Emhoff would be the country’s first-ever First Gentleman. He is already the first Jewish spouse of any president or vice president
Emhoff was raised in Old Bridge, New Jersey, attending Cedar Ridge High School from 1979 to 1981, where he was an avid skier and tennis player
He had a typical suburban childhood: riding bikes and playing baseball, Jamie told Marie Claire in 2020, ‘knowing that if he got in trouble, his mom would hear about it from somebody else’s mom’.
He got a job flipping burgers at McDonald’s – and was once named Employee of the Month.
The Old Bridge house, now valued at $750,000, proved to hold sentimental and fond memories for the second gentleman.
While on a visit to New Jersey in 2021, he and Governor Phil Murphy paid a spontaneous visit to the house during an official trip to the state.
Richard Kershnar, the current owner, recalled the surprise visit, for which his family received less than 10 minutes’ notice.
‘He was a really nice guy’, Kershnar told DailyMail.com. ‘We didn’t have that much notice when he came by, we just saw a lot of black SUVs show up with the Secret Service.
‘My wife joked that she should have been able to get her Clinton poster out for when he got here, and one of his security smiled.’
Kershnar had been aware of his home’s previous residents because his nephew was close friends with Emhoff before the move to California.
But the visit was not all that Emhoff had wanted.
‘Because it was Covid he couldn’t really come in.
‘But he wanted to have a look for a tree in the backyard that he’d carved his name into,’ said Kershnar. He found the tree, but not the carving which nature and the passage of time had conspired to cover long ago.
‘Doug also pointed out a lot of the work his dad did to the property when he came by.
‘It’s a lovely area, a lot of people here moved from Brooklyn, some went via Staten Island but it’s a great community who have good memories of him.
Emhoff spent much of his childhood and adolescence alongside older sister Jamie and younger brother Andy in New Jersey before moving to West Coast in 1982
Emhoff – pictured in his high school tennis team’s yearbook photo – took after his mother Barbara, who had been a tennis champion in her youth while growing up in nearby Matawan
His former high school shut down in 1994 and was reopened as Carl Sandburg Middle School
‘Doug was talking about how proud he was to be from New Jersey, and how he grew up here. He went to school around the corner from here until they moved.’
Photos shared with DailyMail.com show Emhoff sentimentally taking a walk down memory lane at the Old Bridge home.
He posed with the family, and allowed them to get a picture of him pointing at the tree with his initials.
When asked if he would be supporting Emhoff’s wife in the upcoming election, Kershnar said he’s a Republican – but admitted that he’s still figuring out who to vote for, adding ‘the country needs a change right now’.
Emhoff earned his law degree from the USC Gould School of Law in 1990
Despite spending most of his adulthood in California, Emhoff has spoken about his love for the Garden State, where locals still see him as ‘New Jersey through and through’, with his former Rabbi describing him as a ‘mensch’.
In November 2019, Emhoff tweeted: ‘I lived in Matawan/Old Bridge from 1969-1981 so New Jersey is still very much in my veins.’
Doug Emhoff attended Cedar Ridge High School in Old Bridge from 1979 to 1981, where he was a keen skier and tennis player – taking after his mother Barbara who was a tennis champion in her youth.
The high school closed in 1994 and its property became the Carl Sandburg Middle School.
Second Gentleman and the nation’s potential inaugural First Gentleman Doug Emhoff revisited his New Jersey roots and childhood home in Old Bridge during an official visit to the Garden State in October 2021
Photos shared with DailyMail.com show a sentimental Emhoff taking a walk down memory lane at his childhood home in Old Bridge
He was seen smiling and pointing to the backyard tree in which he had once carved his initials as a kid
Emhoff grew up in the $750,000 home alongside his younger brother Andy and older sister Jamie
Friends say the family were close, with Doug bonding with his younger brother Andy in childhood.
They were also observant Jews and attended Temple Shalom in Aberdeen, less than a 10-minute drive from the family home.
Emhoff went to the Reform temple regularly and celebrated his bar mitzvah in 1977.
The Jewish place of worship was among the stops Emhoff made during his unofficial New Jersey childhood tour.
Inside there were still tributes to the temple’s former congregants, including a plaque for his grandfather, Albert Emhoff.
Rabbi Laurence Malinger took the helm at Temple Shalom in 1999, but admitted he only became aware of Emhoff’s connection following the 2020 presidential campaign.
He showed Emhoff a memorial brick in the temple’s courtyard that is now dedicated to Rabbi Henry Wiener, who had presided over his bar mitzvah as a child.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Malinger confirmed that members of the temple ‘take great pride’ in the Emhoff family connection.
‘Some of our members knew his parents,’ Malinger said. ‘His grandparents are still remembered here.
‘We had a lovely conversation; he takes great pride from being from New Jersey. I wrote him a letter after he visited, thanking him for stopping by.
The Emhoffs were observant Jews and attended Temple Shalom where Doug celebrated his bar mitzvah in 1977
Inside there were still tributes to the temple’s former congregants, including a plaque for his grandfather, Albert Emhoff
‘We spoke about his background; it was a lovely visit and he was just warm and accommodating.
‘He made it very clear that this was his spiritual home as a child. In our tradition we say that he’s a mensch’.
The Rabbi revealed he also has a connection to President Biden from his time in Wilmington, Delaware – and is now supporting Harris in her bid for the presidency.
‘I’m very proud of his decision’, Malinger added. ‘I do support Vice President Harris now for the president.
‘And, if we get lucky, and they win, then an invitation will go to the first gentlemen to come to visit us.’
Emhoff made a touching nod to his heritage during his wedding ceremony to Harris, with Kamala breaking a glass, a common act at Jewish weddings that has numerous important connotations for followers of Judaism.
The family left New Jersey in 1982 for the Golden State, where Emhoff went on to finish his senior year and graduate from Agoura High School.
His passion for sports carried on in California, where he also became a key member of the school’s newspaper staff – something he had not shown an interest in during his time in New Jersey.
Those who attended school with him remember him as seeming nice but quiet, only recalled him after his connection to Harris became front page news.
Old Bridge Superintendent of Schools David Cittadino had congratulated his former student after the 2020 election, calling Emhoff’s appointment as Second Husband a ‘momentous time in history’.
Emhoff joined New Jersey governor Phil Murphy during a visit to the Garden State for Covid-19 in October 2021
‘Our current students should savor in the inspiration that Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff provide for future generations,’ the school administrator said.
He added that locals are ‘very proud’, saying their appointment as the first second-gentleman, and first woman of color and woman vice president ‘speaks volumes.’
Stephanie McClay, principal of Agoura High, told the VC Star in 2021: ‘Anything that shines a national spotlight on our area is always a good thing.’
‘We’re always proud of our alumni who rise to prominence. He rose to prominence before his wife was nominated.’
After graduating from Agoura High School, Emhoff went on to CSU Northridge, graduating there in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies.
He earned his law degree from the USC Gould School of Law in 1990 and married first wife, film producer Kerstin Emhoff in Los Angeles, in 1992.
The couple divorced after 16 years of marriage, and share two children: Cole, 29, and Ella, 25, who call Harris ‘Momala’ – praising all three adults for their co-parenting.
Emhoff and Harris met in 2013 after public relations consultant Chrisette Hudlin helped arrange a blind date, with the then-entertainment lawyer leaving a lengthy voicemail.
Emhoff has two adult children from his previous marriage: son Cole, 29, and daughter Ella, 25, – who became stepchildren to Kamala in 2014
Emhoff married film producer Kerstin Mackin in Los Angeles, in 1992. The couple divorced after 16 years and two children, including daughter Ella
Just a day after their initial date, he emailed Harris for a second, telling her he was ‘too old to play games or hide the ball. I really like you, and I want to see if we can make this work.’
The couple married in 2014 at a small ceremony in Santa Barbara, with Emhoff telling CBS recently that it was ‘love at first sight’ for both of them.
When Harris won a Senate seat in 2016, the couple moved to Washington DC and he worked as a partner in DLA Piper in 2017.
He gave up his 30 year career to support Harris after she was elected as VP in 2021, transitioning into teaching – joining the faculty at Georgetown University Law Center.
Emhoff served as a distinguished visitor from practice and taught a class on entertainment law disputes. He also served as a distinguished fellow at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Technology Law & Policy.
After Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race on Sunday, Emhoff paid tribute to the president for helping him navigate the difficulties that came with leaving his work to support Harris.
‘He had my back personally in some of my toughest moments as second gentleman,’ Emhoff admitted, before telling an enthusiastic crowd that he is ready to ‘support his wife’ in her next challenge of running for president.
In his White House biography, Emhoff is quoted as saying that he hopes to ‘inspire the next generation of supportive spouses’.
‘I’m the first man to take this role,’ he said, ‘but I definitely don’t want to be the last.’
