AMN / Staff Reporter
After DEFEAT of Kamala Harris in the US Presidential election, the spotlight has turned to Usha Chilkuri Vance, 38, wife of Vice-President designate JD Vance. Like Kamala, Usha too is an American of Indian origin. Therefore the US Vice President House will have an Indian connection for two consecutive terms. Usha Vance, has emerged as the new face of the rising clout of the India Americans, a minority community that has for decades been counted among the best educated and the wealthiest in the US.
The Vice President has an office in the West Wing of the White House, as well as in the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Like the President, he or she also maintains an official residence, at the United States Naval Observatory in Northwest Washington, D.C.
The Guntur-Andhra Pradesh born Usha Vance, who will be the first Indian-origin woman to become the Second Lady of the US, also has a family connection with the India’s premier institution, Indian Institute of Technology – Madras.
While her father, Radhakrishnan was a B Tech graduate in Mechanical Engineering from the institution in 1977, her grandfather Rama Sastry had served on the IIT faculty when IIT-M was founded decades ago. In fact, Sastri had been the Head of the Physics Department for three terms, IIT-M sources said.
Who is Usha Vance?
Born to Indian parents who emigrated from Andhra Pradesh to the US in 1986, Usha Chilukuri Vance was raised in a suburb of San Diego, California. She earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Yale University and went on to complete a Master of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar.
The would-be Second Lady of the United States also held editorial roles at the Yale Journal of Law & Technology and The Yale Law Journal, where she served as Managing Editor and Executive Development Editor, respectively.
Usha met JD Vance at Yale Law School and got married in 2014 in a ceremony that included a Hindu ritual.
She met Vance, 39, Ohio senator, at Yale while studying law and got married in 2014 at Kentucky, said to be solemnised by a Hindu priest. She practices law and Vance himself has admitted that she is not a Christian. He had said that she is more brilliant and accomplished than him.
The interfaith couple has three children: sons Ewan and Vivek, and daughter Mirabel.
Throughout JD Vance’s political career, Usha has been a supportive partner, often appearing alongside him during his Ohio Senate campaign. Her insights also contributed to JD Vance’s well-known memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which sheds light on the struggles of rural America and was later adapted into a movie directed by Ron Howard.
The Vice President Power
The primary responsibility of the Vice President of the United States is to be ready at a moment’s notice to assume the Presidency if the President is unable to perform his or her duties. This can be because of the President’s death, resignation, or temporary incapacitation, or if the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet judge that the President is no longer able to discharge the duties of the presidency.
The Vice President is elected along with the President by the Electoral College. Each elector casts one vote for President and another for Vice President. Before the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804, electors only voted for President, and the person who received the second greatest number of votes became Vice President.
The Vice President also serves as the President of the United States Senate, where he or she casts the deciding vote in the case of a tie. Except in the case of tie-breaking votes, the Vice President rarely actually presides over the Senate. Instead, the Senate selects one of their own members, usually junior members of the majority party, to preside over the Senate each day.
