JD Vance's new memoir sheds light on his marriage to Usha Vance. Here's a timeline of their relationship.

Born in Ohio and raised by his grandparents in Kentucky, JD Vance joined the Marines and graduated from Ohio State University.

JD Vance served as a public affairs Marine in Iraq, liaising between service members and members of the press. After his military service, he majored in political science and philosophy at Ohio State University.

Usha Vance studied history at Yale and taught American history in Guangzhou as a Yale-China Teaching Fellow.

Usha Vance grew up in a suburb of San Diego. Her parents are Indian immigrants.

Usha Vance told Fox News in June 2025 that her parents' Hindu faith was "one of the things that made them such good parents, that make them very good people."

She was a registered Democrat until 2014.

She is also conversant in German.

The couple met while they were students at Yale Law School.

In law school, Usha Vance served as executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Technology, according to a bio on the website of her former employer, Munger, Tolles & Olson, that has since been removed.

She also worked pro bono with the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic, the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project.

Usha Vance told NBC News in 2017 that she and JD Vance took all of their classes together and were friends before they started dating. When they were assigned to work on a brief together, Usha Vance said she was impressed by his diligence.

"I've never seen anybody so starstruck," their law school professor, Amy Chua, said of JD Vance in an interview with NBC News. "It was love at first sight."

They wed in 2014 and held both Christian and Hindu ceremonies.

Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019. Usha Vance was raised Hindu.

When asked about their interfaith marriage in a June 2025 interview with Fox News, Usha Vance said: "There are a lot of things that we just agree on, I think, especially when it comes to family life, how to raise our kids. So I think the answer really is that we just talk a lot."

While speaking at a Turning Point USA event in October 2025, JD Vance said that he hoped his wife would someday convert to Christianity.

"Do I hope that eventually she is somehow moved by what I was moved by in church? Yeah, honestly, I do wish that, because I believe in the Christian Gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way," he said. "But if she doesn't, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn't cause a problem for me."

In 2016, JD Vance published his best-selling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," in which he wrote about his relationship with Usha Vance.

JD Vance's memoir details his working-class upbringing and the lives of poor, white Americans. He also wrote about how Chua, his professor, encouraged him to focus on his relationship with Usha Vance as a Yale law student.

When JD Vance asked Chua to recommend him for a federal clerkship, she warned him that it's "the type of thing that destroys relationships."

"Amy's advice stopped me from making a life-altering decision. It prevented me from moving a thousand miles away from the person I eventually married," Vance wrote.

"Most important, it allowed me to accept my place at this unfamiliar institution — it was okay to chart my own path and okay to put a girl above some shortsighted ambition," he continued. "My professor gave me permission to be me."

After law school, JD Vance worked at VC firms while Usha Vance landed prestigious clerkships.

Vance worked at Mithril Capital, a VC firm backed by Peter Thiel, in 2016. One former coworker previously told Business Insider that Vance was often away from the job promoting his book, "Hillbilly Elegy."

Thiel ended up being instrumental in Vance's rise to power in politics, donating $15 million to his Senate campaign and encouraging Trump to choose Vance as his running mate, The New York Times reported.

Vance went on to work at Revolution, a VC firm in Washington, DC, before founding his own firm, Narya Capital, in 2019.

Meanwhile, Usha Vance worked as a litigator at Munger, Tolles & Olson before leaving to clerk for Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the US Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts. Following her clerkships, she returned to Munger, Tolles & Olson, according to a bio on the firm's website that has since been removed.

In his new memoir, "Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith," JD Vance wrote that Usha Vance told him that she wanted to land a prestigious Supreme Court clerkship not out of ambition, but as an "insurance policy," saying, "It's so prestigious that if I do it and then have kids, it won't ruin my career."

Usha Vance appeared in a political ad and at campaign events when JD Vance ran for Congress in 2022.

In the ad, Usha Vance described her husband as "an incredible father" and "my best friend."

In an interview with Newsmax about the ad, Usha Vance also responded to media reports about Vance's dramatic transformation from a "Never Trumper" to a staunch Trump supporter.

"Sometimes people say that he's changed a lot, but the truth is I've known him now for so many years and he's always been so true to himself," she said.

As Trump vetted JD Vance for the vice presidency, Usha Vance expressed ambivalence about the possibility of him being chosen.

"I'm not raring to change anything about our lives right now, but I really believe in JD and I love him, so we'll see what happens with our lives," she told Fox News in June 2024.

When Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate in July 2024, Usha Vance quit her job as a litigator.

On the first day of the Republican National Convention, when Trump announced JD Vance as his vice presidential pick, a spokesperson for Munger, Tolles & Olsen told ABC News that Usha Vance had left the firm.

"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," the spokesperson said.

Usha Vance spoke at the Republican National Convention about meeting and falling in love with JD Vance.

Usha Vance said that when they first met, JD Vance approached their differences "with curiosity and enthusiasm."

"Although he's a meat and potatoes kind of guy, he adapted to my vegetarian diet and learned to cook food from my mother, Indian food," Usha Vance said in her speech. "Before I knew it, he'd become an integral part of my family, a person I could not imagine living without."

JD Vance acknowledged racist attacks against his wife from white supremacists.

After white nationalist Nick Fuentes questioned JD Vance's ability to "support white identity" with an Indian wife, he voiced support for his spouse.

"Look, I love my wife so much. I love her because she's who she is," JD Vance said in an interview with Megyn Kelly in July 2024. "Obviously, she's not a white person, and we've been attacked by some white supremacists over that. But I just, I love Usha."

He also hit back against the attacks on ABC News' "This Week," telling host Jonathan Karl in August 2024, "Look, my attitude to these people attacking my wife is, she's beautiful, she's smart. What kind of man marries Usha? A very smart man and a very lucky man, importantly."

He continued, "Don't attack my wife. She's out of your league."

JD Vance thanked his "beautiful wife" in a post on X after he and Trump won the election in November 2024.

Usha Vance appeared alongside her husband and members of the Trump family at the campaign's election night event in Palm Beach, Florida.

"THANK YOU!" Vance wrote on X after the election results came in. "To my beautiful wife for making it possible to do this. To President Donald J. Trump, for giving me such an opportunity to serve our country at this level. And to the American people, for their trust. I will never stop fighting for ALL of you."

At the 2025 inauguration, Usha Vance held the Bible as JD Vance was sworn in as vice president.

JD Vance was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Usha Vance's former boss when she clerked for him in the US Court of Appeals.

They took their first foreign trip together as vice president and second lady in February 2025, visiting France and Germany.

The vice president attended the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris and the Munich Security Conference. He and Usha Vance also visited the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

They brought their three children along on Air Force Two.

In March 2025, JD Vance joined Usha Vance to visit Pituffik Space Base, the sole US military base in Greenland.

Since winning a second, non-consecutive term in the White House, Trump has doubled down on his intention to acquire Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory that hosts a US military base. The governments of Greenland and Denmark have maintained that it is not for sale, but Trump has said he would not rule out using force.

In March 2025, the White House announced Usha Vance would embark on a solo trip to Greenland to "visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersua, Greenland's national dogsled race." The government of Greenland said it had not invited any delegations to visit, and Greenland's then-prime minister, Múte Bourup Egede, called the trip "very aggressive." Trump said that Greenland had asked the US to visit.

Usha Vance's trip was subsequently scaled back to visiting Pituffik Space Base, the US military's northernmost installation in Greenland. In a video, JD Vance announced he would travel with her.

"There was so much excitement around Usha's visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided I didn't want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I'm going to join her," he said.

Taylor Van Kirk, JD Vance's press secretary, told Business Insider that the Vances were "proud" to visit Greenland.

"The security of Greenland is critical in ensuring the security of the rest of the world, and the Vice President looks forward to learning more about the island," Van Kirk said.

In April 2025, JD Vance visited India, where Usha's parents immigrated from, for the first time.

The vice president and second lady visited the Akshardham Temple and the Taj Mahal with their children and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

"Despite being married to the daughter of Indian immigrants, I had never visited India," JD Vance wrote in "Communion." "This was partially my fault and partially the fault of circumstances — one-year jobs, a Zika outbreak while Usha was pregnant, and COVID."

Usha Vance was seen without her wedding ring in November 2025, sparking scrutiny of their marriage that the second lady's spokesperson dismissed.

During a public appearance at military bases in North Carolina, observers noticed that Usha Vance wasn't wearing her wedding ring.

In a statement to People magazine, the second lady's spokesperson described Usha Vance as "a mother of three young children, who does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths, and forgets her ring sometimes."

JD Vance also addressed the marriage rumors, telling NBC News that "we kind of get a kick out of it" and that their marriage was "as strong as it's ever been."

In January 2026, the couple announced that they are expecting their fourth child.

Their first child, Ewan, was born a month before Usha Vance began her clerkship with Chief Justice Roberts, NBC News reported. They also have another son, Vivek, and a daughter, Mirabel.

Their fourth child, a boy, is due in July.

"We're very happy to share some exciting news. Our family is growing!" Usha Vance captioned a photo of a joint statement from the Office of the Vice President announcing her pregnancy on social media.

They attended several events at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February 2026.

JD Vance and Usha Vance waved American flags at the opening ceremony and brought their kids along to support Team USA in the stands of figure skating competitions and ice hockey matches.

In March 2026, JD Vance and Usha Vance visited a Michigan factory, where JD Vance spoke about their decision to have another baby.

"I remember when we decided to run for vice president, I said, 'Honey, I really want to have a fourth kid,'" JD Vance said in his speech at a manufacturing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan. "And she said, 'Well, you can become vice president or you can have a fourth baby. But, ladies and gentlemen, I am persuasive because I got both."

That same month, Usha Vance spoke about her "idiosyncratic" political views in an interview with NBC News.

Usha Vance said that while she and JD Vance don't always share the same political opinions, they remain "open-minded" in their conversations.

"There's no expectation that we are going to see eye to eye on everything," she told NBC News in an interview promoting her "Storytime with the Second Lady" podcast focused on child literacy.

She also addressed her past as a registered Democrat, saying her views don't always fall along party lines.

"Sometimes I have thoughts that fit very comfortably into one side or another. Sometimes I have views that are way more idiosyncratic," she said.

When asked about JD Vance's remarks from their trip to Michigan, in which he said he had persuaded her to have another baby, Usha Vance said she had "never closed the door" on the possibility of a fourth child.

"We have our daughter, who's amazing, and it was great. And so I just wasn't sure. But as time passed, I realized that I was feeling more and more, kind of, excited about that possibility," she said.

JD Vance published a new memoir, "Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith," in June 2026 and dedicated the book to his wife.

The book's dedication reads: "For my darling Usha, who taught me to think on those things that are honest, just, pure, and lovely."

He also wrote extensively about their courtship and marriage, saying that he was "drawn to her unlike I had ever been drawn to anyone" when they met in law school, and that he told her he wanted to marry her after a few weeks of dating.

He also wrote that his "traumatic childhood" made him a "lousy boyfriend in many ways," and that she encouraged him to go to therapy.

Toward the end of the book, he recalled how Usha Vance initially wasn't interested in having a fourth child, but changed her mind after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed.

The acknowledgments section concludes with JD Vance thanking his wife.

"There is at least a little irony in the fact that my non-Christian wife helped lead me back to my own Christian faith, and then made it possible for me to discuss the journey on paper," he wrote. "The Lord works in mysterious ways, indeed."