After Trump: The Republican Party’s Next Chapter

The Key to the Post-Trump World Lies in the Life, Thought, and Rise of Vice President JD Vance

Who is JD Vance? And why does it matter?

Before 2016, JD Vance was virtually unknown. A poor kid from a troubled family in Middletown, Ohio, he was lifted up by the fierce love of his grandmother and a few others who believed in him. From a broken home and community, he joined the Marines, graduated from Yale Law School, and entered the elite professional world of Silicon Valley, working alongside some of the world’s most powerful minds before moving back to his native Ohio.

Today, Vance is one of the most influential Republicans in America. But unlike many politicians, he is a public intellectual. Long before holding office, he was a prolific writer and speaker, wrestling with the core issues facing the GOP and the nation.

Legal and political analyst Frank DeVito examines JD Vance’s body of intellectual and political work, finding in Vance a leader with rare clarity about the Republican Party’s past and a vision for its future. Vance not only understands the Party’s internal tensions and shifting coalitions; he envisions how the Party can evolve into a truly pro-family, pro-worker movement rooted in the middle class. As the post-Trump era unfolds, Vance may be the most capable figure to guide the GOP—and the nation—into what comes next.