From Trump critic to VP pick: The surprising path of Ohio's rising political star
A former marine who wrote about his hard-knock life became Trumpʼs choice for vice president. His path from Silicon Valley success to political power shows how fast things change in modern-day politics
In 2016‚ JD Vance made waves with his book about growing up poor in the rust-belt; a story that caught Americas attention during that years presidential race. His work (which looked at working-class struggles) became extra-important as Donald Trump started his first white house run
The contrast between these two men couldnt be more striking: while Trump grew up in new-york high society Vance came from middletown ohio where he dealt with family problems and a mom who struggled with drugs. Despite his rough start he went from marine service to yale law school - quite the life-change
Iʼve been very open about the fact that I did say those critical things and I regret them
The story gets more interesting around early-23 when Vance backed trumps latest campaign before most others did. By mid-summer Trump picked him as running mate at the milwaukee convention; a choice that made sense since vances friend Donald Trump Jr really pushed for it
- Military background as US Marine
- Yale Law School graduate
- Successful venture capitalist
- Father of three young kids
- Married to Usha‚ a lawyer
These days Vance works hard to connect with both blue-collar voters and educated suburbanites - its a rare mix thats pretty useful in swing states like pennsylvania. His wife (who used to be democrat) and their three kids are often mentioned in his speeches about pro-family values
The 40-year old senator keeps some silicon valley connections alive especially with tech investor peter thiel; which helps with campaign fundraising. His transformation from trump-critic to possible vice president shows how quick political changes can happen in todays world
