JD Vance rose to fame with his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy. Before entering politics, he served in the Marine Corps (2003–2007), including as a combat correspondent in Iraq, and worked briefly as a venture capitalist.
His childhood was marked by hardship: parental divorce, his mother’s violent tendencies, and a near-fatal car incident. He and his half-sister Lindsay were raised by their grandparents. Vance credits his grandmother for steering him away from drugs with a stark warning.
He graduated from Ohio State University (2009) and Yale Law School (2013). Now Vice President—the youngest since Nixon—he underwent minor sinus surgery shortly after his January 2025 swearing-in and returned to work within 24 hours.
