Photo courtesy of NPR

On July 15, former President Donald Trump officially selected JD Vance as the Vice President for his campaign.

This decision was made on the opening night of the Republican National Convention (RNC). As someone who enjoys tension and surprises, Trump kept his selection a mystery for a long time. Political commentators and average Americans made their guesses as to who would fill this spot. Now that the place has been filled, let’s discuss Vance and his background.

Vance is a Senator from Ohio. He was elected to office in 2022 and was sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2023. Some of his most important legislative accomplishments have been in bipartisan partnerships. Most notably, he collaborated with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on a railway safety reform bill. 

The Midwest is vital for Trump to win this election — specifically, swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. By choosing an Ohio native, Vance can appeal to working-class voters in the Rust Belt. Geography can play a role in this election, and by choosing Vance, Trump has strategically targeted an essential demographic of working-class Americans.

Vance is well-known for writing “Hillbilly Elegy,” a memoir about his upbringing in Middletown, Ohio and his family’s Appalachian culture stemming from Breathitt County, Kentucky. His working-class family’s background adds a relatable touch to the typically upper-class Senate. 

Vance joined the Marines in 2003, directly after graduating high school. Vance was a combat correspondent — also known as a military journalist.  In 2005, he was deployed to Iraq where he wrote personal stories about marines and helped escort civilian press.

Following his time in the Marines, Vance attended Ohio State University to study political science and philosophy. He then attended Yale Law School and graduated with a Juris Doctorate in 2013. While at Yale Law School, Vance met his current wife, Usha.

Born the daughter of two Indian immigrants, Usha has the potential to attract Indian voters. At Yale, she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and a close friend to Vance. Before attending law school, she received a master’s in philosophy from the University of Cambridge. Although she had a successful career practicing law, she recently resigned to take care of their three children.

One of the major reasons why Vance was chosen is because of his age. By selecting a younger politician, Trump paves the way for a future generation of Republicans to follow after him. Ben Carson and Marco Rubio were both other potential candidates, though they are both older.

In the past, Vance openly criticized Trump. He’s a Trump convert now, obviously, but this past has come back to haunt him. Vance once stated that Trump was “America’s Hitler,” according to his former roommate. In 2016, Vance talked with Kentucky radio host Matt Jones and spoke openly about his negative views about Trump.

“I cannot stand Trump because I think he’s a fraud. Well, I think he’s a total fraud that is exploiting these people,” Jones said.

“I do too. I agree with you on Trump, because I don’t think that he’s the person. I don’t think he actually cares about folks. I think he just recognizes that there was a hole in the conversation and that hole is that people from these regions of the country, they feel ignored. They feel left out, and they feel very frustrated. And I think of course in a lot of ways they feel that way for totally justifiable reasons. So, it’s a problem that Trump has been the vessel of a lot of that frustration,” Vance replied.

In an interview in 2016 with NPR, Vance said that he might even vote for Hillary Clinton. 

“I think there’s a chance, if I feel like Trump has a really good chance of winning, that I might have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton,” Vance said.

Besides his tumultuous past with the former president, Vance has been criticized for his strong isolationist views — specifically his opposition to aid for Ukraine. President Joe Biden’s campaign website has also pointed out that Vance supports a nationwide abortion ban.

Vance previously refused current Vice President Kamala Harris’s offer to debate ahead of the Democratic National Convention, but with Biden now dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Harris as the Democratic nominee, who will Vance now face?