On the final Friday of her vice-presidency, Kamala Harris partook in one last ritual. She looked disbelievingly as she walked into her ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, across the street from the White House,

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily.

Harris, born in Oakland, California, in 1964, is a natural-born U.S. citizen under the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil.