Can Kamala Harris become first female US president, validating Gerald Ford’s 1989 remark?

Vice President Kamala Harris, an Indian-American politician, is among the names who can replace President Joe Biden as a candidate for Democrats for the 2024 presidential election amid concerns over the president's age and health.

Some Democrats have openly questioned whether or not Biden should be replaced as a candidate in this year's election, especially after his shaky performance in the debate with former president Donald Trump on June 27.

Similar chatter has been going on among voters, with some discussing it on social media forums. In fact, at a daily White House briefing on Tuesday (Jul 2), a reporter asked the press secretary a direct question about Biden's cognitive state.

Besides Harris, other potential replacements includeCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. But the process won't be easy.

Talks around Biden's possible replacement remind the world of former president Gerald Ford's old statement when he talked about how the nation would get its first female president.

While giving a talk in 1989 to about 100 schoolchildren at the Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in Iowa, Ford claimed that a woman would become president by first being elected vice president and then assuming the role of president upon the death of the president.

He was asked when a woman would become president, to which he replied: "I can tell you how I think it will happen. He added that he didn't believe it would happen through the "normal course of events".

He said, "Either the Republican or Democrat political party will nominate a man for president and a woman for vice president, and the woman and man will win. So we'll end up with a president, a male, and a vice president, a female. And in that term of office of the president, the president will die, and the woman will become president under the law, our Constitution."

"And once that barrier is broken, from then on, men better be careful because they'll have a hard, hard time ever even getting a nomination in the future. But that's the way it's gonna happen, and I think it will probably come some time in the next four or eight years," Ford added.

Ignoring the death part and considering health issues as the main reason, the current circumstances are similar to what Ford prophesied in 1989.

Watch the archive video here:

How Biden can be replaced?

When it comes to replacement, there is still time to make a change as Biden will not be nominated officially until later this summer.

As quoted by the news agency Reuters, Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, a Democratic National Committee (DNC) member, and author of the book "Primary Politics" about the presidential nominating process, said, "Biden could decide himself to step aside before he is nominated; he could be challenged by others who try to win over the delegates he has accrued; or he could withdraw after the Democratic convention in Chicago in August, leaving the Democratic National Committee to elect someone to run against Trump in his place."

If Biden "releases" his delegates by stepping aside, there could be a competition among other Democratic candidates to become the nominee.

As per a recent CNN poll, Harris has emerged as a stronger contender with a better chance of retaining the White House against Trump in the elections as compared to Biden.

Harris said Tuesday she was "proud" to be Biden's running mate, but amid the president's worsening health, her chances to secure the Oval Office for the next five years in the White House have gained remarkable credence. However, it's not just Harris but also Whitmer's potential elevation from Michigan governor's office to Washington's corridors of power is set to dominate the American presidential election's discourse, if Biden stands down.

(With inputs from agencies)