A quick guide to JD Vance

JD Vance

JD Vance was best known as a chart-topping author a few years ago. Now he’s a Republican senator, Donald Trump’s running mate and possibly the next US vice-president. Here’s all you need to know about him.

A memoir about his difficult upbringing made him famous

Hillbilly Elegy drew on Vance’s childhood in Ohio and Kentucky, shining a light on the problems facing poor, white communities.

“From low social mobility to poverty to divorce and drug addiction, my home is a hub of misery,” he wrote.

It was published in the summer of 2016 and held up as a way of explaining Trump’s election victory, propelled by white, working-class support. The book became a bestseller.

He was once very critical of Trump but changed his views

“My god, what an idiot” and “I find him reprehensible” are two Vance quotes from 2016 that resurfaced in July when Trump was narrowing his search for a running mate.

But he always identified with Trump’s disdain for elites and became one of his most steadfast allies when he ran for the US Senate in Ohio a few years later.

And his old criticisms did no harm, it seemed, as he was unveiled as Trump’s choice of vice-president.

He was picked because he could energise Trump’s base

Vance has been used a lot on mainstream media to faithfully push the Trump message.

And his Midwestern roots equip him to rally supporters in some of the key swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

He is very outspoken about global outsourcing of US jobs

In his speeches, Vance focuses a lot on immigration and trade, especially protecting American workers.

China is frequently attacked as a country responsible for the closing of factories on US soil. He calls it the biggest threat to the US.

His speech at the Republican convention drew on his personal story

He grew up, he said, in “a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington”.

He linked the decline of Rust Belt towns like his to trade deals supported by Democrats that he said sent jobs to Mexico and China.

His comments about Democrats who don’t have children caused a storm

In 2021 he said the country was run "by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives”.

Actor Jennifer Aniston, who has spoken publicly about her struggles to have children, joined a backlash against him but the father-of-three said he was merely being sarcastic.

He has also been on the defensive over baseless claims he made about Haitian migrants eating pets.

His wife has been a big influence on his career

Vance has described Usha, 38, as the “powerful female voice” on his left shoulder.

The pair, who met at Yale Law School, married in 2014 and have two young sons and a daughter.

Mrs Vance, a lawyer and child of Indian immigrants, has said her husband longed for a tight-knit family.

Vance would be a very young vice-president

The 40-year-old would be the third youngest number two in history if Trump wins - the youngest was a Democrat called John Breckinridge aged 36 at his inauguration in the 19th Century.

He joined the Marine Corps after leaving school

Vance served for four years, including a stint in Iraq as a press officer which included documenting what was happening on the frontlines.

He later went to Ohio State University, Yale Law School and to a job as a venture capitalist in California.

His biggest moment in national spotlight was probably the vice-presidential debate

Two Midwesterners came face to face in New York City when Vance took on Democratic candidate Tim Walz.

Vance was assured and fluent, and his key message was to ask why Kamala Harris had not delivered any of her 2024 election promises while being in office.

But he was not so comfortable when asked if Trump lost the last presidential election, refusing to give a direct answer.

Who else is in the running?

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