James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman , August 2, 1984) is an American politician and author serving as the 50th vice president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Ohio in the United States Senate from 2023 to 2025.

Born and raised in Middletown, Ohio, Vance enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2003, serving as a military journalist in public affairs throughout his four-year tenure until 2007. He earned a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. After a brief career in corporate law, Vance became a venture capitalist, working for Peter Thiel's Mithril Capital.

Vance gained national prominence with his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy , amid scholarly and media efforts to interpret white working-class disaffection after Donald Trump's election and the political realignment in post-industrial Appalachia and the Midwest. Vance was originally concerned by and opposed Trump's candidacy, but became a strong supporter during Trump's presidency. He was elected to the Senate in 2022, defeating Democratic nominee Tim Ryan in the general election after winning a crowded Republican primary with Trump's endorsement.

Vance was selected as Trump's running mate in the 2024 presidential election and resigned from the Senate before his inauguration as vice president. During his tenure as vice president, he has also served as finance chair of the Republican National Committee. He has been described as a national conservative and right-wing populist, aligning himself with the "postliberal" New Right movement. His political platform is characterized by opposition to immigration, abortion, same-sex marriage, gun control, and U.S. support for Ukraine, and he is an outspoken critic of childlessness. He has cited Catholic social teaching and Catholic theology as influences on his views, a stance that has been criticized by both Pope Francis and his successor, Pope Leo XIV, as misrepresenting Church teaching.