Vice President JD Vance is giving fans a rare peek into life behind the scenes and it turns out his marriage to Usha runs on books, brutal honesty, and a shared porch cocktail or two.
Speaking on the debut episode of The Katie Miller Podcast, the 40-year-old politician shared how he and his wife of 11 years keep their relationship strong despite the whirlwind of public office.
A book club for two
For Vance, staying connected starts with their own private husband-and-wife book club, just the two of them.
“It actually forces us to do something together that makes us think, that makes us talk,” he said. “That’s been very good.”
Since becoming vice president, the couple has completed two books, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy and Ross Douthat’s fantasy novel The Falcon’s Children (“actually pretty good,” Vance noted), and they’ve also read Abigail Shrier’s Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up earlier in their marriage. They take turns picking titles, ensuring they’re always ‘on the same page’ — literally.
Porch nights and no-fuss arguments
The Vances also make time once a week to enjoy a drink together. While they used to go out to bars in Cincinnati, they now mix cocktails at home and settle in on the vice president’s porch.
“We have a very happy marriage — I’ve been very lucky in the person that God put me with,” Vance said.
When it comes to disagreements, he says they’re ‘super brutally honest’ and don’t let issues fester. “If Usha and I are mad about something, we usually talk about it three minutes later,” he shared. “That communication has been very good for us.”
Interestingly, he says their marriage flips the old stereotype of emotional wives and stoic husbands. “Usha’s definitely super stoic and I’m the one that gets super fired up,” he laughed.
And as for debates? “She’s the better debater… I hate getting into arguments with her because she always remembers details and facts way better than I do.”
Parenting, sleep styles, and middle-of-the-night moments
The couple shares three children, Ewan, 8, Vivek, 5, and Mirabel, 3 and Vance admits he’s usually the first parent on the scene during nighttime wake-ups.
“Usha’s a super heavy sleeper, I’m a very light sleeper, and I also sleep less than she does,” he explained. That means he’s often up for the 3 a.m. cries which is usually about once a week, or the early morning coffee-and-dog walk.
And while the interruptions might sound exhausting, Vance sees them as a reminder of fleeting childhood years. “Even though I don’t want to be woken up at three in the morning, it’s kind of nice that they still need that affection… it reminds me that they’re still babies.”
For JD Vance, the secret seems simple: keep talking, keep reading together, and never miss a chance for connection, even if it’s in the middle of the night.
