J.D. Vance
Author, politician and lawyer
J.D. Vance is an American politician, author and former Marine who wrote the memoir Hillbilly Elegy. He has served as a US senator from Ohio and as vice president.
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American Born 1984 in Middletown, United States
About J.D. Vance
J.D. Vance was born James Donald Bowman and grew up in Middletown, Ohio, in an unstable, low-income family. After high school he joined the US Marine Corps in 2003 and worked in public affairs as a journalist until 2007. His service included six months in Iraq. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree at Ohio State University and a law degree from Yale Law School. He later worked for the venture capital firm Mithril Capital. His 2016 bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy describes his upbringing in the Rust Belt, including poverty, drug addiction and Appalachian culture. It was adapted into a film in 2020. Vance won a US Senate seat in Ohio in 2022 and served from 2023 to 2025. Donald Trump chose him as a running mate for the 2024 presidential race, and he later became vice president of the United States.