Ever since Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate in 2020, I have had the dream of seeing an Indian American in the White House (WH) as a grand finale to my bicultural life. When Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and Ms Harris became the nominee of the Democratic Party, I thought that my dream was within reach because Ms Harris seemed to have a good chance of defeating Donald Trump. Fortunately or unfortunately, that did not happen, and Trump won the election.

I am not too disappointed because Harris is not a bona fide Indian American; she is only half-Indian, on her mother’s side. Her father is Jamaican American. Secondly, she identifies herself as “Black”, and I have not heard any comments from her praising or expressing pride in her Indian heritage. Furthermore, she lacks academic excellence and professional achievements, so typical of Indian Americans.

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My original hope was that Trump would pick an Indian American as his running mate for 2024. Then, if Trump wins the election, this person could become the Vice President and eventually the president of the US (POTUS) after Trump’s term is over.

I was all in for Nikki Haley to be that running mate, even after she declared her candidacy for presidency. She is smart, articulate, easy on the eye and has experience as a two-time governor of South Carolina as well as international experience as a UN ambassador. Many people believe that, had Trump picked Haley as his running mate in 2020, he would have won. Although her relationship with Trump was occasionally rocky, I believed that she had the political savvy to patch things up and be a loyal confidant of Trump.

She probably had an unrealistic ambition of defeating Trump, making age an issue, and then winning the general election to become the first female president (some polls indicated that she had a better chance of defeating Biden than Trump). Her aspirations were fuelled by big money donations from not only traditional GOP supporters like the Koch brothers but reportedly some Democratic billionaires as well. She probably thought that Trump would remain entangled in legal troubles, paving a smooth pathway for her. Her continuing campaign even after losing all GOP primaries on the “Super Tuesday” in March was the death knell for her political ambition.

Of course, I would have also been thrilled if Trump selected Vivek Ramaswamy (VR), the other GOP Indian American presidential candidate, as his running mate. VR impressed many people with his ability to articulate difficult topics, and if nothing else, he could have been an excellent spokesperson for Trump. However, VR was probably a little too much like Trump himself to be his running mate (wealthy, inexperienced in politics, outspoken). VR has a bright future in US politics and might become president someday, but it is unlikely to happen in my lifetime.

I turned my attention to Tulsi Gabbard. Although Gabbard is not of Indian origin, I can accept her as an Indian American for a different reason. She has embraced Hinduism as her religion and took her oath of house membership holding the Bhagavad Gita. Her name has Sanskrit origin and means “Holy Basil”. Gabbard was a House member from Hawaii from 2013 to 2021. She ran in 2020 as a Democratic presidential candidate.

Gabbard became disenchanted with her party and left it in 2022, accusing the Democrats of being warmongers, driven by “cowardly wokeness” and stoking anti-white racism. She served in the military. Fighting for one’s country is the ultimate proof of one’s love for the country. She is articulate, passionate and intelligent. She is anti-war, which would have put her in the same camp as Trump. She could certainly become the first Hindu president of the US.

After months of speculation, Donald Trump finally announced his running mate at the Republican National Committee convention: it was JD Vance, a first-term senator from the midwestern state of Ohio. Although he was anti-Trump in the past, he is now reportedly in sync with Trump on several major issues. His story is a classic American success story: from a poor family with a drug-addicted single mother to being a Marine and a venture capitalist before becoming a US senator. He is only 39 years old, and the RNC can count on him to carry on the torch if Trump wins the election as his successor. He has that youthful glow, ala JFK and Barack Obama, and is articulate. Being from a small town in the Rust Belt, Trump probably chose him to secure votes of the hard-working folks in many swing states, and Vance delivered.

I still do not know much about Vance, but I am very excited to learn that his wife, Usha (Chilukuri) Vance, is an Indian American. Her parents are originally from Andhra Pradesh and speak Telugu. My hopes of seeing an Indian American in the White House are alive and well again.

Usha was born and attended high school in San Diego in a neighbourhood about 50 miles from where I live. She graduated from Yale University “summa cum laude” majoring in history, and attended Yale Law School (alma mater of the Clintons as well as four other US presidents). She also attended Clare College, Cambridge University, before that. She met her future husband at Yale. Her interfaith and interracial marriage to JD Vance is a perfect metaphor for the unity that this country needs. She is extremely qualified and served as the law clerk for justices John Roberts in the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh in the DC appeals court, and Amul Thapar in his role as circuit judge. She reportedly helped her husband prepare for the vice presidential debate.

Now that the Trump/Vance ticket has won the election, it is inevitable that Vance will run for presidency in 2028 and could conceivably win with the support from the MAGA crowd and name recognition gained from serving as a vice president. Vance can become president even earlier if something happens to Trump’s health.

My dream will then come true. No, there will be no president of Indian origin in the WH, but there will be an Indian first lady living there. Who knows what might transpire after that? Usha might get inspired to run for the presidency herself one day. Hillary Clinton did that after being the first lady. Many had predicted that Michelle Obama would be the Democratic nominee in the 2024 election. Even Jill Biden was reportedly getting comfortable hanging out at the Oval Office. Usha will certainly have the necessary background and qualifications to run.

I also feel a special connection with Usha because her paternal grandfather is a physicist like me, and father is a mechanical engineer. I am sure that she understands the laws of physics in addition to the laws of the land needed to govern our country.

Yes, there are some “ifs” and “buts” in my imagination, but a dream is wishful thinking with ifs and buts. Just like the “USA, USA” chants at Trump rallies, I feel like shouting “US(H)A, US(H)A”.

The writer, a physicist who worked in industry and academia, is a Bengali settled in America