Perhaps the only thing more shocking this week than an assassination attempt on a Presidential hopeful was said candidate's choice for number two. Donald Trump opted to elevate Ohio Senator J.D. Vance from relative obscurity to the penultimate position in American Politics, eschewing more likely finalists such as Florida Senator Marco Rubio and North Dakota Governor Doug Bergum. An erstwhile foe of Trump, the junior senator rallied hard against the former President during his first run in 2016. Despite critical texts about his new colleague that emerged during his senate race- including one that suggested Trump might be America's answer to Adolf Hitler, Vance allegedly softened on his GOP brethren during the first administration after seeing how he functionally addressed the running of our nation, ultimately becoming one of his greatest champions.
Born in Middletown, Ohio, Vance entered the Marines immediately following high school, serving four years as a combat correspondent, including six months in Iraq. After his military exit, he pursued higher education, first at Ohio State University and finally at Yale Law School, where he edited the Law Journal and served as President of the Veterans Association. He practiced law for a few years before moving into venture capital.
Vance's previous fifteen minutes came with the 2016 publication of his bestselling book, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, which went on to become a movie directed by Ron Howard. The work explores the socioeconomic devastation and loss of the American Dream experienced by much of the country over the past half-century, specifically Vance's native Ohio and the surrounding Appalachia. During its tenure on the New York Times Bestselling list in 2017, the paper called it "one of the six best books to help understand Trump's win."
Vance's lyrical interpretation of Trumpian policy will serve them both well on the campaign trail, offering a potential mitigation to the former President's trademark bombast. A storyteller with a personal connection could serve as a sort of ghostwriter for Trump's turbulent internal monologue and ingratiate holdouts.
Raised an evangelical protestant, Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019. In law school, Vance met his wife, Usha Chilukuri, and the pair have three children. Chilukuri is an active attorney in private practice and has previously served as a law clerk for then–DC Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. If Trump is elected, Chilukuri would be the first Indian American as well as the first practicing Hindu to serve as Second Lady of the United States.
Just shy of forty, Vance brings a youthful, accessible energy to Trump's ticket that has been sorely lacking in a cycle dominated by a geriatric gentry. Even if the duo is unsuccessful, Vance's elevation could prove meaningful in future cycles while the remaining GOP stagnates and stonewalls. Without standouts in the existing Republican field, as demonstrated by last year's near-comical debates, the kingdom has no rational heir. Particularly if he serves as Apprentice for the next administration, Vance could well become the next great American troublemaker-in-chief.
How do you feel about Donald Trump's choice of JD Vance for Vice President? Will this make a difference to the outcome of the campaign?
Hilary Gunn is a Connecticut native with a degree in Criminal Justice from the George Washington University. She works for a nonprofit and has previously collaborated with the CT GOP as an activist, political campaign manager and field director, and social media organizer. She is currently serving in her fourth term of municipal office and has previously acted as a delegate on the Republican Town Committee.