JD Vance: ‘Friends and Family are What Matter Most’
When JD Vance is sworn in as our nation’s 50th vice president on January 20, 2025, he’ll become one of the youngest persons ever to hold that office. He’ll also be the first vice president to have served in the Marines.
The 40-year-old has served as Ohio’s junior senator for less than two years, first winning election during the 2022 midterms.
Vance is a native of Middletown, Ohio. His parents divorced when he was a toddler. While he was growing up, his mother struggled with opioid addiction and his father gave him up for adoption when he was just six years old. Ultimately, Vance was raised by his grandparents James and Bonnie Vance. He affectionally calls his grandmother “Mamaw” and his grandfather “Papaw.” Mamaw, especially, had a huge influence on Vance.
Today, Vance is married to his wife, Usha Vance. Together, they have three young children. And Vance’s mom has been clean and sober for 10 years.
Vance is the author of The New York Times bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. The book tells his story of growing up poor in Appalachia, and the socioeconomic and family problems he experienced.
The book has since been made into a movie by the same name, and was released on Netflix in 2020.
In a June 2017 interview, then-businessman JD Vance spoke with Megyn Kelly about his book, and about his past.
You can watch a brief clip of that interview below:
Vance is well-known for being whip smart (he earned his JD from Yale Law School in 2013), an eloquent communicator and a personable character.
In recent days, he’s spoken repeatedly about honoring and respecting those with whom we disagree politically.
The morning of Election Day, Vance spoke to reporters after casting his ballot in his native Ohio.
“Whether you’re voting for Donald Trump or voting for Kamala Harris, remember friends and family, that stuff is what really, really matters,” Vance said. “We ought to be kind to one another. We ought to treat each other with respect.”
His remarks mirror an answer he gave at a townhall with NewsNation a week-and-a-half before Election Day.
“If you’re discarding a lifelong friendship because somebody votes for the other side, then you’ve made a terrible, terrible mistake,” Vance said.
“Whether you vote for Donald Trump, whether you vote for Kamala Harris, don’t cast aside family members and lifelong friendships. Politics is not worth it. And I think if we follow that principle, we’ll heal the divide in this country.”
You can watch his full answer below:
It’s important for Americans of differing political ideologies to be able to talk to one another and express their disagreements openly and honestly. That is true tolerance; not the Left’s phony version of “tolerance” which mandates everyone affirm their beliefs.
For Christians who believe in the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, religious liberty and parental rights, it can be very difficult to see how someone could disagree with these important principles. Aren’t they just common sense?
Yet, as the recent election results demonstrated, millions – no, tens of millions – of Americans don’t share our values.
As Christians, we cannot abandon any of the truths and morals that we firmly believe in. We cannot compromise our core principles, especially those we know that God has clearly spoken about.
At the same time, we can learn to engage with those who disagree with us in a respectful way. We must communicate truth while showing grace, hoping those who disagree with us do so because of what we are saying, not because of how we communicate it.
Our national motto is “E pluribus unum,” or “Out of many, one.”
Americans today come from many different backgrounds, religious beliefs, moral values and economic circumstances. Despite our differences, we can start to be “one” if we are able to listen to each other while sharing our ideas in a convincing and compelling way.
To the best of our ability, and with God’s help, we should strive to model our engagement with others after our Savior Jesus Christ, who was full of “grace and truth” (John 1:17).
Related articles and resources:
Sean McDowell: Having Meaningful Conversations in Cancel Culture
Creating Peace in a Polarized Culture
Donald Trump Elected 47th President of the United States
The Abortion Industry’s Winning Streak on Ballot Measures is Finally Over
Harris’ Abortion Issue Bid Fails.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Zachary Mettler is a writer/analyst for the Daily Citizen at Focus on the Family. In his role, he writes about current political issues, U.S. history, political philosophy, and culture. Mettler earned his Bachelor’s degree from William Jessup University and is an alumnus of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. In addition to the Daily Citizen, his written pieces have appeared in the Daily Wire, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Townhall, the Daily Signal, the Christian Post, Charisma News and other outlets.
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