During the election campaign, American voters were bombarded with images of both candidates – as they spoke from the stage, greeted crowds at rallies and descended the stairs as they exited the plane.
Here's a different perspective on who they are and where they come from.
Decades apart, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris spent her early years living in Oakland, California, while Republican candidate Trump grew up in the New York borough of Queens.
Kamala Harris and her sister Maya were raised primarily by their Indian mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a cancer researcher and social activist.
Trump's father, Fred Trump, was the son of German immigrants, and his mother, Mary Ann McLeod Trump, was born in Scotland.
At the age of 13, he enrolled at the New York Military Academy.
Harris was in high school for five years in Montreal, Canada, where her mother accepted a teaching position at McGill University.
She later enrolled at a historically black college, Howard University in Washington.
Trump says his five years at the academy, which began in 1959, gave him military training and helped build his leadership skills.
He later missed the Vietnam War due to discharge – four for academic reasons and once for osteophytes (bone problems).
From an early age, Kamala Harris was taught the importance of the civil rights movement by her mother and attended the annual Martin Luther King Jr. March on Washington in 2004.
After earning a degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Trump became the favorite to succeed his father at the head of the family company.
Kamala Harris returned to California, where she rose to the top of the state's criminal justice system by taking a job as a California public defender and using that momentum to make a successful run for the US Senate in 2016.
At the same time she entered Congress, Trump moved into the White House, shocking the world by defeating Hillary Clinton.
Three years later, Harris ran an unconvincing presidential campaign, but the winner of the Democratic race, Joseph Biden, chose her as his running mate.
The two proved to be the winning ticket, defeating Trump and Mike Pence in the 2020 election.
The end of Trump's presidency and the beginning of the Biden-Harris term were marked by quarantines due to Covid, mandatory wearing of masks and street riots after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Harris struggled at times to make a mark as vice president, but found his voice in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down abortion rights.
Biden gladly entrusted her to be the White House representative on behalf of the pro-choice movement.
It was Trump who made the Supreme Court more conservative, paving the way for the abortion decision.
During his time in the Oval Office, he pulled the US out of the Paris climate accord and took steps to reduce immigration.
Kamala Harris' debut foreign visit as vice president was to Guatemala in 2021 as part of her mandate to reduce the number of Latin American migrants reaching the US's southern border with Mexico.
The foreign policy issues that dominated during her tenure were the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Trump's first foreign visit as president was to Saudi Arabia in 2017.
Trump advocates an isolationist policy that involves pulling his country out of conflicts abroad and promoting American industry.
Harris is married to Doug Emhoff, who regularly campaigns on her behalf.
She is the stepmother to Emhoff's children from his first marriage, Cole and Ella.
Various members of Donald Trump's family have played roles in his political career, although his wife, former first lady Melania Trump's 2024 campaign appearances have been limited.
With his first wife, Ivana, who died in July 2022, Trump has three children: Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric.
He has a daughter, Tiffany, with his second wife, Marla Maples.
He married third wife Melania in 2005, with whom he has one son, Barron.
Kamala Harris entered the 2024 presidential race relatively late in the process, replacing Joseph Biden, who dropped out.
She made history as the first black and Asian-American woman to lead a major party, and delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
In the same primaries, Donald Trump won the rare title of his party's third presidential nomination.
He spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wearing a bandage on his head after surviving an assassination attempt on the campaign trail. (BBC)
Here's a different perspective on who they are and where they come from.
Decades apart, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris spent her early years living in Oakland, California, while Republican candidate Trump grew up in the New York borough of Queens.
Kamala Harris and her sister Maya were raised primarily by their Indian mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a cancer researcher and social activist.
Trump's father, Fred Trump, was the son of German immigrants, and his mother, Mary Ann McLeod Trump, was born in Scotland.
At the age of 13, he enrolled at the New York Military Academy.
Harris was in high school for five years in Montreal, Canada, where her mother accepted a teaching position at McGill University.
She later enrolled at a historically black college, Howard University in Washington.
Trump says his five years at the academy, which began in 1959, gave him military training and helped build his leadership skills.
He later missed the Vietnam War due to discharge – four for academic reasons and once for osteophytes (bone problems).
From an early age, Kamala Harris was taught the importance of the civil rights movement by her mother and attended the annual Martin Luther King Jr. March on Washington in 2004.
After earning a degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Trump became the favorite to succeed his father at the head of the family company.
Kamala Harris returned to California, where she rose to the top of the state's criminal justice system by taking a job as a California public defender and using that momentum to make a successful run for the US Senate in 2016.
At the same time she entered Congress, Trump moved into the White House, shocking the world by defeating Hillary Clinton.
Three years later, Harris ran an unconvincing presidential campaign, but the winner of the Democratic race, Joseph Biden, chose her as his running mate.
The two proved to be the winning ticket, defeating Trump and Mike Pence in the 2020 election.
The end of Trump's presidency and the beginning of the Biden-Harris term were marked by quarantines due to Covid, mandatory wearing of masks and street riots after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Harris struggled at times to make a mark as vice president, but found his voice in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down abortion rights.
Biden gladly entrusted her to be the White House representative on behalf of the pro-choice movement.
It was Trump who made the Supreme Court more conservative, paving the way for the abortion decision.
During his time in the Oval Office, he pulled the US out of the Paris climate accord and took steps to reduce immigration.
Kamala Harris' debut foreign visit as vice president was to Guatemala in 2021 as part of her mandate to reduce the number of Latin American migrants reaching the US's southern border with Mexico.
The foreign policy issues that dominated during her tenure were the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Trump's first foreign visit as president was to Saudi Arabia in 2017.
Trump advocates an isolationist policy that involves pulling his country out of conflicts abroad and promoting American industry.
Harris is married to Doug Emhoff, who regularly campaigns on her behalf.
She is the stepmother to Emhoff's children from his first marriage, Cole and Ella.
Various members of Donald Trump's family have played roles in his political career, although his wife, former first lady Melania Trump's 2024 campaign appearances have been limited.
With his first wife, Ivana, who died in July 2022, Trump has three children: Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric.
He has a daughter, Tiffany, with his second wife, Marla Maples.
He married third wife Melania in 2005, with whom he has one son, Barron.
Kamala Harris entered the 2024 presidential race relatively late in the process, replacing Joseph Biden, who dropped out.
She made history as the first black and Asian-American woman to lead a major party, and delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
In the same primaries, Donald Trump won the rare title of his party's third presidential nomination.
He spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wearing a bandage on his head after surviving an assassination attempt on the campaign trail. (BBC)
