His Wish for His Wife to Change Religion

No matter how great a person is, everyone carries pride and attachment toward their religion and community. Even those who enter inter-caste or inter-religious marriages often wish that their spouse would adopt their faith. A husband wants his wife to follow his religion, and a wife hopes her husband will follow hers. However, in most cases, especially in interfaith marriages, it’s the husband’s will that prevails. Initially, before marriage, couples agree to respect each other’s religions and make mutual promises.

But as time goes by, many husbands tend to influence or even pressure their wives to convert. Some go to the extent of resorting to emotional or physical coercion. It all depends on the individuals involved. Now, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has expressed his wish for his wife Usha to convert to his faith.

J.D. Vance, the current Vice President of the United States, is married to Usha Chilukuri Vance, a Telugu-origin woman. Usha was born and raised in the United States to parents from Andhra Pradesh, India.

She fell in love with and married Vance, who is a Christian, while she is a Hindu. Recently, Vance revealed that he hopes his wife will one day embrace Christianity. Speaking at a “Turning Point USA” event in Mississippi, he said:

“Right now, Usha goes to church with me every Sunday. I hope she’ll be influenced by faith the same way I was. I’m saying this before my ten thousand closest friends — I sincerely wish this happens because I have strong faith in the Gospel of Christ. I believe my wife will also walk that path.”

When asked, “Will your wife Usha convert to Christianity?” Vance replied,

“Eventually, she has to come to Christ, right?”

Usha’s parents, Radhakrishna and Lakshmi, hail from Markondapadu, a village about 7 km from Nidadavolu in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Her ancestors were originally from Saipuram in Krishna district and later settled in Markondapadu, which now falls under East Godavari.

In the 2020 U.S. elections, Kamala Harris became Vice President as a woman of Indian origin, and now Usha Chilukuri Vance, with Telugu roots, has followed in those footsteps as the wife of the new Vice President.

Usha was born on January 6, 1986, in California. She married J.D. Vance in 2014. She graduated from Yale University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s degree in History. During her studies, she served as Chief Editor for Education Policy Publications. Later, with a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, she earned her Master of Philosophy degree from Cambridge University.

After completing her law degree from Yale Law School, Usha worked as Managing Editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology and as an Editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review. She also served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, and before that, clerked for Judge Amul Thapar in the Kentucky District Court from 2013 to 2014.

Usha and J.D. Vance have three children — Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel. The couple visited India some time ago and even met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their trip.

Usha Vance holds a distinguished position as the first woman of Telugu descent to become the Second Lady of the United States, making her the first Asian American woman to hold this title — a record in itself.