WASHINGTON, DC — Parenthood looks a little different for Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance as they raise their fourth child, two-month-old son Alec, under round-the-clock federal protection.
Alec is the first baby born to a sitting Vice President in over 150 years, since Schuyler Colfax III was born to then-Vice President Schuyler Colfax and his wife, Ellen, in 1870.
“He has a Secret Service detail. None of our newborns had that before,” Usha Vance, 40, said during an interview with The Daily Wire published Tuesday, September 22. She described the 24/7 security for her newborn as “an absurdity” given that he is almost always by her side.
“It’s sort of an absurdity because he’s always attached to me,” the second lady admitted. “He’s never anywhere far from me.”
“It’s different to wonder whether people are watching when you’re struggling with some of the things that any parent of any newborn struggles with,” Usha said of raising Alec in the public eye. “But people have been really wonderful about it.”
Usha Vance and JD Vance, 42, announced in January that they were expecting their fourth child. In a statement shared on Instagram, they said, “We’re very excited to share the news that Usha is pregnant with our fourth child, a boy,” adding that they expected to welcome him in late July.
Alec Neel Vance was born on July 19. The couple announced the news on X, writing, “Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother.” Their statement continued, “The incredible military doctors and staff members of Walter Reed Medical Center and the White House Medical Unit have been a blessing. We are deeply thankful for all they have done for our family.”
Raising a baby in the public eye
She continued, “Either they don’t notice me because I think it’s sort of an unexpected thing to see me in their bagel shop, coffee shop, library, or whatever. They’re not looking for me in that kind of environment. And when they have noticed, it’s only been to be congratulatory, say something sweet about the baby, or something like that.”
As the family settles into life with another newborn, Usha said her older children are taking very well to their new roles as big siblings.
“[Mirabel] seems to think that she has gotten a promotion, so she’s really into it,” she said on Tuesday. Speaking about Ewan, she added, “He is absolutely enamored of his brother. He wants to do everything for him. He’s always trying to hold him; he burps him.”
Usha also praised JD for maintaining a good balance between fatherhood and his vice presidential duties.
Usha concluded, “It’s basically the same JD who was the father of the first three is the father of the fourth, and he’s just as involved. It just takes a little army behind him to make that possible.”
