Vice President-elect JD Vance takes office today: Everything you need to know about him


                        Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance speak to attendees while they wait for President-elect Donald Trump’s arrival during a candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, the day before Trump’s inauguration. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

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Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance speak to attendees while they wait for President-elect Donald Trump’s arrival during a candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, the day before Trump’s inauguration. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

JD Vance will be sworn in today at the 50th Vice President of the United States. His “rag to riches” story has been told many times. Here’s what you should know about the Middletown, Ohio native:

President-elect Donald Trump talks with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Usha Vance before a service at St. John's Church, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Vance will make his mark as the first millennial vice president

As he prepares to become the nation’s first millennial vice president, JD Vance is already the presumptive heir to the “Make America Great Again” movement.

While he has long-standing areas of interest, from tech and disaster relief to immigration, people close to the former Ohio senator say he sees his role as doing whatever is needed to best help President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration accomplish his agenda. He is also expected to be a liaison to Capitol Hill, leveraging relationships he built during his two years in the Senate. READ MORE HERE

Vance to use Bible owned by his great-grandmother during inauguration

JD Vance will take his oath of office on the Bible that once belong to his great-grandmother.

The Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee announced the Bibles to be used for Vice President-elect Vance and President-elect Donald Trump for today’s 60th Presidential Inauguration. READ MORE HERE

Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance arrive for a church service to be attended by President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania at St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, on Donald Trump's inauguration day. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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JD Vance’s ‘rags to riches’ story was written in Middletown neighborhoods

After attending Fenwick High School through his junior year, Chris Combs transferred to Middletown High for his senior year. That’s when he met Vance since they shared some mutual friends.

“He was a great guy,” Combs said while sitting in Combs BBQ Central, a restaurant he owns on Central Avenue and a few blocks from Vance’s childhood home. “If he ran into me right now, he’d be like, ‘Hey, Chris, how have you been?’ It would be like I saw him yesterday. I know him that well.”

It wasn’t until Combs read Vance’s memoir and watched his movie that he knew about Vance’s difficult upbringing. READ MORE HERE

JD Vance’s mother says she has recovered from health scare to attend inauguration

JD Vance’s mother, Beverly Aikins, said she has recovered enough from a health scare in December to attend her son’s inauguration on Monday in Washington, D.C.

Aikins, who raised the Vice President-elect in Middletown and still lives there, said in a social media post she had recovered from a hiatal hernia and heart issues at Soin Medical Center in Beavercreek. She spent more than a week in the hospital. READ MORE HERE

Attending Vance, Trump inauguration ‘a bucket list item’ for area residents

Area residents are in Washington, D.C. today to witness history as Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 47th president and JD Vance is sworn in as its 50th vice president.

Jim Charters of Washington Twp. got invited to accompany his daughter, state Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, an Alter High School graduate, to celebrate all things inaugural in the nation’s capital.

“I’m excited about being there (and) I’m extremely proud of my daughter for inviting me to escort her,” Charters said. READ MORE HERE

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance participate in a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Middletown’s JD Vance to be Ohio’s first elected White House official in a century: Here’s what that means

JD Vance — a now-former U.S. Senator raised in Middletown — will take his oath of office Monday alongside President-elect Donald Trump to become the first Ohioan to serve as vice president of the United States.

Vance’s position as V.P. will also mark the first time an Ohioan has entered the White House since the 1920s, a decade that saw the end of an era in which presidential politics largely ran through Ohio, with the state producing seven of the country’s 11 presidents from 1869 to 1923. READ MORE HERE

What to know about JD Vance’s roots in Middletown

Vance was born in Middletown in 1984 as James Donald Bowman, the son of Donald Bowman and Bev Vance.

Growing up in Middletown, his father left home when JD was young, and his mother struggled with drug addiction.

JD Vance credits his “mamaw” for raising him and being his role model. READ MORE HERE

VP-elect JD Vance jokes about skipping Inauguration Day to watch Ohio State-Notre Dame game

Vice president-elect JD Vance will have a lot more power when he is sworn in on Monday, Jan. 20 during the inauguration, but one power he won’t have his changing the time and date for the College Football National Championship Game.

Vance, a graduate of Ohio State University and a Middletown High School, joked last week in social media that the date and time of the game be changed and kidded he was skipping the inauguration in order to watch the Buckeyes play Notre Dame. READ MORE HERE

Middletown pastor blasts city for not recognizing Vance

A Middletown pastor blasted his hometown for not doing enough to recognize and celebrate Middletonian, U.S. Senator and Vice President-elect JD Vance, and for the city staying silent on his election win with President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Lamar Ferrell, pastor at Berachah Church, said the city celebrates many accomplishments from musicians to entrepreneurs, to athletes, “but we just have witnessed the election and no matter what side of the political party you sit on the reality is we have heard crickets from the city.” READ MORE HERE

City wants it known: Middletown is home of Vice President-elect JD Vance

Middletown is going to recognize Vice President-elect JD Vance with street entrance signs at seven locations following Monday’s inauguration of the Middletown native and President-elect Donald Trump.

Vance was born in Middletown in 1984 and attended Middletown schools until he graduated in 2003 with an honors diploma. READ MORE HERE

JD Vance support strong in his hometown, county: ‘We are going to have a friend in the White House’

By the end of election night, when it appeared Donald Trump would be elected the 47th president of the United States and his running mate, JD Vance, a Middletown native, would be Ohio’s first elected vice president, most of the party-goers had called it a night.

But before that they came out in droves to support Trump and Vance. Just over 62% of voters in Butler County voted in favor of the Republican candidates. In his hometown of Middletown, the Trump/Vance ticket received 62 percent of the vote. READ MORE HERE

Local high school using VP-elect JD Vance in class lessons

This month’s national election has provided teachers at a local high school a real-world instructional lesson for their students courtesy of former Middletown resident and now America’s Vice President-elect JD Vance.

Vance’s inspirational story – made famous by his 2016 bestselling biography “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” which later was made into a Netflix movie – is now part of the classroom instruction at Middletown Christian School, said teachers. READ MORE HERE

Carley Tindle, a member of the the Middletown High School marching band, practices, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Middletown, Ohio. The band is set to participate in the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20. Middletown is the hometown of Vice President-elect JD Vance.(AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

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Husted will replace Vance as Ohio’s next Senator

Ohio Lt. Gov Jon Husted, a former Dayton-area state representative, senator, speaker of the House and Ohio Secretary of State, was officially picked Friday to fill a vacant seat in the U.S. Senate left by Vice President-elect JD Vance.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who had the unilateral power to temporarily fill the vacancy following Vance’s resignation from the Senate last week, touted Husted for his public service and integrity. READ MORE HERE

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