[Portrait] JD Vance, Donald Trump’s new gunman

JD Vance. This name means almost nothing to the vast majority of French people.. However, he could be the second most powerful man in the United States if Donald Trump wins the November elections. A paradox for a rather discreet personality. Although little known, the story of JD Vance deserves to be told because of a rather extraordinary life journey.

JD Vance: A Hillbilly Life

Who would have thought that JD Vance would one day become a prominent politician? Hardly anyone, given his difficult start in life.

Born in 1984 in Middletown, Ohio, young James experienced economic and social poverty. His hometown was hit hard by the collapse of American industry.. This prosperous region, once nicknamed the Steel Belt (steel belt) has experienced waves of outsourcing and foreign competition resulting from globalization. Technological advances have also made the workforce obsolete. Unemployment thus exploded, leading to an exodus to other cities where it was still possible to find work.. A bitter remake of the Grapes of Wrath.

This is the context in which JD Vance grew up, raised in a family of conservative evangelicals. His parents ended up divorcing when he was a child: his own mother struggled with drug addiction, the family unit was totally unstable. The young man could nevertheless count on his grandparents to provide a semblance of structure in his education. Vance will recount this part of his life in an autobiographical work. titled A Hillbilly Elegy [référence aux Hillbillies, terme péjoratif qui décrit une classe populaire des ouvriers blancs du nord des États-Unis].<