James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman; August 2, 1984) is an American politician, author, attorney, and Marine Corps veteran serving as the 50th vice president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate from 2023 to 2025. During his tenure as vice president, Vance has also served as the finance chair of the Republican National Committee. After high school, Vance joined the United States Marine Corps, where he served as a military journalist from 2003 to 2007. He graduated from Ohio State University and Yale Law School. He practiced briefly as a corporate lawyer before embarking on a career in the tech industry as a venture capitalist. His memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, was published in 2016 and adapted into a film in 2020. Vance won the 2022 United States Senate election in Ohio, defeating Democratic nominee Tim Ryan. After opposing Donald Trump's candidacy in the 2016 election, Vance became a strong Trump supporter during Trump's presidency. In July 2024, Trump selected Vance as his running mate before the Republican National Convention. Vance has been characterized as a national conservative and right-wing populist, and he describes himself as a member of the postliberal right. His political positions include opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage, gun control, and American military aid to Ukraine. Vance is an outspoken critic of childlessness and has acknowledged Catholic theology's influence on his sociopolitical positions.