By now, most of us know about JD Vance and his hotheaded temperament as the Vice President has never shied away or held back his emotions. However, very little is known about his wife, Usha Vance, as she has maintained a relatively low profile. While her duties as Second Lady might eventually give us a peek into her mind, JD Vance had the honor of doing so in his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.
Trailing his journey from a working-class boy to a lawyer, the memoir also chronicles his relationship with Usha, right from their days as students at Yale Law School. JD Vance, in Hillbilly Elegy, revealed the significance of having Usha as a partner, writing, “Even at my best, I’m a delayed explosion – I can be defused, but only with skill and precision. It’s not just that I’ve learned to control myself but that Usha has learned how to manage me.”
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JD Vance described his first impressions of her and his compliments knew no limitations. “She seemed (like) some sort of genetic anomaly, a combination of every positive quality a human being should have: bright, hardworking, tall, and beautiful. In a place that always seemed a little foreign, Usha’s presence made me feel at home,” JD Vance wrote.
Given his humble beginnings, Vance found it difficult to grow accustomed to Yale Law School’s elitist ways, crediting Usha as his “spirit guide” who helped him navigate through life at the premier law institute. Whether it was assisting him with which fork to use at fancy college dinners or making him understand that “every perceived slight is not cause for a blood feud,” Usha had Vance’s back through it all.
Recounting the starkly different backgrounds that they hailed from, Usha Vance said, “My background is very different from JD’s. I grew up in San Diego, in a middle-class community with two loving parents, both immigrants from India, and a wonderful sister. That JD and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry, is a testament to this great country.”
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And while she had an active career in law, working with Munger, Tolles, and Olson, Usha parted ways with the firm when JD Vance joined hands with Donald Trump as his running mate. Trump’s victory made Usha Vance the first person of Indian American origin to become the Second Lady. Speaking about her Hindu roots and the lasting influence it has had on her life, Usha said, “My parents are Hindu and that was one of the things that made them such good parents, that make them really, very good people. And so, I think I’ve seen that, the power of that in my own life.”
