J. D. Vance

J.D. Vance was born in the Appalachian region of Ohio in the mid-1980s. The grandson of what he calls “hillbilly” grandparents, he grew up witnessing his mother’s drug addiction and restless lifestyle. Because of this, his grandparents played a large role in his life, teaching him the “hillbilly” values they themselves learned growing up in eastern Kentucky. Despite the environment he grew up in, which set a precedent for drug use and domestic abuse, Vance managed to escape the poverty of his youth. He enrolled in the Marines after graduating high school and eventually served the United States in the Iraq War. Upon returning, he attended Ohio State University and, later, Yale Law School. He then proceeded to work as a venture capitalist before founding a nonprofit called Our Ohio Renewal, which focuses on the state’s opioid problem. In addition to his role at Our Ohio Renewal, he now regularly appears on CNN.