| “Hillbilly Elegy” made him famous, and his denunciations of Donald Trump brought him liberal fans. Now, as a Vice-Presidential candidate, he’s remaking his image as the heir to the MAGA movement.  Photograph by Mark Peterson / Redux for The New Yorker J. D. Vance’s rapid ascent has been remarkable by any account. “If you think about where he came from and where he is, at forty years old, J. D. is the single most successful member of his generation in American politics,” a Vance ally tells Benjamin Wallace-Wells, in a piece in this week’s issue. Yet Vance has also become a drag on the Presidential ticket, polling well below his counterpart, Tim Walz, and mysteries remain—about his ideology, his motivations, and how he and his wife, Usha, decided to join Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. (“I’m not sure what deal J. D. made with Usha,” a person close to the couple says. “But it had to be something, because they make every decision together.”) In new reporting, Wallace-Wells investigates the kind of populism that could follow Trump into office, considering the nature of his chosen political heir. Is Vance a “tireless representative of the alienated Midwest” or is he a “rich, very online man, motivated by a sweeping rejection of progressive culture”? Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » | 
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