Usha Vance now becomes first Indian-American Second Lady-Read

JD Vance sworn in as the 50th Vice President of the US; Usha Vance is the daughter of Telugu immigrants from India, Radhakrishna 'Krish' Chilukuri and Lakshmi Chilukuri

Published Date – 21 January 2025, 12:54 AM



Vice President-elect JD Vance takes oath as his wife Usha Vance watches during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington on Monday. — Photo:AP

Washington: Usha Vance became the first Indian-American and Hindu Second Lady after her husband JD Vance was sworn in as the 50th Vice President of the US on Monday.

She held the Bible in one hand, and their daughter Mirabel Rose in the other, as Vance placed his left hand on the religious text, and raising his right hand took the oath of office. President Donald Trump said later that Usha Vance is smarter than her husband and that he might have picked her as the Vice President.


Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a mentor to Usha Vance, administered the oath to her husband. JD Vance was sworn in before President Donald Trump took the oath of office.

Before the Vances came to the podium, military personnel in ceremonial uniforms brought their children, Ewan Blaine, 7, Vivek, 4, and Mirabel Rose, 3, to the podium. The boys wore formal suits, and Usha Vance was dressed in pink. She beamed and looked admiringly at JD Vance as he repeated the oath after Kavanaugh.

JD Vance’s mother, Beverly Aikins who has given up drugs, stood with the family during the ceremony. Usha Vance is the daughter of Telugu immigrants from India, Radhakrishna ‘Krish’ Chilukuri, an aerospace engineer, and Lakshmi Chilukuri, the provost at the University of California, San Diego.

JD Vance and Usha met while they were studying law at Yale University. JD Vance, who came from a broken family with his mother a drug addict, and suffered poverty, credited Usha in his memoir with being his “spirit guide” who helped him navigate the Ivy League university and professional life.

Raised by his grandmother, Vance joined the military to escape the dysfunction of life in Middleton, Ohio, and got his break with admission to Yale, where he said he felt out of place.

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