Of his own. What is your job . He redefines an old role for a new generation. Theres this toxicity, this masculine idea of what a man is. A father. I really wanted a reminder of whats important to me. Who with the Vice President is marking many firsts. This is very emotional to be able to do this. While still trying to make time for each other. Were not each others chief of staff. Were husband and wife. Its the opportunity of a lifetime for the former Entertainment Lawyer who gave up his job to support his wife. Men need to support women. In this series we talked to people in politics and pop culture and find out what its like to be them. Now being the second gentleman. Whats it like to be the First Second Gentleman . Im only the First Second Gentleman because the country elected the first woman Vice President. So i look at it really mostly in that lens. Im here because im her husband. Im here to support her. So help me god. But hes also rewriting unspoken rules and roadmaps largely designed by men for women. Theres a library at the residence where we live and its i think every single book ever written by a Vice President about a Vice President about the Vice Presidency and our favorite ones title is Vice President s and second ladies and think about it. Were going to need a new book because theres now a man in this role and i say half jokingly i may be the first. I better not be the last. What do you think the title or headline of that book should be . It should not even be a big deal that im a man going forward. We need to have more women in leadership. There needs to be more women in government, more women in the Business World, more women in communications, more women in the military, you name it. So i want to be in a world where this is not unique, this is not unique at all. But for now it is unique which means deciding whether hell take on some of the traditional duties like Part Planning and holiday decorating that americans think of when they think about first and second ladies. Picking the china patterns and arranging the dinners and doing more of the social aspects, do you do any of that . Things like that we do together, my wife and i, the Vice President , but because of the circumstances in which we took office and the time, really mostly focused on covid and vaccinations and just fanning out across the country to see what was going on. A lot of what i did was listen. A lot of small group meetings, hear what was happening right on the ground and bring it back to the administration. So it hasnt been a lot of time for the ceremonial part. Maybe there will be moving forward. Was there any part of you that thought well, i better do the ceremonial stuff because thats what a woman would do . Well, i dont want to genderrize it. I think were a married couple and we do a lot of these things together. So if theres things that we need to pick out or decorations or if were having an event and ill give my input, but its how we are as a typical married couple, what we would do in our other life. We look at things together. We pick it out and were both busy and we move on. So im not trying to make it where this is my job. What is your job . First and foremost, its to support her. We work in an office called office of the Vice President and in office that youre sitting in is really here to support the Vice President , support the president , support the administration any way we can in addition to being her husband. Since Abigail Adams in 1779, a Vice President s spouse was a woman. Emhoff calls one of those women his mentor, now first lady jill biden. Was there a crash course when you came into this . I know there was no manual to be the second gentleman because it didnt exist before, but to be the second spouse . Theres no manual and dr. Biden said as much to me because i did ask her you had this role. What can i expect . She said first you wont believe me if i told you and, two, its just going to be different for you because youre a man and shes a woman and youre the first one and the times were in right now, but just be yourself. Be authentic and support her. The term second lady was first used in the 1890s, but there wasnt much of a public role until pat nixon started traveling independent of her husband to promote causes. There are now five living former second ladies, marilyn quayle, tipper gore, lynne cheney, jill biden and karen pence. Who did you talk to . I talked to mrs. Pence. Was she helpful . She was. We had a very nice conversation. What was the most important advice she gave you . She was very helpful having been in the residence right before. Theres a lot of nonintuitive things that happen living in this type of situation that she was very helpful with. Like what . Just from paying the bills, how does food get in and youve seen a lot of the security, so just the basics of everyday life, very helpful on. Of course, ive talked to our now first lady many, many times. I talked to tipper gore as well. What did she tell you . She had a great Historical Perspective on the residence and what it was like to raise a family there and just some of the just the history of it because i really wanted to get a sense of what i was getting into. Emhoff has had a sense of what he was getting into from the beginning. We cannot delay or deny individuals their civil rights. He met the now Vice President later in life when she was a rising political star and he was a successful corporate and Entertainment Lawyer. A lot of couples in politics, they get together young and they kind of work their way up the ladder together. You and the Vice President met as adults, well into adulthood. Yes. And she was already the Attorney General of the state of california. Yes. You never had anonymity with her, meaning as a couple from the minute you met, it was already a relationship in The Public Eye. Not like this. Not like this. People knew her. It was funny because she was living in San Francisco at the beginning and i was living in l. A. And id been an Entertainment Lawyer for a long time. So wed be in l. A. And people would come up to me, hey, doug, hows it going . She said hows everyone know you . It was kind of somebody here in this town before i met you. It was pretty funny to have had her see that. We were able to have a normal kind of trajectory on the relationship in those early days. We can go to dinner, go to movies and maybe a few people would come and say hi and take a picture or two, but nothing like now. He left his law firm in the days after the election and now has his own office in the white house complex. Up there is the second gentleman wood cutout. Where he displays proud possessions like this sign he says was given to him during the 2020 campaign made by a veteran suffering from post traumatic stress. They presented me with the second gentleman sign. I said i cant take this. I havent won. Okay. If we win, im going to put that in my office. So promise me. Tell me about this photo. This is the first flight that we both took on Air Force Two ever. So the first flight ever was together and this was that moment after we walked up this flight of stairs, which is surprisingly steep and very windy, and, so of course, the whole way up youre thinking oh, my goodness, i better not trip or anything. You get to the top and its that moment that weve all seen hundreds of times of president s and first ladies and Vice President s and second ladies just doing that turnaround and here we are doing it. It was was it out of body . It was kind of one of those surreal overwhelming moments and theres no Instruction Manual for Something Like this. I just love her eyes. You can see the smile and just the pride. Coming up let me show you this, probably one of my favorite spots here. Other Exclusive Tour of the Naval Observatory Grounds where the second couple loves and the second gentlemans tattoos. Were you sober . Yes. 24 hour protection. Prilosec otc one pill, 24 hours, zero heartburn. Yes, i need a trim. I just want to be able to cut the damage. We tried dove instead. So, still need that trim . Oh my gosh i am actually shocked i dont need a haircut. Dont trim daily damage. Stop it with dove. Two new ihop lunch and dinner menu items for twice the goodness, twice the flavor, and twice the choice. Sirloin salisbury steak and allnatural salmon. Perfect for lunch or dinner. Only at ihop. Download the app and earn free food with every purchase. All across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. So were hard at work, helping them achieve financial freedom. Were providing greater access to investing, with lowcost options to help maximize savings. From the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. And help communities thrive. vo what can a nationwide 5g network from tmobile for business do for your business . Unlock new insights and efficiencyright now. Allow monitoring of productivity at remote job sites, with nextgeneration bandwidth. Enable ai cameras that spot factory issues in real time, using nextgeneration speed. And deliver ultracapacity 5g coverage thats years ahead of the competition. Tmobile for business has 5g thats ready right now. This is really beautiful. Yeah. Its a Pretty Amazing place. Being the second gentleman means living here at the u. S. Naval observatory built in 1893. This is run by the navy. Yeah. This is owned by the navy and it was the home of the head admiral of the navy for all that time up until 1977 when the Vice President s families started living here and were on a naval base. This is a working naval base, most of which is the atomic clock where they keep the exact time of the United States. We went for a tour of the grounds steeped in history. So on my left is one of my favorite things. The swing . Its a swing and theres a plaque and it says, joe loves jill. I have never sat on it because i dont want to break it. Let me show you this. First of all, just this framing, its so pretty. He took us to the family heritage garden, a quiet place of reflection that honors previous Vice President ial families and their pets. Oh, wow. Remember president h. W. Bush was Vice President and they lived here for eight years. There it is, milly. Are you scared that i actually remembered the name of his dog . I love it. Sometimes if you just sit in here knowing that youre literally amongst history and its such a great, beautiful, contemplative place to think about whats happening right now. How often do your kids get here . Not enough, not enough. Theyre grown people. Emhoff has two children from a previous marriage to kiersten emhoff. They divorced when their kids were still young. Ella is now 23, a Fashion Design are and model in new york who became an influencer of sorts during the 2020 campaign, and 28yearold cole is recently engaged and working in hollywood. How have they adjusted to being in The Public Eye . Even though they arent here, theyre emhoffs. Id say ellas in The Public Eye with her career. I think shes out there. Im so proud of her. So her dad, im always i see what shes doing and im always just thinking about her as her dad. Coles doing his thing. Hes getting married next year. Hes also in the entertainment industry. So we talk a lot. I dont see him as much as i, can but were talking at least four or five times a week facetiming, texting. One of the things i love, ill be walking in and as we now know, the vp can text. So shes on the phone with the kids and ill come in and shes laughing and im like whos that . Well, its ella or cole. Its normal. We want it to be parents first. As intense as this whole thing is, we want them to know were still there for them as their parents. Yeah, yeah. Thats the goal. But its hard to jump on a plane and go see them if theyre having a bad day or have them come here. Its probably easier to have them come here. It is, but a lot of it is schedule, moving parts and theyre adults. Theyve got jobs and busy lives. Id say that can be the toughest part, but id say if i was still a lawyer back in l. A. , id probably be saying the same thing. Yeah, right. Show me your tattoos. You talked about ill show you one. This one is very simple. Thats two. Okay. Its the kids initials. I got this shortly after kiersten and i separated because i just really wanted a reminder of whats important to me. It was cole and ella and i just wanted a visceral reminder of them. So cole is coltrane and ella is ella fitzgerald, very much into the jazz. Were you always a tattoo guy . No. So what made you wake up one day and say oh, im going to get my kids initials on my wrist . Like many people who got tattoos, it was a whim. Were you sober . Ish. I just decided on the Spur Of The Moment you know what. This is something i want to do. I just wanted to make sure i was focused on the most important thing in my life, which is the children, and they still are. So the other one you dont want to show me, but you can tell me. Its personal to the vp and i. It has to do with the year you were born. Its in reference to the year we were born, 1964. How many days apart are you . Seven. It took us 40 some odd years to finally meet, but here we are. He takes daily walks on the grounds here. Now with his position and the secret Service Detail that comes with it, its one of the only places he can be outside and go alone. For instance, if i want to get a cup of coffee, you have to go with all the security. I can walk out here. By yourself. Theyre around, but i dont have to call them up and say hey, im going to take a walk around the residence. I love to walk. So a lot of times ill just kind of walk around and just take it in and take in the beautiful nature here. Do you have to tell them im going outside to take a walk or do you just go and they just know . They just know. You go right outside the gate. Then you have to tell them and i joke its almost like one of those Movies Like Truman Show where you cant walk past the other side. Ill have had family here and helping them out with their bags and maybe their cars 20 feet from the gate at the front. Im like im so sorry. I cant do this. Otherwise its going to take 20 minutes and ive got to call up the crew and then all these cars show up. This is the only place when were on these grounds not on the navy base side, but on the residence side that we can walk out here. Now, of course, they know and theyre watching. The political Immigration Debate has literally come to your doorstep right over there. Yeah. The measure what were doing to bus people from the Rio Grande Valley or from the Border Region to washington, d. C. The area just outside the gates of the Naval Observatory Made Headlines after Texas Governor greg abbott sent busloads of migrants to the Vice President s residence and left them on the sidewalk. Republicans slammed Kamala Harris for mismanaging the border, addressing Root Immigration causes in Central And South America is in her portfolio. Its shameful. These are human beings. Shes are people, not pawns, and leaders, governors of states need to on focus on actually the issue at hand and not using these folks who are fleeing immense violence and cruelty to escape. He says its his wife, the Vice President , who helps him keep it real. So what does she call you again . Dougie. That was a good imitation. It doesnt matter where we are, on stage, in front of the team, its like dougie or my dougie as shes adjusting my collar and checking things out. But your official title is second gentleman. Oh, that. Sgot us. Thats her when shes having fun with my title. Do you say god bless you . Yeah. Being the second gentleman means taking the role seriously but not always taking himself too seriously. So almost two years in do you feel like youve got a handle on what this job is, what this new job is . Its evolving and it will keep evolving, but the constant is im here for her and that hasnt changed and that will never change. This is the Vice President s garden or at least part of it. Well have more from our Exclusive Tour of the naval observatory later, but up next, being a man who wants to help redefine masculinity. I dont know if youve heard this, but sometimes men have some fragile egos. I read about that. When you need it most. Ready for your speech, general . slight detour. trouble . in wakandan we will take care of them. Ive got this in wakandan lets go in wakandan . I have a speech to give. The firstever, fully electric lexus rz 450e. Empower a future that lasts forever. See Marvel Studios black Panther Wakanda forever. Only in theaters. i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Now, theres skyrizi. With skyrizi 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. Serious allergic reactio