Inside JD Vance's Backstory: From Humble Beginnings To The Marines, To Clerking For Brett Kavanaugh

3 months ago

Forbes reporter Kyle Khan-Mullins joined "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and his upbringing.

READ MORE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kylemullins/2024/07/16/heres-how-much-jd-vance-is-worth/

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Transcript

00:00I'm Brittany Lewis with Forbes breaking news. Joining me now is my Forbes colleague money and politics reporter Kyle Kahn Mullins. Kyle

00:07thanks so much for joining me. Always great to be here Brittany. Thanks for having me. The RNC has kicked off this week and arguably

00:15the biggest news to come out of Milwaukee is that former President Donald Trump now the Republican nominee officially selected his

00:22running mate. That person is Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio. So obviously in typical Forbes fashion you estimated his net worth. But

00:31before we get there I want to talk about his very humble beginnings. So bring us back to his childhood.

00:39Absolutely. J.D. Vance's background is laid out in his memoir. That's what he became known for first and foremost. Hillbilly Elegy came

00:46out in 2016. We'll talk a little bit more about that. But his background is like you said it's a humble beginning. He grew up in he's a

00:54self-described hillbilly. So hillbilly family in you know Middletown Ohio and also grew up parts of his childhood in Kentucky. And you

01:05know describes himself as growing up in the Rust Belt in Appalachia and surrounded by people from that area from that region. And it was a

01:13rough childhood. You know I read I've read Hillbilly Elegy a couple of times now actually. And you know it is just anecdote after

01:21anecdote and story after story. We're talking abuse. We're talking neglect. We're talking you know dropouts from high school. We're

01:29talking you know alcoholism. You know all sorts of places. The people around him are just not in necessarily good shape. He was raised by his

01:37grandparents. His dad was out of the picture pretty early on. His mom struggled with addiction was in and out of different marriages

01:45different houses different rehab centers. We're talking about a very chaotic childhood. So you know in when he went by the time he got to

01:54high school you know he wasn't doing very well academically. And he moved in with his grandmother full time. And that's what things really

02:00started to turn around for him. So let's talk about that pivotal turning point because after high school he did not go to college right away. He

02:08instead joined the Marines. So talk to us a little bit about his service.

02:13Right. So after you know he moved in with his grandmother things started to really improve for him. His grades improved and he graduated

02:19with some better prospects. And he considered college but kind of balked at the cost and enlisted in the Marines for four years instead. And he

02:27really credits the Marines with teaching him how to be an adult. He says that they in addition to serving in Iraq you know which is

02:33obviously going to be a major factor in anyone's life. You know he also you know he says he was taught how to balance a checkbook and how

02:40to invest his money and save his money. You know he wasn't making a lot of money at the time but he was able to make enough through

02:47combination of Marines and online poker to pay for his grandmother's health insurance. And by the time he was out of his four years of

02:54service where he never really saw active combat he did public affairs roles for the most part. But by the time he was out of his four

03:01years of service he said he was in a totally different spot in life. So in that totally different spot in life he then turned to college.

03:09So talk to us about his college career and eventual going to law school.

03:15Absolutely. So he ended up going to the Ohio State University. I know it's important to say the Ohio State University. That's my my

03:22understanding there. And he was working multiple jobs while he was there. He was there on a G.I. on the G.I. bill that was helping him pay

03:30for it. So he didn't incur too much debt. But nonetheless he didn't like it that much. He you know he likes the fast paced lifestyle of

03:38college of you know going to class doing all your assignments you know staying up late to do stuff hang out with people all that he liked

03:44all that. But he didn't vibe with the culture very well and said that there were people especially students who were skeptical of the Iraq

03:50war skeptical of his service or are disrespectful of it entirely. So he resolved. He graduated in two years took a bunch of extra classes

03:59wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. And then he went to Yale Law School. You know that was really his first interaction with

04:06the upper echelon the elites of American society. And when he goes to Yale Law School you know it's like a it's a huge you know splash

04:15water and fix right. Totally different environment for him. And so it ended up working out for him now. You know he in addition to getting

04:23his law degree and setting himself up for a solid career in law and business. He also met his wife there. Usha the two of them met. She was

04:33his calls him or he calls her his spirit guide at Yale because she had also gotten her undergrad degree there. And then the two of them

04:42ended up clerking in Kentucky shortly afterwards clerking for a federal judge there after law school. They got married and then they

04:50ended up moving to D.C. where Usha actually clerked for then Judge Brett Kavanaugh and J.D. started his legal career at a corporate

04:58firm.

Inside JD Vance's Backstory: From Humble Beginnings To The Marines, To Clerking For Brett Kavanaugh

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