Vance becomes first sitting vice president since 1870 to have a child
JD and Usha Vance said their son Alec Neel Vance was born Sunday, joining three older siblings.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance announced Sunday that they have welcomed a son, Alec Neel Vance. The birth makes Vance the first sitting U.S. vice president in more than 150 years to have a child while in office, according to historical records cited by the White House Historical Association.
The couple said in a social media statement that Usha Vance and the baby were “happy and healthy” and that their three older children were eager to meet their brother. Alec joins siblings Ewan, 9; Vivek, 6; and Mirabel, 4.
JD and Usha Vance thanked physicians and staff at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, as well as the White House medical team, in their announcement.
The White House Historical Association says the last sitting vice president to become a new father was Schuyler Colfax, whose second wife, Ellen Wade, gave birth to Schuyler Colfax III in 1870. The association also cites John C. Calhoun and his wife, Floride Bonneau, whose son William was born in 1829 while Calhoun was vice president.
Vance, 41, has made family size and birth rates a recurring theme in his public life. As he entered politics in 2021 with a Senate campaign in Ohio, the former U.S. Marine repeatedly raised concerns about falling fertility rates in the United States. At the 2025 March for Life anti-abortion rally in Washington, he said, “I want more babies in the United States of America.”
Usha Vance, 40, is a former attorney and former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts. Her pregnancy, announced in January, drew added attention because pregnancies among spouses of top U.S. officeholders are uncommon.
The Vance children have also been visible during the vice president’s official travel. Usha Vance and the children have accompanied him on overseas trips, with the children seen boarding Air Force Two for overnight flights.
JD Vance has said the 2025 killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a friend of his, played a role in the couple’s decision to have another child. He said Erika Kirk, Kirk’s widow, told them she wished she had had more than two children with her husband before he was assassinated in Utah.
In a joint interview with JD Vance for “CBS Sunday Morning” that aired in June, Usha Vance said Erika Kirk’s remarks were “very powerful” and “very moving” to both of them. She added that she had already begun considering the possibility of another child and said the conversation came as she and her husband were already discussing it.
The birth also comes amid several new children in President Donald Trump’s administration. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and his wife, Katie Miller, recently had their fourth child, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had her second child with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, in May.
Usha Vance recently criticized coverage of her maternity clothing after The New York Times’ fashion critic discussed a coral dress she wore for a Father’s Day episode of “Storytime with the Second Lady,” her video podcast. The Times wrote that the pregnancies of Vance, Miller and Leavitt presented “an image of idealized womanhood” tied to the pronatalist movement, which encourages larger families as a response to declining birth rates.
Usha Vance responded on social media by noting that the dress cost $8.75 at Old Navy and joking about future attention to her elastic-waistband pants and compression socks. JD Vance later praised the discount purchase, writing that she had bought a $50 dress for $8.75.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.