JD Vance Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio and vice president-elect.
Personal
Birth date: August 2, 1984
Birth place: Middletown, Ohio
Birth name: James Donald Bowman
Father: Donald Bowman
Mother: Beverly Aikins, nurse
Marriage: Usha (Chilukuri) Vance (2014-present)
Children: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel
Education: Ohio State University, B.A., 2009; Yale Law School, J.D., 2013
Military service: US Marine Corps, 2003–2007, Corporal
Religion: Catholic
Other Facts
Served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
His mother struggled with drug addiction. Was raised mainly by his maternal grandparents.
Has had multiple middle and last name changes: James Donald Bowman, James David Hamel and James David Vance. Initially, his middle and last names changed when his mother remarried. When he married, he and his wife changed their last name to Vance.
Yale law professor Amy Chua convinced Vance to write his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.”
Was a key voice in the “Never Trump” movement during the 2016 presidential election and has publicly criticized former President Donald Trump. Vance liked tweets in 2016 and 2017 that harshly criticized Trump and his policies, and in a review of Vance’s media appearances by CNN’s KFile, has made anti-Trump comments in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Vance deleted past anti-Trump tweets ahead of his announcement in July 2021 that he would run for the open Ohio Senate seat.
Timeline
2014-2015 – Works as a litigator with Sidley Austin.
2016-2017 – Works at Mithril Capital Management.
June 28, 2016 – “Hillbilly Elegy,” which chronicles Vance’s childhood in a poor Rust Belt town in Ohio, is published.
March 27, 2017 – Joins Revolution LLC as a partner.
2019 – Forms Narya Capital.
2020 – “Hillbilly Elegy” is adapted into a Netflix movie.
July 1, 2021 – Announces he will run for the open Ohio Senate seat.
July 5, 2021 – On Fox News, Vance apologizes for criticizing Trump and asks viewers not to judge him on his past statements.
November 8, 2022 – Elected to the US Senate.
July 15, 2024 – Trump names Vance as his running mate.
November 5, 2024 – Trump and Vance defeat Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election.
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