JD Vance describes his wife as his ‘spirit guide’: Who is Usha Chilukuri Vance?

Last month, after surviving an attempted assassination, Donald Trump announced his running mate as James David Vance, also known as JD Vance. While he may have revealed the name in July 2024, the Republican presidential nominee suggested that he already knew who his running mate would be in June 2024 but chose to keep it a secret.

JD Vance was once a critic of Trump and even called the former POTUS an ‘idiot,’ but his views have changed over the years. As JD takes on the political campaign of his party alongside Trump, let’s take a look into his private life including an Ivy League-educated lawyer wife and three kids.

Who is JD Vance’s wife - Usha Chilukuri Vance?

JD Vance and Usha Chilukuri met when they were students at Yale Law School in 2013. The two started off as friends and while working together on a brief Usha was left impressed by his diligence, reports Business Insider. The two got married in 2014. The Indian American was raised in San Diego by a mechanical engineer and biologist in a religious Hindu family.

According to MailOnline, Usha has carved out a significant career in law. Even while she was at Yale, she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology.

After graduating from Yale Law School, she clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, an esteemed position that highlights her legal acumen. But that’s just not it, Usha has also clerked for Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and Judge Amul Thapar in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

At Yale, she worked pro bono with the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic, the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project. Her most recent job title was of a litigator at Munger, Tolles & Olson, a prestigious law firm known for its high-profile cases and clients. However, she left the firm as her husband was nominated. She told People:

In light of today’s news, I have resigned from my position at Munger, Tolles & Olson to focus on caring for our family. I am forever grateful for the opportunities I’ve had at Munger and for the excellent colleagues and friends I’ve worked with over the years.

Usha was not always a Republican

The daughter of immigrants, Usha, voted in Democratic primaries as recently as 2014, as per the public records. In 2022, she voted in the 2022 Republican primary when her husband was running, reports NBC News.

Born and raised in a religious household, Usha is also understood to have guided JD to the path of spirituality. She made JD reconnect with Christianity in his adulthood, and in 2019 he converted to Catholicism. Talking about the attention she may now get as she’s on the road to becoming a potential Second Lady, she said:

I don't know if anyone is ever ready for that kind of scrutiny. I’m not raring to change anything about our lives right now. But I believe in JD and I really love him. So we’ll just sort of see what happens with our life.

In his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, JD has described Usha as his ‘Yale spirit guide.’

Who are JD Vance’s kids? Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel

Having been together for over a decade, Usha and JD have three kids - Ewan, 6,Vivek, 4, and Mirabel, 2. Ewan was born in 2017 - three years after their marriage and a month before Usha began her clerkship with Chief Justice Roberts. Talking on the senate floor in February 2024, JD referred to his oldest son as a ‘6-year-old baby boy’ and eventually corrected it and remarked he’s ‘not so much’ a baby anymore.

Their second child and son, Vivek, was born three years later in 2020 - whose birthday he also marked on the senate floor in February 2024. The doting father read a passage from his son’s favorite book as he regretted missing his birthday, writes Today.

Mirabel, their youngest child and only daughter was welcomed into the world in December 2021. The happy couple labeled her as an ‘early Christmas present’ in an Instagram post announcing her birth. Talking about parenthood, JD recently said:

I love being a dad and Usha loves being a mom and I think we love doing that together. And that’s not gonna change, whether Trump picks me to be vice president or not.

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Sources Used

Business Insider: Inside the relationship of JD Vance and Usha Chilukuri Vance, the newest GOP power couple who met as Yale law students

Daily Mail: Who is JD Vance's wife Usha? Meet the Ivy-League educated lawyer behind Donald Trump's vice presidential pick

NBC News: Who is Usha Vance? JD Vance’s wife is a lawyer and daughter of immigrants

Today: Who are JD Vance's children? Everything to know about Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel

People: J.D. Vance's Wife Usha Resigns from Powerful Law Job After His VP Nomination, to 'Focus on Caring for Our Family'