JD Vance steps into the role of Vice President, Trump’s defender

On January 20, 2025By Littum

A 31-year-old JD Vance began his memoir with an admission: It was “a bit absurd” for him to write a book with little notable life experience and no major titles to his name.

Nine years later, he is preparing to be sworn in as the 50th Vice President of the United States.

“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d be standing here tonight,” Vance told a packed arena as he accepted the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last year.

Vance will take the oath of office alongside President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, just two years after first becoming a US senator from Ohio. It’s the culmination of Vance’s meteoric but controversial rise to the national stage: Once fierce Trump criticThe “Hillbilly Elegy” author slowly worked her way into the president-elect’s good graces and became his most vocal ally.

That development paid dividends. Now the 40-year-old father of three finds himself in uncharted territory as the first millennial vice president and second-in-command to the oldest president to take office — who also survived two attempted murders. Should he wish, Vance would have the opportunity to run for president in 2028, when Trump’s final term ends.

“That’s why it was such a valuable nomination to get, because of that dynamic,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “You could potentially be set up to be president as soon as four years from now, and typically that’s not the case.”

What Kind of Vice President Will JD Vance Be?

Since the November election, Vance has been tight-lipped about his new role and what he hopes to accomplish over the next four years.

He is no Mike Pence.

Trump’s first vice president took the helm in 2017 with years of experience in elected office, first in Congress and then as governor of Indiana. Many viewed Pence as an ideological balance for the ticket, someone who could rally evangelical Christians skeptical of Trump. During his tenure, Pence led the White House COVID-19 Task Force and leveraged his Capitol Hill experience to serve as Trump’s liaison to Congress.

The couple’s relationship soured when Pence refused to block the certification of the 2020 election results.

Vance, on the other hand, served in the Senate for only two years and mirrors Trump in both personality and policy. He’s not afraid to ruffle feathers and play the role of Trump’s attack dog, both on social media and on cable news shows. In one September podcast interviewVance said he would have asked states to submit alternate electoral rolls if he were in Pence’s shoes on Jan. 6, 2021.

The transition provided clues as to how and when Vance might be dispatched.

Vance facilitated meetings between Senate Republicans and some of Trump’s more controversial Cabinet picks, including Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. He visited western North Carolina with incoming second lady Usha Vance to survey storm damage and criticized the Biden administration’s response. During a recent interview with Fox News, Vance served as a translator for Trump’s latest comments about taking over Greenland and outlined the administration’s immediate goals.

“Government should be smaller, but when government does the things it should do, it should do them well,” Vance said. “That’s one of the things that President Trump and I are going to fight to get back to.”

The common thread is Vance’s willingness to fight for Trump wherever necessary.

A source familiar with the transition said Vance will take his cues from the president, although he has a personal interest in immigration, technology and trade policy. It’s too early to say what issues Vance will tackle on Trump’s behalf, the source said, but the two enjoy a good relationship built on trust.

“Success as vice president depends on your relationship with the president and how well you do your job in the president’s eyes,” said Joel Goldstein, a law professor and vice presidential scholar at Saint Louis University. “The two factors are really connected. Presidents, like all people, tend to empower people that they like and respect and trust.”

Jerry Dobbins remembers a young Vance growing up in Middletown, decades before he would be sworn in as vice president. Dobbins lived two doors down from Vance’s grandmother — affectionately known as “Mamaw” — and he called her a “tough bird” who pushed her grandson to do well and stay out of trouble.

As a child, Vance saw his mother struggle with substance abuse and had a revolving door of father figures. Dobbins believes Vance will bring the lessons of his tumultuous youth to the White House.

“Living where we live here, nobody was what I would really call poor, but nobody around here had money to throw around like it was water,” Dobbins said. “I think he comes from a background that will make him look out for everyone.”

‘He knows why he’s there’

But Vance’s critics see something more sinister in his rapid rise to power: an opportunist who will do whatever it takes to get ahead.

“JD got what he wanted, now let’s see what he can do with it,” said Josh McLaurin, a Democratic Georgia state representative who roomed with Vance during their time at Yale Law School. “American democracy will give his worldview a fair shot. It’s possible that every Aesop’s fable about moral character is wrong.”

Vance’s ambitions beyond the vice presidency remain unclear. Trump is constitutionally barred from running for re-election in 2028, making Vance the likely front-runner among potential Republican candidates. Many already see him as the heir to Trump’s movement, especially after a strong one vice presidential debate performance which got “Vance 2028” looking on social media.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said he didn’t know much about Vance until last year’s Republican National Convention, when Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson assured him, “You’re going to like this guy.” Vance made inroads with GOP voters during the campaign and checks all the right boxes, Schimming said: Smart, experienced and loyal to Trump.

Schimming believes that the newly elected vice president has a bright future, but he expects Vance to do the job before him first and foremost.

“Nobody’s going to see him with a tape measure for the next four years, “Those curtains would look good on me, too,” Schimming said. “He knows what he’s doing there. He knows why he’s there.”

Haley BeMiller covers state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations throughout Ohio.