James David Vance is a writer, businessman, and Republican senator from Ohio who was initially a fervent critic of former President Donald Trump but later became one of his staunchest defenders. He is the first millennial to join a major party ticket.
The selection of Vance, author of the best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” could boost Trump’s voter base in the Nov. 5 election, as the Ohio native is widely popular.
But some American political analysts say it is difficult to say whether Vance will attract many new voters for Trump.
“After much deliberation and reflection, and considering the tremendous talents of many other candidates, I have decided that the most suitable person to assume the office of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio.”
Following the attack on Trump on Saturday, Vance stressed on Social Media X that President Joe Biden was to blame for extreme political violence.
“The central premise of Biden’s campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist the one who must be stopped at all costs“Vance wrote. “That rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump.”
Vance, 39, rose to national prominence with the 2016 publication of his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy” (“Peasant Elegy”). He was elected to the Senate in 2022 and has become a leading proponent of the former president’s MAGA agenda: “Make America Great Again,” particularly on trade, foreign policy, and immigration.
James David Vance or JD Vance was born on August 2, 1984. He is an American politician, conservative commentator, venture capitalist, and writer. He is best known for his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which garnered significant press attention during the 2016 election.
Education
James completed his law school graduation and started his career at a corporate law firm, but moved to San Francisco to work in the tech industry. James worked as a principal at Peter Thiel Venture Capital, Mithril Capital.
In 2016, she published Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and a Culture in Crisis. James won the Audie Award for Nonfiction. The New York Times called it “one of the six best books to learn from.”
In 2016, James moved to Ohio to start a nonprofit and potentially run for office, and battled drug addiction in the Rust Belt. In 2017, he joined Revolution LLC, an investment firm established by AOL co-founder Steve Case, as an investment partner.
He was tasked with developing the “Rise of the Rest” initiative, which focuses on increasing investment in underserved regions outside the tech bubbles of Silicon Valley and New York City.
Since 2017, Vance has become a CNN contributor; he has also expressed his political views and beliefs on many news programs such as CBS News, CNN, ABC News, and Fox News. In addition, Ron Howard signed on to direct a Hillbilly Elegy movie, which Netflix released in 2020.
family
Vance’s biological father is Donald Bowman and he divorced his mother after Vance was born, and Vance remained with his grandmother and grandfather most of the time.
James married Usha Chilukuri, the daughter of a wealthy Indian businessman.
Born in 1986, she is of Indian-American descent; her father came to the US in search of a better life.
Usha Vance was born and raised in San Diego, California, and was a law school classmate of James. She worked as a law clerk in the office of Chief Justice John Roberts from 2017-2018 and served as a law clerk to Judge Brett Kavanaugh from 2014-2015. They married in 2014 and now have three children.
Source: With information from AP, AFP and various sources