就在森之后的三周伯尼·桑德斯民主党候选人乔·拜登退出了竞选挖掘了一小群长期忠诚者帮助他在12年前成为副总统。
参与这一过程的多个个人告诉美国广播公司新闻，该小组两人一组，很快组成了一个由大约20名女性组成的广泛网络，他们认为这些女性应该被考虑。
但这份名单只筛选出11个，其中包括由搜索委员会成员和律师团队根据最严格的保密协议进行的更具侵入性的一轮询问。
最终，候选人范围将进一步缩小，只剩下最后考虑的女性，参议员卡马拉·哈里斯和前国家安全顾问苏珊·赖斯接近榜首。
拜登选择了哈里斯，这是第一位黑人女性，第一位印度裔女性，也是美国历史上第四位被选为主要政党候选人的女性，这标志着拜登的又一次历史性竞选。
尽管哈里斯一直是最受欢迎的，但她的选择并不是必然的结果。邀请她加入的决定是三个月工作的结果，这三个月的工作让候选人经历了长达数小时的正式面试和律师团队的跟进电话，以及对女性自己提交的大量文件的评估——这是一项乏味的任务，意味着要千方百计。
民主党总统候选人乔·拜登和他的竞选伙伴参议员卡马拉·哈里斯在德尔威尔明顿的一次竞选活动中相互擦肩而过。，2020年8月12日。
在重建导致拜登决定的搜索过程中，美国广播公司新闻采访了多位熟悉该过程并与考虑中的女性关系密切的人。
拜登的盟友和亲密顾问组成的委员会负责监督这一细致而隐秘的过程，其中包括:前康涅狄格州参议员克里斯·多德、特拉华州众议员丽莎·布朗特·罗彻斯特、洛杉矶市长埃里克·加希提和拜登的长期助手辛西娅·霍根。
在对近20名女性进行了第一轮采访后，该团队向拜登提交了他们的调查结果，以缩减名单，进行更深入的评估。
由11名候选人组成的核心小组接受了所谓的“侵入性”、“耗时”和“广泛”的审查，其中包括一份针对女性的长达120多个问题的问卷。调查范围从简历细节到个人简历，还探讨了可能对候选人不利的任何潜在法律、医疗或政治责任。
问题是这样的，“有没有你认为公平或不公平的人会攻击你的任命?”或者“你特别自豪的政治立场是什么?”?'
包括前白宫法律顾问鲍勃·鲍尔、竞选总法律顾问达纳·雷穆斯和前国土安全顾问丽莎·摩纳哥在内的知名律师，以及律师团队，对近十几名女性进行了彻底的法律审查。
这些律师与一些候选人进行了长达两个半小时的交谈，并进行多次跟进，要求他们提出更多问题和澄清，还要求候选人汇编大量公共、私人和政治文件和记录，以供审查——这对候选人及其助手来说是一项艰巨的任务。
两位联合主席——布朗特·罗彻斯特和多德，以及加尔塞蒂和霍根——在拜登做出决定之前，曾不止一次地对经过筛选的候选人名单进行了详尽的面试。
对审查委员会的第二轮采访，部分目的是关注每一位候选人在医疗保健等对民主党初选至关重要的问题上的执政理念。采访还回顾了2020年初选期间的一些关键动态，包括围绕女性是否认为自己更像一个妥协者或意识形态纯粹主义者的问题。
在长达三个多月的深入调查中，审查委员会总共进行了120个小时的采访，背景是该国一些前所未有的情况。
冠状病毒极大地改变了搜索的方式，乔治·弗洛伊德去世后的抗议活动让拜登面临巨大的公众压力，要求他选择一名黑人女性。
这些非同寻常的危机有助于提升一些候选人的国家形象，并有可能在整个试镜过程中提升他们的前景，同时也在审查过程带来的令人生畏的审查中向他们提出挑战。
密歇根州州长格雷琴·惠特默，因其对冠状病毒大流行的早期和积极的反应而获得全国瞩目的女性之一，以及参议员谭美·达克沃斯·迪尔。他因唐纳德·特朗普总统在种族问题示威游行中使用武力而成为焦点，会见拜登在他做出选择的两周前。
惠特莫尔和杜克沃斯最初都不被认为是顶级竞争者，但随着这一过程延续到夏季，他们成为了强大的竞争者。
2020年2月4日，密歇根州兰辛市，州长格雷琴·惠特默在她的办公室举行新闻发布会。
哈里斯一直被认为是领先者，他早在7月份就与拜登会面。
如果拜登有一个更喜欢的人选，他从来没有公开表示过可能是谁，但接近审查委员会的消息来源认为，副总统的平行竞争总是哈里斯的损失。
审查委员会在整个过程中经常与拜登交谈，但没有向他提出正式建议。
经过广泛的审查，这位民主党候选人对他的女性候选人名单进行了一对一的采访，包括面对面的和虚拟的。
拜登很早就清楚他想要的第二名是什么——他会和第二名产生私人化学反应，就像他和前总统巴拉克·奥巴马一样，或者像他说的那样，在执政过程中和他“简单地相处”。他还希望有一个准备好在“第一天”上台的搭档——这反映了拜登的年龄现实，因为如果他在11月当选，他将是78岁就职的最年长的总统。
但是，在拜登参选和最终决定竞选搭档的问题上，最突出的因素是他的儿子博。
拜登在一封致支持者的电子邮件中宣布了他的决定:“我第一次见到卡玛拉是通过我的儿子博。”“没有人的意见比博的意见更重要，我为卡玛拉在这次竞选中与我站在一起而感到骄傲。”
在拜登公开他的决定的前一个周日晚上，审查委员会——已经结束了他们的工作——只是在等待宣布，这个过程中的最后一步只落到了拜登身上。
多位消息人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，就在拜登的历史性决定公布前几个小时，他与一些他考虑过但最终被忽略的女性进行了交谈。
一位消息人士称，在与杜克沃斯的转换过程中，拜登感谢她参与了这一过程，并告诉她，她不是他要求加入他的候选人。
2020年5月6日，谭美·达克沃斯参议员在国会参议院军事委员会听证会上发言。
一位知情人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，在众议员凯伦·巴斯(Karen Bass)周二与拜登(Biden)通话后，国会黑人核心小组主席就怀孕女囚犯健康标准的两党法案召开了一次圆桌会议，尽管她的电话里充斥着关于拜登声明的各种活动。
据一位知情人士透露，这一过程本身引发了复杂的情绪，因为一些有争议的人有时觉得，随着搜索的进行，他们对自己的立场一无所知，而另一些人则认为这是专业的，认为拜登自始至终都很善良、有绅士风度。其中一位知情人士从拜登那里得知，她不是最佳人选。
最终，拜登选择哈里斯的决定反映了他经常公开说的话:他想要一个他认识的搭档。
搜索在周二下午的一次对话中达到高潮。拜登问了哈里斯一个简单的问题:“你准备好去工作了吗?”
她先是停顿了一下，然后回答说:“哦，我的上帝。“我已经准备好去上班了。”
对于另一位没有被选入美国第二高职位的女性来说，如果拜登在秋季获胜，在拜登政府工作的前景似乎依然存在。
据知情人士透露，拜登在周二的一个电话中提到，这位没有被选为副总统候选人的候选人有可能在内阁中担任其他职务。
“本届政府面临的任务将是巨大的。有许多任务，我需要一个伙伴来帮助我解决它们。但这并不仅限于高层。”
'Invasive,' 'time consuming,' 'extensive': Inside the 3-month search for Biden's VP pick
Just three weeks after Sen.Bernie Sandersexited the race, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Bidentapped a small cohort of longtime loyaliststo help him with the process that led him to the vice presidency a dozen years earlier.
That group, working in pairs, quickly cast a wide net of some 20 women whom they thought should be considered, multiple individuals involved with the process told ABC News.
But that list winnowed to just 11, which involved a more invasive round of questioning by search committee members and teams of lawyers under the strictest agreements of confidentiality.
Eventually the pool would narrow further to only the women left in final consideration, with Sen. Kamala Harris and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice nearing the top of the list.
Biden's selection of Harris, the first Black woman, the first woman of Indian descent and only the fourth woman in the country’s history to be chosen to join a major party ticket, marks another historic bid for Biden.
While Harris was always a favorite, her selection was not a foregone conclusion. The decision to ask her to join the ticket was the result of three months of work that put candidates through hours-long formal interviews and follow up calls from teams of lawyers, as well as the evaluation of a massive volume of documents submitted by the women themselves — a tedious task meant to leave no stone unturned.
In reconstructing the search that led to Biden’s decision, ABC News spoke with multiple people familiar with the process and close to the women under consideration.
Biden's committee of allies and close advisers, who were charged with overseeing the meticulous and secretive process, included: former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Cynthia Hogan, a longtime Biden aide.
After an initial round of interviews with nearly two dozen women, the team presented their findings to Biden to pare down the list for more in-depth assessments.
The core group of 11 candidates underwent what was described as an "invasive," "time consuming" and "extensive" vetting, which involved a lengthy questionnaire for the women of more than 120 questions. The inquiries ranged from resume details to biographical ones and also explored any potential legal, medical or political liabilities that could be leveled against the candidates.
Questions fell along the lines of 'is there anyone who you think fairly or unfairly would attack your appointment?' or 'what’s a political stand that you’ve taken that you’re particularly proud of?'
High-profile attorneys, including former White House counsel Bob Bauer, campaign general counsel Dana Remus and former Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco, along with teams of lawyers, managed the thorough legal vetting of the nearly dozen women.
The attorneys spoke with some of the candidates for up to two and a half hours and conducted multiple follow-up calls for additional questions and clarifications, and candidates were also asked to compile extensive public, private and political documents and records for review — an arduous undertaking for the candidates and their aides.
The co-chairs worked in earnest in pairs — Blunt Rochester and Dodd, and Garcetti and Hogan — to run through the exhaustive process, interviewing a trimmed-down list of candidates more than once before Biden made his decision.
A second round of interviews with the vetting committee in part sought to focus on each of the candidates’ governing philosophies on issues that were central to the Democratic primary, such as health care. The interviews also hearkened back to some of the key dynamics that played out during the 2020 primary race, including questions around whether the women considered themselves more of a compromiser or an ideological purist.
In total, the vetting committee racked up 120 hours worth of interviews throughout the more than three-month deep-dive, and against the backdrop of some of the most unprecedented circumstances for the country.
The coronavirus transformed much of how the search was run, and the protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd subjected Biden to significant public pressure to choose a Black woman.
The extraordinary crises helped to raise some of the contenders' national profiles and possibly boost their prospects throughout their auditions, while also challenging them amid the daunting scrutiny that comes with the vetting process.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, one of the women who garnered national prominence for her early and aggressive response to the coronavirus pandemic, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who was drawn into the spotlight by President Donald Trump’s use of military force during the demonstrations over race,met with Bidenin the two weeks before he made his choice.
Both Whitmer and Duckworth, who weren’t initially considered to be among the top competitors, emerged as formidable contenders as the process extended into the summer months.
Harris, who was long considered the frontrunner, was meeting with Biden as early as July.
If Biden had a preferred pick, he never showed publicly an inkling of who that might be, but sources close to the vetting committee felt that the parallel race for the vice presidency was always Harris’ to lose.
The vetting committee often spoke with Biden throughout the process, but no formal recommendation was made to him.
Following the extensive vetting, the presumptive Democratic nominee conducted one-on-one interviews with his short list of women, both in-person and virtually.
Biden had long been clear about what he was looking for in a No. 2 — one that he would have personal chemistry with, as he did with former President Barack Obama, or as he said, would be "simpatico" with him in governing. He also wanted a partner who was prepared to step into the role on "day one" — a reflection of the reality of Biden’s age, as he would be the oldest president inaugurated at 78 if he were elected in November.
But the most salient factor that loomed over both Biden’s entry into the race and his final decision for a running mate was his son, Beau.
"I first met Kamala through my son Beau," Biden wrote in an email to supporters announcing his decision. "There is no one’s opinion I valued more than Beau’s and I’m proud to have Kamala standing with me on this campaign."
The Sunday night before Biden made his decision public, the vetting committee — having wrapped up their work — were simply awaiting the announcement, the final step in the process that fell only to Biden.
Just hours before Biden’s history-defining decision was made public, he spoke with some of the women he considered but ultimately passed on, multiple sources tell ABC News.
In his conversion with Duckworth, a source said, Biden thanked her for participating in the process and informed her she was not the one he was asking to join him on the ticket.
After Rep. Karen Bass spoke with Biden on Tuesday, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus went ahead with a Zoom roundtable about a bipartisan bill on health standards for pregnant female inmates, even as her phone was abuzz with activity about Biden's announcement, a source familiar with the call told ABC News.
The process itself elicited mixed feelings as some of those in contention felt, at times, entirely in the dark about where they stood as the search wore on and others felt it was professional and thought Biden to be kind and gentlemanly throughout, a source close to one of the women, who was informed personally from Biden that she was not the pick, said.
In the end, Biden’s decision to choose Harris reflected what he often said publicly: He wanted a partner that he knew.
The search culminated in a single conversation on Tuesday afternoon. Biden asked Harris one simple question: "You ready to go to work?"
She first paused, before replying, "Oh my god. I am so ready to go to work," over a Zoom call.
For the other woman who were not picked to serve in the second-highest office in the country, the prospect of working in a Biden administration appears to remain on the table should Biden emerge victorious in the fall.
In one of his phone calls on Tuesday, a source with knowledge of the conversation said Biden raised the prospect of the candidate, who was not selected for the vice presidential post, serving in another role in his cabinet.
"The task before the administration will be huge. There’s many tasks, and I'll need a partner to help me tackle them. But it doesn't stop at the top," Biden said in July.
ABC News’ Zohreen Shah, Benjamin Siegel and Averi Harper contributed reporting.
