What Led To Tulsi Gabbard's Split From Her First Husband?

Tulsi Gabbard has seen more political U-turns than most can keep track of, so perhaps it comes as no surprise that her personal life has also had its share of redefined alliances. Gabbard's first marriage at 21, to childhood sweetheart Eduardo Tamayo, began tenderly, but ultimately unraveled under the weight of their strained circumstances. Little is known about Tamayo himself, but Gabbard did reveal the puppy-love nature of their relationship to Vogue in 2013, sharing, "You know, young love. We surfed together and were best friends. His family was like my family."

The trajectory of Gabbard's life shifted dramatically in 2003, when she enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard in the wake of the Iraq War. Though not initially deployed, she demanded to join her brigade overseas anyway, explaining, "The reason I went was apolitical. I knew I couldn't sit back in the safety of home and normal life while my fellow soldiers were marching off to this foreign country." While Gabbard fought in the Middle East for 18 months, the separation proved to be too much for the young couple. And, by the time she returned to Hawaii, the relationship had fractured beyond repair. 

As she admitted to the Honolulu City Council, in 2011, "Sadly Eddie, and I became another statistic, another sad story, illustrating war places on military spouses and families." It was a devastating loss for the once-Democrat, now-Republican politician, who had hoped for a reconciliation, but the rift remained irreparable, and her life ultimately steered Gabbard onto a different course.

Tulsi Gabbard didn't get her fairytale ending with her first husband, but the politician later found her happily-ever-after with filmmaker Abraham Williams. Their love story began in 2012, when Williams photographed Gabbard for her congressional campaign, but it wasn't until her birthday party that he finally asked her out. As she told the New York Times, "It was the first time that we had a chance to kick back, relax and really talk on a personal level." Gabbard must have a type, because in true Hawaiian style, they bonded over a shared love of watersports. 

This made it all the more fitting when Williams proposed on a surfboard. Gabbard sweetly recalled, "He paddled over, pulled out a double-tethered contraption attached to a gold duct-tape-covered flotation device with a beautiful ring attached." The happy couple tied the knot in Hawaii in 2015 with a traditional Vedic ceremony — a Hindu wedding ritual with a Brahmin priest, fire, and Sanskrit chants. 

The politician, who later set a historic milestone as the first Hindu-American appointed as Director of National Intelligence, gushed to People, "It was far beyond what I had dreamed of. Literally, it was perfect." Gabbard and Williams have since shared heartbreaking details about their IVF journey, but the couple remains happily married. Unlike Gabbard's first union, their love is proving it's stronger than any rip current.