By Robert McGreevy
Usha Vance, wife to Trump’s pick for vice president, Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, has a long and impressive resume, which is likely to fall under increased scrutiny as she and her husband surge into the national spotlight.
A child of immigrants, Usha’s parents emigrated from India and settled in San Diego where they raised her, according to ABC News.
She attended Yale for her undergraduate degree and, after earning her Masters at Cambridge, returned to Yale for law school where she met Vance, he recalled in his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.”
She built upon a prestigious educational CV with an even more impressive career resume.
US Senator from Ohio and 2024 Republican vice-president candidate J. D. Vance (L) and his wife Usha Vance greet attendees during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024. Days after he survived an assassination attempt, Republicans are set to nominate Donald Trump as the party’s official presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention taking place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from July 15 to 18. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
She clerked for current Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2014-2015 and then for Supreme Court Justice John Roberts from 2017-2018, according to ABC News.
Following her clerkship for Roberts, she returned to her previous firm, Munger, Tolles & Olson, to serve as a trial lawyer, according to her LinkedIn. She left the firm shortly after Trump announced Vance as his running mate.
“Usha has informed us she has decided to leave the firm,” a Munger, Tolles & Olson spokesperson told Bloomberg Law. “Usha has been an excellent lawyer and colleague, and we thank her for her years of work and wish her the best in her future career.”
In his book, Vance describes Usha as being one of the most blunt people he’s ever met. She had “an extraordinarily direct way of speaking,” he wrote in “Hillbilly Elegy.” (RELATED:’A Significant Upgrade’: Immigration Hawks Hail Vance As Trump’s VP Pick)
CINCINNATI, OH – MAY 3: Republican U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance and his wife Usha Vance wave to supporters after winning the primary, at an election night event at Duke Energy Convention Center on May 3, 2022 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Vance, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, narrowly won over former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, according to published reports. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“Where others might have asked meekly, ‘Yeah, maybe you could rephrase this?’ or “Have you thought about this other idea?’ Usha would say simply: ‘I think this sentence needs work’ or ‘This is a pretty terrible argument.’ At a bar, she looked up at a mutual friend of ours and said, without a hint of irony, ‘You have a very small head.’ I had never met anyone like her,” he wrote.
The pair have three children together. Vance credits her as his “spirit guide” in his book. Besides her lengthy list of professional accomplishments, she also served on the board of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, according to LinkedIn.
