Who is Vance — the face of Trump administration

Within three months of being elected, US Vice President James David Vance has emerged as the ‘face’ of ongoing change in Washington DC. He is the one who is publicly ticking-off long-standing European allies, speaking for ‘working-class’ Americans, defending reciprocal tariffs and deportations of foreigners from US.

Vance wears many hats – he has been a military veteran, authored a best-selling book and an investor. In the last decade, Vance went from being an atheist to reconnecting with his Christian roots – he spent part of Easter Sunday meeting the Pope in the Vatican. At the other end of his family’s religious spectrum, he caters to the vocal Hindu Indian-American community through his spouse Usha. Dressed in Indian attire, the couple was at a temple in New Delhi yesterday with their three kids.

At 40, Vance is visible at more high-profile international events than President Donald Trump. Last week US Congressman Ro Khanna equated Vance — seen as a successor to Trump — as a threat to the Constitution, comparing him to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. In February, at the Munich Security Conference, Vance shocked Europe and questioned it for failing to halt illegal migration. Even before he was elected as Vice President, Vance called UK ‘an Islamic nation with nuclear bomb’.

Born as ‘James Donald Bowman’, the surname Vance is from his maternal grandparents who raised him.  Born and raised in Middletown, Ohio, he faced a challenging childhood marked by financial struggles and family instability. His mother’s battle with addiction and his father’s absence left a void that his grandparents filled.

The White House website narrates Vance’s upbringing “His grandma ‘Mamaw’ (Bonnie Vance) who was the proud owner of 19 handguns, provided the tough love he needed to stay on the straight and narrow”.

After graduating from Middletown High School, Vance enlisted in the US Marine Corps, serving for four years with a tour in Iraq. Upon returning home, he attended the Ohio State University, where he excelled academically and earned a spot at Yale Law School in 2013.

The private life of Vance turned around at Yale. He had been chiselled into a world view originating from hardship. Meeting Usha, who came from a devout Hindu household, changed Vance as he was introduced to ‘dharma’ (moral duty).

The transformation was gradual. But by 2018, JD Vance had returned to Christianity, formally converting to Catholicism. He has since described his renewed faith as foundational to his identity and political worldview. And while he returned to church, the spiritual shift began in a home that lit oil lamps during Diwali.

When JD Vance and Usha married in 2014, their wedding included both Hindu and Christian elements. In media interview in the US, Usha Vance had said: “I did grow up in a religious household, my parents are Hindu, and I think that was one of the things that made them such good parents, and good people. I knew that JD was searching for something. This just felt right for him.”

At the personal level, Vance has adjusted from being a ‘meat and potatoes’ eating guy to his wife’s vegetarian cuisine.

Usha’s role in this story is central. She has not only influenced his personal faith but also brought stability. On inauguration day of his take over, Trump mentioned Usha, saying “the only one smarter than (JD)”.

“I would have chosen her, but somehow the line of succession didn’t work that way. She’s great,” Trump said while choosing his vice president.

For JD Vance to be closely associated with Trump is far cry from 2016, when he was an outspoken critic of then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, calling him ‘reprehensible’. In 2021, Vance publicly announced support for Trump, apologising for his past criticisms of Trump and deleting some of them from social media.

Also at Yale, Vance was prompted by colleagues to author the bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” — which gave a voice to millions of working-class Americans across the US heartland.

Vance has been a Senator from Ohio since 2022 and even then championed for securing America’s border with Mexico – the source of illegal immigration — revitalising American manufacturing and fighting for the prosperity of working-class families across the country.

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