Kamala Harris follows Kaw Nation’s Charles Curtis as the second person of color to become vice president

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

 
For all of Kamala Harris' impressive firsts, she’s not the first person of color elected vice president of the United States.

That was achieved by Charles Curtis, a Native American lawmaker and member of the Kaw Nation, who served under President Herbert Hoover some 90 years ago.

Curtis, a conservative Kansas Republican, reveled in the prestige of the vice presidency. Despite widespread discrimination against Native Americans, he celebrated his ethnicity, often boasting of his rise “from Kaw tepee to Capitol," decorating his office with artifacts, and posing for photos in a feathered headdress.

He and Hoover disliked each other. The president rarely sought his advice. Both men, having presided over the stock market crash that commenced the Great Depression, were swept from office after a single term in Franklin Roosevelt’s 42-state landslide in 1932.

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/news/kamala-harris-vice-president-charles-curtis-kaw-native-american-indigenous-indian-20201117.html