Usha Vance Is 'Just Along for the Ride'
Usha Vance, official portrait, 2025. Photo by Emily Higgins. Public domain.
At the heart of Washington's most powerful address, there's a woman lighting incense. While her husband speaks to conservative voters about Catholic values, Usha Vance is teaching their children about the Gita, honoring her Hindu roots one quiet moment at a time.
She's the wife of Vice President JD Vance. But Usha is no traditional political spouse. Raised in a devout Indian-American household, educated at Yale Law, and now the country's first Hindu second lady, Usha Vance is charting a course that defies expectations — even her own. And as her husband ascends in Donald Trump's second-term orbit, Usha's reluctance to play the polished Second Lady has left Washington watchers both confused and curious.
Balancing Faith and Family in a Political World
During a recent appearance on Meghan McCain's podcast, "Citizen McCain," Usha offered a rare glimpse into her private life — and made waves by revealing that she and her husband are raising their children in an interfaith household.
Usha, who remains devoutly Hindu, explained that while their children attend Catholic school — her husband converted after their second child was born — they're allowed to choose which religion they'll follow. Their oldest has already opted for Catholic baptism. Still, at home, Hindu texts, temple traditions, and a recent family trip to India offer the children a vibrant link to their mother's beliefs.
This quiet cultural balancing act reflects Usha's determination to give her children spiritual freedom and to honor her own background. But it also places her in contrast to the very stage her husband now commands.
A Reluctant Second Lady
While JD Vance basks in the political spotlight, Usha keeps stepping out of it. "I'm just sort of along for the ride and enjoying it while I can," she told McCain, brushing off speculation about one day becoming First Lady, according to the Daily Beast.
She's not plotting her next move in Washington. Her dream? To return to her "forever house" in Ohio, the one she and JD bought before politics consumed their lives.
That desire for normalcy — for distance from the power games of D.C. — sets her apart from previous second ladies. She's skipped over the usual charity circuit. She hasn't adopted a signature cause. Even in interviews, she avoids name-dropping the president, offering no opinions on Trump or his policies.
In fact, according to the Daily Beast, she didn't mention Trump once during her hour-long chat with McCain.
Fox News reports that some of her old friends are still "bewildered" by her pivot from a Democrat clerk for Brett Kavanaugh to the wife of a Republican vice president.
Private Conviction vs. Public Duty
This isn't a woman seeking the limelight. But being second lady isn't a private role.
So, it's no surprise that her silence raises eyebrows. Critics question how a second lady whose parents emigrated under birthright citizenship remains silent as her husband backs efforts to dismantle that very protection.
But others see her approach as one of quiet resistance, refusing to play into the binary expectations of either total support or open dissent.
In the same interview, Usha admitted to developing a "thick skin" toward media coverage of her husband, hinting at internal debates about how public life shapes their family's choices, according to Fox News.
It's not all agreement behind closed doors, but it's clearly a partnership built on negotiation.
A Tension Hiding in Plain Sight
One can't help but notice the subtle tension in their public appearances. JD Vance, known for his firebrand speeches and loyalty to Trump, appears buoyed by the political adrenaline. Usha, meanwhile, shows the calm of someone watching the show from backstage — not fully in, not fully out.
Even JD joked, according to the Daily Beast, once that his wife "has to smile and laugh and celebrate" anything he says, "no matter how crazy."
Still, there's strength in Usha's restraint. In a world where so many spouses become props or pawns, she has kept a firm grip on her identity — and on the incense stick.
Usha Vance may not be rewriting the second lady playbook. But she's quietly resisting the urge to become someone she's not.
References: Second Lady Usha Vance opens up about interfaith parenting with Vice President JD Vance | Usha's Eyebrow-Raising Reaction to Taking Melania's Job | Meghan McCain asks Usha Vance about possibility of becoming first lady | Usha Vance: husband's pick as Trump running mate came 'like a bolt of lightning'
