J.D. Vance is a well-known figure, especially after becoming vice president in Donald Trump’s administration. However, Vance was already recognized before that—his political career began in 2013 when he started working as a senator’s assistant. Over the course of 12 years, he explored various fields, working in the legal system, venture investments, and even addressing the issue of drug addiction in the population. Interestingly, during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Vance was one of his harshest critics, despite being a member of the same party.

For those unfamiliar with politics, J.D. Vance is also recognized for his 2016 book Hillbilly Elegy, in which he shared his difficult childhood, marked by poverty, physical abuse, and his mother’s drug addiction. “Violence and chaos were an inseparable part of the world I grew up in,” he said during the book’s presentation. In 2020, the book was adapted into a film, with Amy Adams portraying his mother and Gabriel Basso playing Vance.

What lies ahead for J.D. Vance’s career remains uncertain, but some political analysts believe he could be the next U.S. president after Donald Trump. Many are also curious about his personal life, particularly his family—his parents, wife, and three children. His childhood was far from happy, as his father, Donald Bowman, left the family when Vance was still very young. In his memoirs, Vance revealed that his father gave him up for adoption when he was six years old. For the next several years, his father was absent from his life, and Vance later learned that he had been replaced by a new family.

He was raised by his mother, grandmother, and a series of stepfathers. His mother, Beverly Akins, was married five times, and her third husband, Bob Hamel, adopted Vance, changing his last name. Beverly wanted to erase any trace of Vance’s biological father, even choosing his new middle name to maintain the “D” in his initials. Vance later recounted his mother’s erratic and abusive behavior, including an incident where she threatened to crash their car with both of them inside. She worked as a nurse, but her drug addiction cost her her license and career. At the age of 12, Vance was placed in a foster family before eventually moving in with his grandparents, Bonnie Blanton and James Vance, whose last name he ultimately took.

Vance credits his grandmother for shaping him into the person he is today, as her love and stability allowed him to graduate and pursue higher education. He maintained contact with his mother, who eventually overcame her addiction. In 2013, he met his future wife, Usha Chilukuri, while studying at Yale Law School. Usha comes from a family of Indian immigrants, with both of her parents working as professors. The couple married in 2018, and Usha built her own legal career, working as a clerk for a district judge and later for the U.S. Supreme Court. They have three children: their eldest son, Ewan, was born in 2017, followed by Vivek in 2020, and their youngest daughter, Mirabel, in 2021.