The political rise of JD Vance is nothing short of remarkable. Long before stepping into the role of Vice President of the United States, Vance first made a name for himself in 2016 with the publication of his bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.
Before entering public office, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps and briefly worked as a venture capitalist. But his journey has been marked by adversity from a young age. After his parents divorced, Vance’s mother began displaying violent behavior, casting a long shadow over his early childhood. Throughout it all, his half-sister, Lindsay, was his steadfast companion.
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Their lives took a dramatic turn after a terrifying incident in which their mother threatened to crash the car and kill them both. Following that trauma, Vance and Lindsay were adopted by their grandparents. Though Lindsay later started a family of her own and moved away, Vance harbored no resentment—she remained his greatest source of strength.
As a young man, Vance fell in with the wrong crowd, dabbling in dangerous behaviors. It was his grandmother who intervened, delivering a stern warning that left a lasting impression. “She actually told me in a very menacing voice, ‘Look, JD, you can either stop hanging out with these kids, or I’ll run them over with my car. And trust me, no one will ever find out,’” Vance recalled in an interview with NPR.
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After graduating from Middletown High School in 2003, Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps, serving as a combat correspondent in Iraq in 2005. Retired Maj. Shawn Haney, who once supervised him, reflected to CNN that Vance had always seemed destined for leadership. “He always did a great job where he was, but always looked forward to the next thing,” Haney said.
In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance wrote candidly about how the Marines helped shape him: “I wasn’t ready for adulthood. I didn’t know how to balance a checkbook, much less how to complete the financial aid forms for college. It was the Marine Corps that first gave me an opportunity to truly fail, made me take that opportunity, and then, when I did fail, gave me another chance anyway.”
After returning stateside to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina, Vance became a media relations officer—one of the most high-profile and demanding assignments in Marine public affairs.
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Vance later attended Ohio State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy in 2009. He then went on to graduate from Yale Law School in 2013, proving his resilience and academic excellence.
Today, JD Vance serves as the Vice President of the United States. Not long after his swearing-in ceremony, he underwent a long-planned minor sinus surgery at George Washington University Hospital. “The Vice President-elect is having long-planned, minor sinus surgery and will be back at work tomorrow,” his spokesperson, William Martin, confirmed to Fox News. True to form, Vance resumed his duties within 24 hours.
He is the youngest vice president since Richard Nixon.
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