A 31-year-old JD Vance began his memoir with an admission: It was “somewhat absurd” for him to write a book with little noteworthy life experience and no important titles to his name.
Nine years later, he’s preparing to be sworn in as the 50th vice president of the United States.
“Never in my wildest imagination would I have believed that I could be standing here tonight,” Vance told a packed arena when he accepted the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last year.
Vance will take the oath of office alongside President-elect Donald Trump Monday, just two years after he first became a U.S. senator for Ohio. It’s the culmination of Vance’s meteoric, but controversial rise to the national stage: A once fierce Trump critic, the “Hillbilly Elegy” author slowly worked his way into the president-elect’s good graces and became his most vocal ally.
That evolution paid dividends. Now, the 40-year-old father of three finds himself in uncharted territory as the first millennial vice president and second-in-command to the oldest president to assume office − who also survived two assassination attempts. Should he want it, Vance will have the opportunity to run for president in 2028 when Trump’s final term is up.
“That’s why it was such a valuable nomination to get, because of that dynamic,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor for Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “You could potentially be set up to be president as soon as four years from now, and that’s typically not the case.”
Since the November election, Vance has stayed quiet about his new role and what he hopes to accomplish over the next four years.
He’s no Mike Pence.
Trump’s first vice president took the helm in 2017 with years of experience in elected office, first in Congress and then as governor of Indiana. Many viewed Pence as an ideological balance for the ticket, someone who could rally evangelical Christians who were skeptical of Trump. During his tenure, Pence led the White House COVID-19 task force and leveraged his Capitol Hill experience to serve as Trump’s liaison to Congress.
The pair’s relationship soured when Pence refused to block the certification of the 2020 election results.
Vance, by contrast, served in the Senate for just two years and mirrors Trump in both personality and policy. He’s not afraid to ruffle feathers and play the role of Trump’s attack dog, both on social media and cable news programs. In a September podcast interview, Vance said he would’ve asked states to submit alternative slates of electors if he were in Pence’s shoes on Jan. 6, 2021.
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The transition offered clues about how and when Vance may be dispatched.
Vance facilitated meetings between Senate Republicans and some of Trump’s more controversial Cabinet picks, including Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary. He visited western North Carolina with the incoming second lady, Usha Vance, to survey storm damage and criticized the Biden administration’s response. During a recent interview with Fox News, Vance served as translator for Trump’s recent comments about taking over Greenland and outlined the administration’s immediate goals.
“Government should be smaller, but when government does the things that it should do, it ought to do them well,” Vance said. “That’s one of the things that President Trump and I are going to fight to get back to.”
The through line is Vance’s willingness to go to bat for Trump, however needed.
A source familiar with the transition said Vance will take his cues from the president, although he has a personal interest in immigration, technology and trade policy. It’s too soon to say what issues Vance will tackle on Trump’s behalf, the source said, but the two enjoy a good relationship built on trust.
“Being successful as vice president depends upon your relationship with the president and how good you are at doing your job in the perception of the president,” said Joel Goldstein, a law professor and vice presidential scholar at Saint Louis University. “Those two factors are really interrelated. Presidents, like all people, tend to empower people who they like and respect and trust.”
Jerry Dobbins remembers a young Vance growing up in Middletown, decades before he would be sworn in as vice president. Dobbins lived two doors down from Vance’s grandmother − affectionately known as “Mamaw” − and he called her a “tough bird” who pushed her grandson to do well and stay out of trouble.
As a child, Vance watched his mom wrestle with substance use disorder and had a revolving door of father figures. Dobbins believes Vance will carry the lessons of his tumultuous youth to the White House.
“Living where we live here, nobody was what I would really call poor, but nobody right around here had money to throw around like it was water,” Dobbins said. “I think he comes from a background that will make him be looking out for everybody.”
But Vance’s critics see something more sinister in his rapid rise to power: An opportunist who will do whatever it takes to get ahead.
“JD got what he wanted, now let’s see what he can do with it,” said Josh McLaurin, a Democratic state representative in Georgia who lived with Vance during their time at Yale Law School. “American democracy will give his worldview a fair shot. It’s possible that every Aesop’s fable about moral character is wrong.”
Vance’s ambitions beyond the vice presidency remain unclear. Trump is constitutionally barred from running for reelection in 2028, making Vance the likely front runner among potential Republican contenders. Many already see him as the heir apparent to Trump’s movement, particularly after a strong vice-presidential debate performance that got “Vance 2028” trending on social media.
Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said he didn’t know much about Vance before last year’s Republican National Convention, when Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson assured him, “You’ll like this guy.” Vance made inroads with GOP voters during the campaign and ticks the right boxes, Schimming said: Smart, experienced and loyal to Trump.
Schimming believes the vice president-elect has a bright future, but he expects Vance to first and foremost do the job before him.
“Nobody’s going to see him with a tape measure in the next four years going, ‘These drapes would look good for me too,'” Schimming said. “He knows what he’s doing there. He knows why he’s there.”
Haley BeMiller covers state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
