Women’s History Month: Who Is Usha Vance?

We have heard and read a lot about Jackie Kennedy, Barbara Bush, Laura Bush, and Hillary Clinton. And, we hear and read a lot about our First Lady, Melania Trump. There is also a story that I find very interesting about our first Indian American Second Lady of the U.S, Usha Vance.

Usha Vance was born and raised in the working- class suburbs of San Diego, CA, to a mechanical engineer father and a molecular biologist mother who had moved to the US from Andhra Pradesh, India.

Usha was the summa cum laude Yale graduate, and a Phi Beta Kappa member. She was a Gates Cambridge Scholar earning a MPhil in early modern history before returning to Yale Law. There, she became executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal.

She met J.D. Vance while they were both students at Yale Law School in 2010. He describes her as a “genetic anomaly” because she possesses so many ideal qualities. He says he fell “in love” after the 1st date.

Usha was considered “top of her class.” She was generous with her knowledge and would share her outlines and notes with fellow students. Even her husband seems overawed by her elite credentials. The former Ohio senator—our VP J. D. Vance, has said her accomplishments leave him feeling “humbled”.

J.D. and Usha’s backgrounds could not be more diverse. He, from Appalachian Ohio, and she of eastern Indian heritage. It was no wonder when he found himself at a Gibson Dunn law firm recruiting dinner at one of the most expensive restaurants in D.C, he froze with fear as he faced nine bewildering utensils at his plate. Desperate, he went into the bathroom and called Usha!

Usha calmly told J.D. to go from outside to inside, and don’t use the same utensil for separate dishes. Oh, and to use the fat spoon only for soup—advise that may have helped him to land the job offer. It became a perfect metaphor for their entire relationship— extremely unlikely, and almost opposites of personality.

Usha clerked for Brett Kavanaugh, who was a Supreme Court justice on the D.C. court of appeals. She then clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts— both men are pillars of the highest court’s conservative majority.

In India, there is immense pride in Usha Vance’s storybook life, not least of all from her own relatives.

J.D. and Usha were married in Kentucky in 2014. They have three children, and are expecting their fourth child.