Meet Indian-born Usha Chilukuri Vance, wife of Trump's VP pick

Washington:

Usha Chilukuri Vance, the wife of JD Vance, whom Donald Trump declared on Monday as his running mate in the upcoming US presidential elections, brings a wealth of credentials and a deep connection to Indian values and culture.

A lawyer at a national firm, Usha Vance is the daughter of Indian immigrants and has an impressive academic background.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University and a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Cambridge, according to the New York Times.

Born Usha Chilukuri, she carved out a distinguished career in the legal field, having clerked for Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh before the latter was appointed to the Court.

Raised in a suburb of San Diego, California, with a strong emphasis on education and hard work, Usha’s academic accomplishments include serving as editor-in-chief of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology and executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal, according to a biography from the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson.

After four years of intense extracurricular activities at Yale, she continued her studies as a Gates Scholar at Cambridge, where she became involved with left-wing and liberal groups. She joined the Democratic Party in 2014.

Usha and J.D. Vance met at Yale Law School and married in Kentucky in 2014, with a Hindu priest officiating at a separate ceremony, according to The New York Times. The couple have three children together.

Usha Vance played a subtle but important role in her husband’s success. She helped Vance organize his thoughts on the social decline of 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 made rare appearances alongside Vance as he ran for a Senate seat in Ohio.

As the US presidential election approaches, former US President Donald Trump has made his choice for vice president, choosing JD Vance as his running mate on Monday. Trump confirmed Vance’s candidacy in a social media post.

Speaking to ANI, AI Mason, a US-based global real estate investment advisor and a well-known entrepreneur, said, “Usha Vance is a highly accomplished lawyer and daughter of Indian immigrants – and her husband brings youth and diversity to the Trump ticket.”

“She knows Indian culture and everything about India. She can be a great help to her husband in managing the close ties between the US and India,” said the entrepreneur, who is also a friend of the Trump family.

Meanwhile, in an earlier interview with Fox & Friends, Usha Chilukuri Vance and her senator husband spoke about their different beliefs and views on speculations that he would become a choice for the post of US Vice President.

“I don’t think people understand how hard he works and how creative he is. Everything he says and does is built on a foundation of thought. He’s always trying to do better,” Usha Vance said.

Asked why she supported JD Vance ahead of the US presidential election, Usha told Fox: “There are a number of different reasons… One of them 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, made them such good people. So I think I saw that… the power of that in my own life, and I knew that JD was looking for something. It felt right.”

The interview was conducted three weeks before JD Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate in the upcoming US presidential election.

Vance was born James David Bowman in Middletown, Ohio, to a mother who struggled with addiction and a father who left the family when JD was a toddler. He was raised by his grandparents.

The Trump campaign says the former president, after his near-death experience, will call for unity in the face of tragedy rather than criticize his political opponents as he faces President Biden in a rematch in the 2024 election.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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