JD Vance: A Political Life

The inside story of JD Vance’s intellectual evolution and political ambitions

JD Vance has told the story of his upbringing, but the next chapter in the life of one of America’s most fascinating figures is being written before our eyes. In JD Vance: A Political Life, veteran political journalist W. James Antle explores Vance’s improbable rise from Appalachian storyteller to vice president of the United States, with an eye toward what’s next.

Antle provides a fast-moving, detailed account of the thrilling dynamics from two hotly contested campaigns in which Democrats sought to discredit Vance’s appeal to the working class. He takes a close look at the evolution of Vance’s political views as he became a leader of the new populist conservatism. And he draws from fresh interviews with Washington insiders and ordinary Ohio voters who helped fuel Vance’s rise, as well as from his decades of experience covering campaigns, Congress, the White House, and public policy. The result is a captivating book not just about the political career of one man, but about the choices and dilemmas ahead for his party, the conservative movement, and our country. 

Can anyone succeed Donald Trump? What would a Middle American electoral uprising look like if it were based on policy, solidarity, and community rather than personality? Is Vance up to leading such an effort? Antle provides insights and original reporting into the important questions facing America and its most consequential young leader.