If she wins on 5 November, Kamala Harris will be the third US vice president in history to become president after a single term.

We are just a few days away from the 2024 US Presidential election. Donald Trump, the former President, and Kamala Harris, the Democratic Presidential candidate, are locked in a tough fight for the top post.

Changes to US president election process

Significant changes have been made to the process of electing the US President over the last several years. Before 1804, the presidential elections in the US worked in a slightly different manner. Back then, candidates didn't have running mates and and voters didn’t vote for a presidential ticket. Instead, the top vote-getter won the presidency, and the runner-up was given the post of the vice president.

Therefore, prior to 1804, and the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, there were several Vice Presidents who ran for president, who only got the vice presidency because they lost the job they really wanted. Amendment Twelve to the Constitution was ratified on June 15, 1804. It revised and outlined the procedure of how Presidents and Vice Presidents would be elected, specifically so that they get elected together. The trend of Vice Presidents seeking the presidency has become more common in modern times.

Kamala Harris has already made history as the first female Vice President and could potentially make even more if she were to win the election, becoming the first female President of the US. If Kamala Harris wins, she would join a long list of Vice Presidents who have vied for the top job- which includes her current boss Joe Biden.

Veeps who became POTUS

From 1789 to 2021, out of 49 Veeps just 15 have managed to become the POTUS. Eight of them inherited it through unfortunate deaths or resignation of their predecessors, and Gerald R Ford ascended to the presidency when Richard Nixon himself resigned following the Watergate scandal. According to Pew Research, Ten of twenty-nine vice presidents have been elected to the nation’s top political office. Here is the list of Vice Presidents who went on to become the President of the US:

John Adams (1796-1800): After serving as the nation's first vice president under George Washington, John Adams became the second President of the US in 1796. George Washington won the first presidential election in the year 1789 with a comfortable 69 electoral votes. Later on, in a unexpected turn of events, his rival John Adams became the vice president despite losing. In 1796, John Adams defeated Thomas Jefferson in the election, in a race that changed American politics forever.


Thomas Jefferson (1800-1804): Jefferson was the US's second vice president. He served as John Adams's running mate from 1797 to 1800, despite being his opponent. A founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, Jefferson was elected Vice President in 1796 and served two terms as President. Jefferson is highly regarded for his promotion of freedom of speech, religious freedoms, and the successful acquisition of the state of Louisiana from the French.


Martin Van Buren (1836-1840): Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States (1837-1841), after serving as the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, both under President Andrew Jackson. Buren was one of the founding members of the Democratic Party. Only about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, Martin Van Buren was affectionately known as the "Little Magician". The “Little Magician” was elected Vice President on the Jacksonian ticket in 1832, and won the Presidency in 1836. But his time was short-lived and his economy tanked in 1840 and he was ousted by Whig William Henry Harrison.


Theodore Roosevelt (1904-1912): When William McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo, New York, on Sept. 14, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt ascended to the presidency. Known as the Spanish war hero, Roosevelt would go on to be one of the most famous presidents in American history. At 43, he became the youngest President in the Nation’s history (1901-1909). He led Congress and the American public towards progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. But he failed to win a third term when he ran for his own Progressive Party, losing to his successor William Howard Taft in 1912.


Calvin Coolidge (1924): Coolidge was governor of Massachusetts before he was selected as Republican Warren Harding's running mate in 1920. Harding died of a heart attack in 1923 and Coolidge was sworn in by his father, who was a justice of the peace. Calvin Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States. He completed that term, then ran for reelection in 1924, winning the popular vote by more than 7 million. Coolidge could have run again in 1928, but decided not to. His statement that he would not re-run at the next election was just one sentence: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928."


Harry Truman (1948): Harry Truman was only vice president for three months in 1944 when he became president during the Second World War. Truman took over the presidency after Franklin Roosevelt’s death in 1945, less than a month before Germany surrendered, ending World War II in Europe. It was Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan in a bid to end the war.He continued to make big moves on the world stage, confronting both the Soviet Union and communist China during the Cold War.


Richard Nixon (1960-1968): Richard Nixon was elected the 37th President of the United States (1969-1974) after previously serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from California. Long before Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon served as Vice President under Dwight Eisenhower for two terms. Nixon was elected President in 1968 and reelected in 1972 by one of the largest margins in American history. He became the only President to ever resign the office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.


Lyndon Johnson (1964): In the 1960 campaign, Lyndon B. Johnson was elected Vice President as John F. Kennedy’s running mate. On November 22, 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson was sworn in as the 36th United States President, with a vision to build “A Great Society” for the American people. Johnson went on to win re-election in 1964 by a huge margin. As his popularity dwindled during his presidency due to the country’s involvement in the Vietnam War, Johnson did not seek reelection in 1968.


George Bush (1988-1992): After serving back-to-back terms as Ronald Reagan’s VP, George H.W. Bush transitioned right into the presidency after the 1988 election. George W. Bush, America’s 43rd President (2001-2009), was transformed into a wartime President in the aftermath of the airborne terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, facing the “greatest challenge of any President since Abraham Lincoln.” However, he failed to win reelection in 1992, losing to Bill Clinton.


Joe Biden (2020-2024): The current President, Joe Biden, attempted to run for President in the 2008 election, before eventually becoming Barack Obama’s running mate. Before serving as Vice President from 2009-2017, Biden was a Democratic Senator from Delaware for nearly 40 years. Biden won the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump. But in July, he pulled out of the White House race after a shaky debate with Donald Trump amid pressure from Democrats.


Kamala Harris is the 17th Vice President to seek election to the presidency. Harris served as California's Attorney General from 2011-2016 before being elected to the U.S. Senate, where she served until leaving to become Vice President. She briefly ran for President in 2020, before eventually becoming Joe Biden's running mate.