Vance, a 40-year-old lawyer, author, venture capitalist, Yale Law School graduate and former United States Marine, is set to enter the White House uncommonly early in his political career, which at this point is just four years old.
Vance first forayed into electoral politics in 2021, entering and ultimately winning a crowded Ohio GOP primary to replace longtime U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, another Cincinnati Republican, in Congress.
His campaign was built on name recognition following his best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which explored political themes through the prism of his early life in Middletown and Appalachian Kentucky. Vance ended up besting big-name Ohio Republicans in 2022 after receiving a coveted endorsement from Trump, who backed Vance despite the Senate-hopeful’s sharp critiques of Trump’s political style in 2016.
Vance went on to defeat his Democratic opponent for the seat with 53% of the the state’s vote. He spent three years in the U.S. Senate, using his position and media acumen to become one of the more vocal champions of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” platform on trade, foreign policy and immigration. He officially resigned from the chamber last week in anticipation for his inauguration.
Constitutional duties
Like all vice presidents, Vance will have a fairly limited job description, according to University of Dayton political science professor and academic expert on vice presidential candidates Christopher Devine.
The office of vice president has only a few constitutional obligations: to oversee the United States Senate, to cast votes in the chamber only when there’s a tie, and to step in to lead the country if the president were to become incapacitated.
“Constitutionally speaking, he’s not going to have a lot to do,” Devine said. “In fact, rarely do you have an instance where the vice president has to act on something such as succeeding to the presidency — that’s unlikely to happen, but with a rather old president you never know.”
Trump, 78, is the oldest president-elect in American history.
Devine also doesn’t expect Vance to spend too much in the Senate (V.P.’s have distanced themselves from this day-to-day role since the 1950s) nor would he expect Vance to be called on to cast many tiebreaking votes. The new United States Senate, Devine explained, has a 53-to-47 advantage for Republicans — one of the widest margins in modern times — and it’s become a rarity for senators to break from their caucus.
Rising influence
Still, Vance may see a “dramatic change in...his level of influence,” according to Devine, which will come down to his role as a trusted advisor to Trump and as an adept communicator of the administration’s positions.
“JD Vance’s responsibilities, like most modern vice presidents, will actually be informal but very important ones,” Devine said. “As some (vice) presidents, including Joe Biden have referred to it as, it’s to be in the role of the last person in the room when major decisions are being made.”
Vance flexed his influence in 2024 when he magnified unfounded rumors about Haitians in Springfield, creating a fractious debate about America’s humanitarian immigration policies. The debate prompted vows from the incoming administration to begin a deportation effort in Springfield despite assertions from local Republican officials that the city’s Haitian population is both legal and helpful to the area’s economy.
Vance and Trump have also assailed past federal leadership for offshoring American jobs and manufacturing. The duo promised to use abnormally high tariffs (a cost companies pay to import their goods to America) in order to help American-made goods on the market, which has unsettled pro-business advocacy groups across the country.
“Tariffs play a role in international trade,” Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Chris Kershner told this outlet, “but tariffs can also have a negative impact on pricing and the cost of doing business. So, while we know and understand there is a role for tariffs, they need to be reasonable and strategic so there isn’t an adverse impact on our local business community.”
Throughout all the decisions the incoming administration will have to make, Devine expects Vance to be a more influential adviser to Trump than former V.P. Mike Pence, given Vance’s close relationship with Donald Trump, Jr., his more personal relationship with Trump himself, and the vital communicator role he played on the campaign trail.
Wright State University political science professor Lee Hannah told this outlet that Vance’s position, paired with the fact that Trump cannot run for a third term, will allow Vance to either angle himself as Trump’s natural successor in 2028 or to use his influence to direct where the Republican party should go next.
“I do think he’s in a position to be uniquely influential as vice president,” Hannah said.
Messaging
Devine expects Vance’s most public contributions to the upcoming administration to revolve around messaging, given his historical penchant for using media to raise discussion, frame political arguments and explain policy — a set of skills that Trump relied on throughout the presidential campaign.
“He’s someone who I think has won Donald Trump’s support in part because he’s willing to go out and say things that rile people up,” Devine said.
Bravado was also a frequent tool for Vance during his time in the U.S. Senate, where he became a well-known “America first” foreign policy advocate and critic of further foreign aid to Ukraine. He also slanted much of his attention toward out-of-control corporate interests following 2023’s Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio.
“(Vance) did have an active role in the legislative process, but I don’t think that’s where he was making his mark the most as a Senator,” Devine said. “I would think that his role as vice president, at least publicly, much like his role as senator, will be more about communication, more about carrying a message for the Trump administration.”
For Kershner, having an Ohioan in the White House “opens up significant opportunity for the state but also for the Dayton region, especially because it’s someone who has ties to our region.”
He told this outlet that he expects Vance to look out for the state’s best interests where he can.
“We don’t have to show (Vance) where Dayton is on a map,” Kershner said. “They know where the Dayton region is and they hopefully know what the Dayton region contributes to the economic health of the state and the country.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Timeline of JD Vance’s career:
2003: Vance graduated from Middletown High School
2003 - 2007: Vance served the United States Marine Corps in Operation Iraqi Freedom
2009: Vance graduated from the Ohio State University
2013: Vance graduated from Yale Law School
2016: Vance publishes memoir “Hillbilly Elegy”
2019: Vance opens Cincinnati-based venture capitalist firm Narya
2022: Vance wins Ohio’s Republican primary and November general election to become Ohio’s junior United States Senator
2024: Vance, alongside Trump, is elected vice president of the United States
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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