Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris: Inside Their Surprisingly Close Bond

Mrs. Clinton, who lost out on becoming the first female president, has been a behind-the-scenes ally for the woman now vying to do so.

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Vice President Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton embracing onstage at a service for Representative Sheila Jackson Lee this month. They have quietly bonded over the past several years.

Hillary Clinton was on Martha’s Vineyard on Sunday, July 21, the day President Biden dropped out of the presidential race, when her phone rang. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had already received a call from the same number, so she knew who wanted to talk to her.

Vice President Kamala Harris was calling to tell her she was running for president and hoping to build support as quickly as possible. Mrs. Clinton didn’t hesitate: She told the vice president she was all in. The Clintons rushed out an endorsement well ahead of many other party leaders, including the Obamas.

As Democrats revolted against Mr. Biden’s re-election bid this summer, Mrs. Clinton wanted no role in pushing him out, according to people briefed on her thinking. But behind the scenes, she was also adamant that if the president chose to step aside, Ms. Harris should become the party’s nominee with no drawn out primary.

The two women, once on opposite sides during the contentious 2008 Democratic primary, have quietly bonded over the past several years, sharing dinners at Mrs. Clinton’s Washington home, discussing high-impact decisions like whom Ms. Harris should pick for her running mate, and connecting over the still-stubborn ways that women in high office can be underestimated.

On Monday night, Mrs. Clinton, who came achingly close to becoming the nation’s first female president, will pass the torch to a woman nearly two decades younger, in a moment that friends say comes with a mixture of bittersweetness and pride for Mrs. Clinton.

ImageMrs. Clinton onstage at the Democratic National Convention in 2016. Alumni from her campaign plan to gather in Chicago for a reunion this week. Credit…Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

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