Usha Vance, wife of Trump's VP pick, has deep ties to India

When Usha Vance, met her husband, JD Vance, at Yale Law School, the now US vice presidential candidate described her as his "spirit guide" at the prestigious institution.

"She instinctively understood the questions I didn't even know to ask, and she always encouraged me to seek opportunities that I didn't know existed," wrote JD Vance in his bestselling 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy."

The couple were married in 2014 and were blessed by a Hindu priest in a separate ceremony. They have three children, two boys and a girl.

Vance was born Usha Chilukuri in 1986 to Indian immigrants from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, and grew up in an ethnically diverse San Diego suburb. Her father, Krish Chilukuri, is an aerospace engineer and university lecturer, and her mother, Lakshmi, is a professor of molecular biology. 

Vance has credited her devout Hindu household as a child with instilling a deep sense of faith and a set of values that have guided her path to success.

"I did grow up in a religious household. My parents are Hindu. That was one of the things that made them good parents, made them good people," Vance told the Fox & Friends talk show in June.

'A powerful female voice'

In addition to her law degree, Vance holds a bachelor's degree in history from Yale and a master of philosophy from the University of Cambridge. She has clerked for US Supreme Court justices and, most recently, was a corporate litigator before stepping away after her husband's nomination.

In a 2020 podcast interview, JD Vance said of his wife: "I'm one of those guys who really benefits from having sort of a powerful female voice over his left shoulder saying, 'Don't do that … do that.'"

Indian-Americans' role in US public life 

For Indians, the spotlight on Vance has revealed another Indian-American immigrant success story.

"Indian Americans have come of age and are active in public life in America," Meera Shankar, a former ambassador of India to the US, told DW.

"There have been two governors of Indian origin, and the number of congressmen and senators of Indian origin has increased in recent elections. All this has an exemplary effect encouraging others to follow in their footsteps," added Shankar.

In 2020, Kamala Harris' ancestral village in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu celebrated after she became the first US Vice President of Indian descent. Harris was also the first woman to hold the office.

When she was sworn in, Harris credited her mother, Shyamalan Gopalan Harris, for helping her succeed. 

"When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn't quite imagine this moment. But she believed so deeply in an America, where a moment like this is possible," Harris said.

Sreeram Chaulia, director general of the Jindal India Institute, a strategic think tank, told DW that the Indian diaspora has been making rapid strides in American life.

"Their uniquely high education levels, income levels and peer support networks within diaspora circles have enabled them to take on more and more prominent roles in US politics and public life," Chaulia said.

Although the role of a second lady is not an official government office, if Trump and Vance are elected in November, Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, a former diplomat, thinks that Vance's place at the vice president's side will have heavy symbolic value for Indians.

"This is a just reflection of the number and influence of Indian immigrants in the US who are highly educated and very well assimilated," Gopalan Wadhwa told DW.

"It is a testimony of the ease with which the Indian diaspora integrates into other countries and contributes to the economic prosperity and political systems of wherever they are." 

Edited by: Wesley Rahn