VP Harris makes history as 1st woman to give West Point commencement speech

NEW YORK - Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to deliver a commencement speech at West Point, lauded graduating cadets Saturday for their noble sacrifice in serving their country, but noted they were entering an "Unsettled world" because of Russian aggression and the rising threats from China. "The world has drastically changed," Harris told the roughly 950 graduating cadets. Commencement speakers at the country's military academies are usually delivered by the president, vice president or high-ranking military official - which until Harris' election meant speakers have always been men. Harris was joined at the commencement by Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, who in 2021 became the first woman to hold the military service's top civilian post. Harris, the first woman to serve as the country's vice president, noted the 75th anniversary of 1948's Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which gave women the right to serve as permanent members of the military. While Harris visited West Point, about 60 miles north of Manhattan, President Joe Biden heads to Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Thursday to address graduates at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Last year, Harris addressed graduates at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.