Once ranked on Obama’s book list, J.D. Vance’s bestselling 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy about growing up in rural Appalachia first propelled him into national awareness.
Eight years later, Vance is the unlikely future of a new American right–one that appeals to working class and rural Americans, eight years and a cold revolution away from the country club GOP of old.
This morning at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin–minutes after accepting the nomination as GOP presidential candidate and less than two days after being shot in the head in a failed assassination attempt–Donald Trump formally announced Vance as his running mate. Vance walked on stage to Merle Haggard’s 2005 ballad America First.
Writing on Truth Social about his pick, President Trump said Vance will spend the campaign “strongly focused” on “American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond….”
Trump is running for a one-term presidency. He did not choose a quiet elder statesman like Doug Burgum or Ben Carson who would run little risk of stealing his spotlight. He did not choose a centrist or independent candidate such as Nikki Haley or RFK Jr., who might round out a “unity ticket” in a bid for electoral landslide–tempting for the competitive candidate fond of recounting crowd size. He did not make a political play with a demographically savvy choice like Tim Scott or Marco Rubio. His opponents and detractors might have expected less of him, especially those who favor the “Trump as dictator” line of persuasion, warning the populace he is set on installing himself permanently in the White House, American Caesar-style. Trump, often underestimated by his beltway commentators and elite naysayers, made the bold choice of someone who believes he is ascendant, and once again prioritized his loyal working class base.
After the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio last year, Senator Vance was out front and on the ground for his constituents, even joining Democrats to regulate rail companies. He has promoted pro-family policies such as free healthcare for childbirth and financial incentives for families to have children. He has been a leading voice for American manufacturing and an opponent of the free trade deals that decimated the American Rust Belt. He joined striking autoworkers on the UAW picket line. He has led the debate about political responses to the opioid crisis. Less an isolationist than a foreign policy “realist,” Vance has been the Senate’s most vocal critic of sending aid to Ukraine, while also supporting America’s interests in defending Israel. Across the board, his views show that he is in tune with that of the American working class–often in nuanced ways the larger political machine hasn’t caught onto.
Vance is 39 years old, the youngest candidate on a presidential ticket since Richard Nixon was a vice presidential nominee, and the first Millennial. He is a former Marine, the first veteran since John McCain. (He’s also the first bearded candidate since Benjamin Harrison in 1892.)
Vance is new to politics. He’s been a Senator for just over one year. He ran on the tagline “Conservative Outsider.” He was successful businessman, a graduate of Yale Law School. He founded Nayra, a venture capital firm focused on creating Ohio jobs.
Back in 2016, Hillbilly Elegy was the liberal elite’s guide to explaining the rise of Trumpism. The book dominated bestseller lists and was later turned into a major film directed by Ron Howard. The spark was there. Vance was candid in recounting his childhood; growing up in coal country, the child of drug addicts. Elegy had an electric effect, getting praise from the political right and the left for its candid, self-critical examination of rural America, considered credible because it came from an Appalachian son. It was no hagiography, no pastoral meditation. Vance had thoughtful if sharp criticism for his America of origin; Elegy is an anti-welfare state tome urging the white working class to look within, to rebuild home and church and community, to stop looking outside for someone to blame. This earned ire from some rural readers, but you get the feeling he speaks with a certain grim, knowing conviction.
“We don’t need to live like the elites of California, New York, or Washington, D.C. We don’t need to work a hundred hours a week at law firms and investment banks. We don’t need to socialize at cocktail parties. We do need to create a space for the J.D.s and Brians of the world to have a chance. I don’t know what the answer is, precisely, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better.”
J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy
That’s his personal prescription; when it comes to policy, he supports industrial intervention and tariffs to protect American jobs. He is not a free market absolutist. He has criticized the American consumer class for enshrining cheap prices as the main value–choosing products made using Chinese slave labor over supporting American industry.
Whatever you think of Vance’s politics, his story is undeniable. Anti-patriotism is trending on both the far left and far right; Vance’s life is a counterpoint. From childhood poverty and neglect to running on the presidential ticket, Vance is an in-progress testimony about what is still possible in this country.
Vance embodies Trump new right; a party built on working class, pro-America values, and one focused on workers rather than wealthy consumers. Trump is clearly choosing someone he believes can make the case for a lasting MAGA movement; an articulate, aggressive, heterodox, and youthful political leader with a uniquely American story.
