JD Vance’s India visit: Who is Usha Vance, the Second Lady of the US?

Usha Bala Chilukuri Vance is an American lawyer and the wife of US Vice President JD Vance. On April 21, 2025, the couple, along with their children, landed in Udaipur, India. This marked their first official visit to India and a return to Vance’s roots. The couple were welcomed with a red-carpet entry and traditional Rajasthani rituals, folk dancers, and ornately decorated elephants.

 

Usha is the first Asian American and the first Hindu American to become the Second Lady of the United States. She obtained a Bachelor's degree in History and a Juris Doctor (JD) from Yale University, along with a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) from Clare College, Cambridge.

 

She served as a law clerk for Judge Amul Thapar in 2013 and worked at the California-based firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, where she worked with clients like Paramount and Walt Disney, among others. Though she was born in San Diego County, California, her roots are in Andhra Pradesh. Usha was raised in the suburbs of San Diego by Telugu Indian immigrant parents. Her father is a mechanical engineer who graduated from IIT and her mother is a molecular biologist.

 

Usha and JD Vance got married in 2014, and have three children: Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel. She continues to practise Hinduism. As a former trial lawyer, she has worked closely with justices of the US Supreme Court. Her husband describes her as "brilliant" and calls her journey “humbling”. In his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance traces back to his passionate, star-struck lover days in addition to discussing his childhood and upbringing.

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