Usha Vance: Telugu population in US enthused about Second Lady in waiting
Rise of wife of Republican Party’s Vice-President nominee JD Vance reflects growing diversity and power of Indian-American community in shaping America's future
Usha Chilukuri Vance shot into limelight this week as the wife of JD Vance, who has been selected as former US President Donald Trump’s running mate for the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
The recognition of Indian-origin couples by the two political parties in the United States signals generational change and growing diversity within their ranks, which have led to an increase in South Asian representation. If the Republican party has Presidential contenders like Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley, the ruling Democratic party has Kamala Harris, the Vice President, who made history as the nation’s first woman, and woman of colour, in her role.
Earlier this week, after the Republican Party announced Donald Trump as their presidential candidate, he chose JD Vance, the senator from Ohio, as his second-in-command. If the Republicans secure a majority (270) in the November 4 election , Trump will become the President and JD Vance will assume the role of Vice President. Consequently, Usha would become the Second Lady of America, bringing a Telugu connection to the White House.
A litigator and a voracious reader
Usha Chilukuri, 38, a litigator at a national firm, was born in California. Her parents, Telugu Brahmins from Saipuram near Pamarru in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, migrated from India in the 1980s.
While their ancestors still live in Visakhapatnam and Machilipatnam, the couple’s current connection with these places is not known.
Usha was raised in a San Diego suburb, where she attended Mt. Carmel High School. A law graduate from Yale Law School, and a master of philosophy from the University of Cambridge, she is a former Democrat, who has also worked as a corporate lawyer.
They met at Yale
Usha and JD Vance first met at Yale. They were married in Kentucky in 2014, with a Hindu priest presiding over a separate ceremony, according to the New York Times. They have two sons and a daughter: Ivan (6), Vivek (4), and two-year-old daughter Mirabel.
Usha’s father, Radhakrishna Chilukuri, known as Krish among his friends and family, graduated from IIT Madras, and is a retired aerospace engineer, who worked at United Technologies Aerospace Systems. Initially hired as an aerodynamics specialist, he started working for the company in 1988, and became a manager by September 1999.
Before his retirement, he served as the associate director at Collins Aerospace.
Her mother, Professor Lakshmi Chilukuri, is the Provost of Sixth College, UC San Diego, and takes a keen interest in understanding factors that promote students’ wellbeing and success. A marine molecular biologist and biochemist, Lakshmi previously coordinated the undergraduate Microbiology Teaching Labs. The Chilukuri family now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a home worth $1.4 million.
Huge Telugu population
The number of Telugu people in California is substantial, with many working in IT companies.
Prabhakara Rao, who lives in California, told The Federal that once it was known Usha is a Californian, Telugu speakers in the state were enthused. According to Professor Vikrama Rao, a family friend, Usha’s family maintains strong traditional values, with a focus on devotion.
Usha’s great-aunt, Professor Shanthamma Chilukuri (96), lives in Andhra Pradesh. Known as the country’s oldest active professor, she teaches physics at a private university in Vizianagaram.
Usha is the granddaughter of Shanthamma’s husband Subramanya Shastry’s elder brother, Rama Shastry. Usha’s 70-year-old aunt Sarada, a medical practitioner based in Chennai, had attended her wedding. In a recent interview, Sarada said that Usha’s wedding in Kentucky was a close-knit affair, where the entire family came together. “Both Usha and Vance are extremely family-oriented,” she said.
Vacation visits
Sarada also recalled the time when Usha’s family would frequently visit her during vacations. “Usha is my niece. They frequently flew down to Chennai as her parents grew up here. She has always been a voracious reader and engaged in many creative things. She is charming, polite, smart, and firmly rooted in her beliefs. Back in those days, all the children would play together, now they are all grown up and established in their own ways,” said Sarada.
“I wanted her to get introduced to Indian literature so I used to send her books written by Rabindranath Tagore, RK Narayan’s Malgudi Days, mythological books. She loved reading all of them and would ask me to send her more from India,” added Sarada. Usha last visited Chennai in 2010.
According to software engineer K Venkat, Usha still has relatives in Visakhapatnam.
Machilipatnam resident Prasad Sammeta, who lives in Philadelphia, said that Usha’s ancestors migrated from Krishna district to different parts of the country less than a decade ago. Her great-grandfather, Veeravadhan, had five children, most of whom are settled in America. Veeravadhan’s eldest son is Rama Shastry, and Radhakrishna, Usha’s father, is his third son. Rammohan, one of Usha’s relatives, is still in Saipuram, he added.
A bookworm
According to Time magazine, Usha is a bookworm. Between 2007 and 2010, she posted that she had read 65 books. It also includes novels by Zadie Smith, Jonathan Safran Foer, Vladimir Nabokov, and non-fiction by Nina Burley and Nicholas Kristof.
After meeting JD Vance at Yale Law School, the two began a discussion programme on ‘The Social Decline of the White Nation in America.’ The result was the book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (2016) by JD Vance. The book, about the Appalachian values of his Kentucky family and the social and socioeconomic problems of his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, where his mother's parents moved when they were young, is one of the bestselling books.
JD Vance, known as the ‘Yale Spirit Guide’ who changed his life, speaks highly of Usha: “She would understand questions I didn’t even know to ask. I didn’t know such things existed. But she would guess. She would tell me to look,” he wrote. Usha also praised Vance at the same level: “At first, we were friends. We became lovers later. I liked that he was diligent and determined to achieve anything.” Usha says that if he wanted an appointment at 9 am, he would definitely be there at that time. Another Indian-American who ran alongside Trump, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, was a classmate of the pair at Yale University.
Rising diversity
Alyush V, who came to Texas and settled less than 18 years ago, said that the two major parties started to show diversity in selecting the Vice Presidents of America since 2019. “The importance given to India was revealed only when the Democrats chose Kamala Harris, who has roots in Tamil Nadu, as the Vice President. Now, the Republicans have followed the same path. In fact, there are more Indians among the Republicans,” says Alyush. Usha has a very different background and has a bright future, he said.
The area where Usha’s parents live, San Diego, is home to the largest number of Indian-American academics. Usha said in a recent Fox News interview, “I grew up in a religious family. My parents are Hindu. The man I married is a Hispanic with a Christian background. One of the things that made our parents good was religion.”
Vikram Rao, a family friend who works in Silicon Valley, said in an interview to a magazine that Usha has been self-confident since childhood and never suffered from inferiority. “At the age of five or six, she assumed a leadership role and began paving her own path for the future. Usha knows exactly how to plan and execute her goals. She has always aimed high and never settled for less,” he added.
American style
Raja Mamidi pointed out that the significance lies not in women being given prominent roles in America, but rather in recognising an immigrant community that has achieved influence through their hard work and decision-making power.
He highlighted that Indian-Americans have carved out their place over the past 40-50 years, navigating a distinct American lifestyle compared to India. Success stories like Kamala Harris, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, and now Usha Chilukuri, all exemplify individuals who have risen through hard work, transcending barriers of caste, religion, and region.
Mamidi added that these people have American values ingrained in them now, having forged their identity as Indian Americans over time. He noted the contrast with white privilege and expressed pride as a Telugu person in seeing Usha Chilukuri standing among such accomplished people.
American Constitution
Indians make up less than 1.5 per cent of the country’s population. However, two India-Americans — Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy — are vying for the Republican presidential nomination this year. Ratna Babu from Guntur said that if Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother is of Indian origin, is going to contest again, it is because of the diversity of the country and the Constitution.
Indian-Americans, who are the middle class in America, are competing for college degrees. They have low divorce rates. They are proving themselves to be good businessmen. Ratna says it is good that one out of every 20 doctors is an Indian. Telugu people are expressing pride in seeing a person of Indian origin poised to hold a key position in America, where approximately 2.7 million Indian-American voters reside, Ratna added.
