The picture was, on the surface, unremarkable. A woman with a bun and a hoodie enjoyed a board game with her grandnieces. The scene could have taken place anywhere in America.

Yet it made the news because the woman in the center was not just anyone but Kamala Harris. A few days prior, she was on the verge of being America’s first female President. Now, she was just another American, spending time with her family following the defeat of Donald Trump.

Harris now joins the long list of Americans who sought but lost the presidency. For now, the nation is still grappling with the outcomes of the election. But Harris’ future remains a curiosity. What will Harris do next, suddenly out of office for the first time since 2003?

Being out of office could, of course, be temporary. Before becoming vice president, Harris served as a senator from California. Both of California’s senate seats are now filled, but the state may have more political opportunities for her.

Governor Gavin Newsom cannot run again due to California’s term limits, meaning that the Governor’s seat will be open in 2026. Harris can seek that office. Some have even floated the idea of her being appointed to the Supreme Court or running again in 2028.

However, assuming Harris does not quickly find another office, what does she do instead? In that regard, Harris could look to the past, at the numerous other candidates who lost their presidential bids as well.

Harris’ Connect 4 picture has already been compared to a similarly casual picture taken in 2016. A woman on the hike found Hillary Clinton, days after her own failed election, walking her dogs in the forest.

Clinton had similarly been involved in politics for a long time. Her loss in 2016 ended a political career going back at least to 2000, when she was elected to the Senate, but arguably to 1993 when her status as the new First Lady brought her back into the national spotlight.

Hillary Clinton was old enough to simply retire after her defeat. However, she didn’t and has instead remained remarkably busy. Since then, she has written two memoirs, co-wrote a thriller novel, and co-wrote another book with her daughter. She became a professor at Columbia and then Chancellor of a school in Northern Ireland.

Mitt Romney, John McCain, and John Kerry all continued to serve in Congress after their failed campaigns. John Kerry notably became Secretary of State, succeeding Hillary Clinton in the role. Kamala Harris, therefore, could theoretically be appointed to the cabinet of the next Democratic President, perhaps as Attorney General, given her relevant experience.

Al Gore neither re-entered politics nor pursued intellectual pursuits like Clinton. He founded The Climate Reality Project, an environmental non-profit for which he still serves as Chairman. He is also the co-founder and chairman of an investment firm and was on Apple’s Board of Directors for nearly twenty years.

Kamala Harris could start and lead a non-profit or a think tank or enter the corporate world as numerous presidents have done. Another option could be to become a lobbyist, as Bob Dole did follow his lost election.

Kamala Harris is only sixty years old, making her the first presidential candidate since Barack Obama to be too young to retire. Of course, she and her husband still have a net worth of millions. If she wanted, Harris could retire today. But given her long career in public service, it seems unlikely that she would.

Whatever comes next is only for her to decide, but whatever it is, she has plenty of options to choose from.