What does the JD in JD Vance stand for? 5 things to know about Trump’s running mate
Tonight, America will meet former President Donald Trump's pick for running mate in the November elections, JD Vance, when he gets up in front of a crowd of delegates and GOP party leaders at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
For many people not paying attention to politics, Vance, 39, the Senator from Ohio, will be a complete unknown. But they might have read his book. or seen the movie.
What is JD Vance known for?
In 2016, Vance released his book "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis." It became one of the breakout hits of the election cycle that year.
The book follows Vance’s hardscrabble childhood and white, working-class family from his grandparents in Kentucky’s Appalachia region to his coming-of-age in Middletown, Ohio and his later success at Yale Law School and in Silicon Valley. Vance also chronicles his time in the Marines and higher education, touching on “generational upward mobility” and carrying “the demons of his chaotic family history.”
Pundits began using his memoir to explain Trump’s popularity with white, rural voters in the 2016 election but at the time Vance himself openly criticized Trump.
Ron Howard directed an adaptation of the book, which was released in select theaters and on Netflix in 2020 and starred Amy Adams as his mother, Bev Vance, and Glenn Close as his grandmother, Mamaw. Gabriel Basso plays J.D. Vance and Owen Asztalos plays a younger version of him. Close received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her portrayal.
But critics panned the movie and some Appalachians hated it, claiming it reinforced stereotypes about rural Americans and offered easy answers for complicated situations.
Did JD Vance call Trump 'America's Hitler'?
Early in his public life, Vance was not a Trump fan.
During a 2016 NPR interview, Vance called Trump "noxious" and joked about writing in his dog on the 2016 ballot. He also referred to the former president as "cultural heroin" in a column for The Atlantic that year.
In a Facebook message from 2016 that an old college roommate made public, he reached out to Vance to get his opinion on Trump.
"I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a--hole like Nixon who wouldn't be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he's America's Hitler," Vance wrote. "How's that for discouraging?"
However, in his runup for the Senate in 2022, Vance changed his tune and even managed to secure Trump's endorsement in the GOP primary. He went on to defeat former Rep. Tim Ryan, who called Vance an "a-- kisser" during one of their debates.
What does 'JD' Vance stand for?
Like Vance's political opinions, his name has evolved over the years.
He was born James Donald Bowman.
His middle name was changed from Donald, his father's name, to David after his parents divorced.
As a teenager, he took the last name Hamel, after his stepfather.
He legally adopted the surname of his maternal grandparents, Vance, when he married his wife, Usha, in 2014.
Vance prefers to go by JD, the name used in his memoir, on his official U.S. Senate biography and by Trump when he announced his vice-presidential pick.
Is JD Vance a Catholic?
If elected, Vance would be the second Catholic vice president in U.S. history, following President Joe Biden’s tenure in the position during Barack Obama’s presidency, the National Catholic Register reported.
Who is JD Vance's wife?
Vance's wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, 38, was a litigator for Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP, a national firm based in San Francisco, although she was no longer listed as employed by the firm once Trump announced his VP pick.
The pair met at Yale Law School, which both attended. The Vance's have three children: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.
The New York Times has reported Usha Vance is the daughter of Indian immigrants and grew up in the San Francisco area. Usha Vance worked as a law clerk for both the Supreme Court of the United States, working for Chief Justice John Roberts, and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, working for Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Haley BeMiller, Cincinnati Enquirer; Brenna Gauchat, Arizona Republic; Bethany Bruner, USA TODAY NETWORK contributed to this story
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: 2024 RNC: Who is JD Vance? 5 things to know about Trump's VP pick
