Former President Donald Trump chose Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as his vice presidential running mate, taking a once strident critic and elevating him as the chief heir to his political legacy.
Vance, who will turn 40 in August, offers a youthful contrast to Trump, 78, and President Joe Biden, 81.
He would be the third youngest vice president in history – behind John Breckinridge (36 years old when taking office in 1857) and Richard Nixon (40 years and 11 days in 1953). And Vance’s selection comes just days after Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday, underscoring the gravity of the vice presidential pick in blunt terms.
“After long deliberation and reflection, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the best suited person to assume the role of Vice President of the United States is Senator JD Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” he said. Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday afternoon.
As a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War, Vance also brings military experience to the roster, as well as right-wing populist views that mesh with Trump’s “America First” slogans and the “Make America Great Again” movement. Vance, for example, opposed US aid to Ukraine and pushed to delay the confirmation of Biden’s judicial nominees in a protest over Trump’s conviction on 34 criminal charges in a New York state case in May.
Trump selected Vance after a search that began with at least a dozen potential running mates. In recent weeks, the list of candidates has narrowed, with Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida among the other finalists.
Some of the right’s leading young voices, including Donald Trump Jr. and prominent pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk, defended Vance.
Trump’s decision, which is expected to be ratified at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, continues a meteoric rise for Vance, who eight years ago captured the political zeitgeist with his best-selling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.”
In the book, Vance shared vivid memories about his mother’s battle with drug addiction, a rotating cast of father figures, and other socioeconomic challenges his family faced after migrating from eastern Kentucky to southwestern Ohio. The book’s publication coincided with Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, inadvertently bringing forward his rise as a political figure and becoming a Rorschach test for those trying to understand Trump’s appeal among white, working-class voters.
“I find the existence of the book you hold in your hands somewhat absurd,” Vance wrote in the book’s introduction. “It says right on the cover that it’s a memoir, but I’m thirty-one and I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t accomplished anything great in my life, certainly nothing that would justify a complete stranger paying money to read about it.”
Vance, who earned a law degree from Yale and worked in venture capital before entering politics, was not initially among Trump’s admirers when he promoted the book. Vance described him as a “cultural hero” in July 2016 guest column for The Atlantic. During a PBS Interview two months later, he stated that there was “definitely an element of support for Donald Trump that is based on racism or xenophobia.”
In November of that year, Vance voted for independent Evan McMullin for president. And in December 2016, after returning to his native Ohio and beginning to ponder a political career, Vance told the Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com that “Trump’s campaign message was obviously not very appealing to Latino Americans, black Americans, and so on.”
“That really bothered me,” Vance added.
After leaving behind a trail of criticism of Trump that Biden and his allies can now repurpose in their case against the new Republican ticket, Vance stood tall. In recent years, he has worked to link his political identity to Trump’s, recently raising money for him in Silicon Valley and signaling that he would have handled the 2020 election results differently than Trump’s last vice president.
Since entering the Senate, Vance has balanced his reputation as a culture warrior with bipartisan relationships that have promoted his populist ideals. He worked with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on legislation that would recover the salaries of failed bank executives, and with Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Mass., on a bill to ensure that more products invented with the aid of federal funds is made in the USA. He is also known for his visibility and responsiveness during local disasters, such as last year’s toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Vance, born James Donald Bowman in 1984, was named after his father, Donald Bowman, who left Vance’s mother “around the time I started walking,” he wrote in his memoir. His mother later renamed him James David Hamel, using an uncle’s name along with his adoptive father’s surname. When he married his wife, Usha, they both adopted Vance as their last name – a tribute to the grandparents who raised him and shaped his values in Middletown, Ohio.
Mamaw and Papaw Vance were among the most memorable characters in “Hillbilly Elegy” — gruff, sharp-tongued but well-meaning householders often in crisis. Glenn Close received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Mamaw in the film adaptation.
“Mamaw and Papaw made sure I knew the basic rules of fighting,” Vance wrote in the book. “You never start a fight; you always end the fight if someone else starts it; and even if you never start a fight, it might be okay to start one if a man insults your family.”
Elsewhere in the book, Vance recalled that his grandmother “felt acute disloyalty. She hated anything that suggested a lack of complete devotion to her family.”
These early lessons in loyalty illuminate Vance’s journey from Trump skeptic to steadfast ally. Encouraged by establishment Republicans, Vance considered a candidacy for the Senate in 2018 but passed. As the Republican Party consolidated itself into the party of Trump, Vance’s attacks gave way to praise. By the time he launched his 2022 campaign, he was fully on board with and dedicated to Trump — deleting old social media posts and apologizing for his previous criticisms, while also considering them a strength.
“My intuition with Trump is interesting, I think he likes people kissing his a–,” Vance said in an interview with NBC News shortly after launching his Senate bid that year. “But I also think he thinks people who kiss his… all the time are really weak.”
At the time, Vance was one of the lesser-known candidates in a crowded Republican primary and entered the race as a long shot. Opponents have weaponized his past comments about Trump, hoping to turn the Trump-loving base against him in a state the former president won twice by sizable margins. But Vance cultivated a relationship with Trump Jr., whose father eventually responded approvingly to Vance’s zeal for the convert and endorsed him. Trump’s support helped push Vance out of the primary and overcome the scare of a well-funded Democrat.
Relations with both Trumps blossomed over time. Trump Jr. has become one of his most ardent supporters for vice president.
“I really want to see the vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Kamala Harris,” Trump Jr. said. while interviewing Vance on his podcast in May. “There are some other cool people who could be vice president, I think.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
