Who is Usha Vance? The second lady of Republican-led United States
Updated: Jan 21st, 2025
The wife of Vice-President JD Vance, Usha Vance, became the first Indian-American and Hindu Second Lady as husband Vance sworn in as the 50th Vice President of the United States on Monday.
Lady Vance was dressed in a bubblegum pink long coat with a matching scarf and belt coupled with pearl earrings.
US President Donald Trump praised her on Tuesday calling her ‘smarter than her husband’.
“I watch JD over a period of time. I endorsed him in Ohio. He was a great senator and a very, very smart one,” said Trump, but added, “The only one smarter is his wife”.
He also said that he would have chosen her but ‘succession does not work like that’.
An awe moment was captured on Tuesday and netizens couldn’t stop talking about Usha and JD.
Usha was Holding the Bible in one hand and their daughter Mirabel Rose in the other. She stood by Vance, looking at him with pride, while he placed his left hand on the Bible, raising his right hand to take the oath of office.
Netizens reacted, “Get yourself a girl who looks at you like Usha Vance looks at J.D. Vance,”
“Second Lady Usha Vance proudly watches on as her husband takes the oath of office and is sworn in as Vice President of the United States," another X user wrote.
Who is Indian-origin Usha Vance?
Usha is the daughter of Radhakrishna “Krish” Chilukuri, an aerospace engineer, and Lakshmi Chilukuri, the provost at the University of California, San Diego.
Her parents are immigrants from India, specifically from the Telugu region. Usha met JD Vance while they were both studying law at Yale University.
J.D. Vance, who came from a broken family with his mother, a drug addict, and suffered poverty, credited Usha in his memoir with being his "spirit guide" who helped him navigate the Ivy League university and professional life.
Raised by his grandmother, Vance joined the military to escape the dysfunction of life in Middleton, Ohio, and got his break with admission to Yale, where he said he felt out of place.
He wrote: “In a place that always seemed a little foreign, Usha's presence made me feel at home.” They married in 2014.
After briefly practicing law, J.D. Vance turned to business as a venture capitalist.
Entering politics, he was elected to the Senate in 2022.
Usha Vance is a corporate litigator who left a prestigious law firm after he was named the Vice President candidate.
She worked previously as a clerk for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Kavanaugh while he was an appeals court judge.
J.D. Vance also influenced her. She switched her membership from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
In 2020, Kamala Harris made history as the first Indian American and the first woman to assume office of vice president of US.
(With inputs from syndicated feed)
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