Former Vice President Kamala Harris declined to include former President Joe Biden when asked to name the most effective presidents in American history during an appearance Friday at the National Urban League Conference in Nashville.
National Urban League President Marc Morial posed the question during a public discussion, prompting Harris to hesitate before offering her response.
“Oh Marc, don’t make me do that,” Harris said before naming former President Franklin D. Roosevelt as her first choice.
Harris praised Roosevelt for expanding the role of the federal government during the Great Depression and highlighted programs created under his administration.
“He did good,” Harris said. “Social Security… when I think about what he did in terms of investing in the people during dire times and talking about the role and responsibility of government.”
She also referenced Roosevelt’s unsuccessful effort to expand the Supreme Court, noting he faced significant political opposition over the proposal.
Harris argued Roosevelt believed government had three essential responsibilities: public health, public safety and public education.
After Roosevelt, Harris pointed to former President John F. Kennedy and former President Lyndon B. Johnson.
She credited Kennedy with laying the groundwork for policies that Johnson later advanced during his presidency.
Harris then praised former President Barack Obama, drawing applause from the audience as she highlighted the Affordable Care Act.
She said Obama addressed longstanding problems in the nation’s health care system despite significant political opposition.
Notably absent from Harris’ list was Biden, whom she served under for four years as vice president.
The omission comes after reports of tensions between the two following Democrats’ defeat in the 2024 presidential election.
After Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris as the Democratic nominee, she ultimately lost both the Electoral College and the popular vote to President Donald Trump.
In her book, “107 Days,” Harris later criticized the Biden White House for failing to defend her against Republican attacks over immigration.
“When Republicans mischaracterized my role as ‘border czar,’ no one in the White House comms team helped me to effectively push back and explain what I had really been tasked to do, nor to highlight any of the progress I had achieved,” Harris wrote.
“Instead, I shouldered the blame for the porous border, an issue that had proved intractable for Democratic and Republican administrations alike,” she added.
During Friday’s appearance, Harris also previewed positions she suggested could become part of a future presidential campaign.
She said the country should reconsider the Electoral College and revisit proposals to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices, per the New York Post.
“I know this is going to be controversial coming from me, in particular,” Harris said. “We need to revisit the Electoral College. We need to revisit the point of expanding the court, to 13 justices like we have 13 district courts.”
Harris also said lawmakers should revisit the issue of statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
The former vice president did not indicate whether she plans to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 but suggested those issues would remain central to her political agenda.
