Usha Chilukuri Vance, wife of JD Vance, who was on Monday declared by Donald Trump as his vice-presidential candidate in the upcoming US presidential elections, brings with her a lot of credentials and a deep connection to Indian values and culture.
A lawyer with a national firm, Usha Vance is the daughter of Indian immigrants and has an impressive educational background.
According to the New York Times, he holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University and a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Cambridge.
Born Usha Chilukuri, she has had a distinguished career in the legal field, having clerked for Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh prior to Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Court.
Raised in a suburb of San Diego, California, with an emphasis on education and hard work, Usha’s academic accomplishments include serving as managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology and executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal, according to a biography from the Munger, Tolles & Olson law firm.
After four years of intense extracurricular activities at Yale, she continued her studies as a Gates Fellow at Cambridge, where she worked with left-wing and liberal groups. In 2014 she was a registered Democrat.
According to the New York Times, Usha and JD Vance first met at Yale Law School and were married in 2014 in Kentucky, with a Hindu priest presiding over the ceremony separately. The couple have three children.
Usha Vance has played a subtle but vital role in her husband’s success. She assisted Vance in organizing his thoughts on social degradation in rural white America, which inspired his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which was adapted into a film directed by Ron Howard in 2020.
In the past, she also made rare appearances while running for an Ohio Senate seat with Vance.
As the US presidential election draws closer, former US President Donald Trump on Monday announced JD Vance as his running mate for the post of Vice President. Trump confirmed Vance’s candidacy through a post on social media.
Speaking to ANI, AI Mason, a US-based global real estate investment advisor and a renowned entrepreneur, said, “Usha Vance is a highly accomplished lawyer and the daughter of Indian immigrants – and her husband brings youthfulness and diversity to the Trump ticket.”
The entrepreneur, who is also a friend of the Trump family, said, “She knows everything about Indian culture and India. She can be a great help to her husband in furthering good relations between the US and India.”
Meanwhile, in an earlier interview with Fox & Friends, Usha Chilukuri Vance and her senator husband spoke about their different faiths and were asked about her views on speculation over her selection for the US Vice President.
“I don’t think people understand how hard he works and how creative he is. Everything he says and does is very well thought out. He’s always striving to do better,” Usha Vance said.
When asked about the reason behind supporting JD Vance as the US Presidential elections are around the corner, Usha told Fox, “There are a lot of different reasons… One is that I grew up in a religious family. My parents are Hindu and that’s one of the things that made them such good parents, that’s one of the things that made them really good people. And so I think I saw that… felt the power of that in my own life and I knew that JD was searching for something. It felt right for him.”
The interview was conducted three weeks before J.D. Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate in the upcoming US presidential election.
Vance was born James David Bowman in Middletown, Ohio. His mother struggled with addiction and his father abandoned the family when JD was a child. He was raised by his grandparents.
The Trump campaign says the former president, after his death, will call for unity in the face of tragedy rather than criticize his political opponents as he faces off with President Biden in the 2024 election.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
