James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman, August 2, 1984) is an American politician and author who is 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 and was a military journalist 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 briefly working as a corporate lawyer, Vance became a venture capitalist at Peter Thiel's Mithril Capital. In 2016, he published Hillbilly Elegy, a bestselling memoir that brought him national attention.