Former US President Donald Trump chose former critic Ohio Senator James David Vance as his 2024 presidential running mate on July 15.
Trump’s VP pick came on the first day of the Republican National Convention and just two days after he survived an assassination attempt at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Vance, who once called Trump an “idiot,” a “cynical a**hole,” “dangerous” and “America’s Hitler,” later became one of the former president’s most loyal defenders as he prepared to run for the U.S. Senate in 2022—a race he won with Trump’s coveted endorsement.
Trump announced his vice presidential pick on Truth Social saying
After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio.
Vance was born in Ohio, served in Iraq as a Marine, earned a degree from Yale Law School, worked as a venture capitalist in Silicon Vally, and made a name for himself with his memoir the 2016 bestseller Hillbilly Elegy.
James David Vance a short biography
- Born James Donald Bowman on 2 August 1984 in Middletown, Ohio
- His father is Donald Ray Bowman (1959 – 2023) and his mother is Veverly Caro (born 1961)
- JD Vance is of Scots-Irish descent and his parents divorced when he was a toddler
- His mother changed his name to James David Hamel after she married Bob Hamel
- JD Vance enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 2003 as a military journalist
- He graduated with a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Ohio State University in 2009
- JD Vance graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from Yale in 2013
- He worked for Republican Senator John Cornyn
- JD Vance spent a year as a law clerk for Judge David Burning of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
- Between 2016 and 2017 JD Vance served as a principal at Peter Thiels firm Mithril Capital
- In June 2016, Harper published Vance’s book, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
- He joined Revolution LLC in 2017, an investment company founded by AOL co-founder Steve Case
- JD Vance co-founded Narya Capital in 2019 with financial backing from Thiel, Eric Schmidt, and Marc Andreessen
- He defeated Democratic nominee Tim Ryan with 53% of the vote to become the Ohio Senator in 2023
