Here’s Why J.D. Vance Once Said, “Poverty’s the Family Tradition”

Many members of Congress had stellar reputations in fields such as business, economics, activism, and technology before turning to politics. This is also true with J.D. Vance, the recently disclosed vice presidential candidate for Donald Trump. However, he gained the most fame as a novelist before his stint in Congress as a writer of the book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir Of A Family And Culture In Crisis, which chronicled his upbringing in the Appalachians and the Rust Belt.

The book had an unexpectedly high number of sales upon its 2016 publication, providing some solace to many who were seeking an explanation for the election of Trump to the presidency and the plight of low-income white Americans. In one of the interviews with Terry Gross the same year, Vance opened up about the various parts of his book, including the 'working-class white Americans of Scots-Irish descent.' While appearing on the program, Vance began by reading one of the pages from his book.

As reported by NPR, it mentioned, "I identify with the millions of working-class white Americans of Scots-Irish descent who have no college degree. To these folks, poverty's the family tradition. Their ancestors were day laborers in the southern slave economy, sharecroppers after that, coal miners after that, and machinists and mill workers during more recent times. Americans call them hillbillies, rednecks or white trash. I call them neighbors, friends and family." Gross went on to ask him what he wanted to say about class and race.

Vance responded at the time, "Well, I guess, I'm not trying to say anything too explicit about race, but to note that poverty just goes back really, really far in the generational stories of these families. So the point I'm trying to make, ultimately, is that these folks have been poor for a very long time. In a lot of ways, intergenerational poverty is something that they inherited and that they've lived with as part of a family tradition." He went on to say that these folks had a natural animosity for the wealthy from a young age. 

In Hillbilly Elegy, readers hear of a childhood marred by poverty, intoxication, and abuse. From his grandparents in the Appalachian area of Kentucky to his coming-of-age in Middletown, Ohio, the story follows Vance's white, working-class family. Along with his experiences in college and the Marines, Vance discusses 'generational upward mobility' and 'the demons of his chaotic family history.' The book was characterized by the New York Times as 'a tough love analysis of the poor who back Trump.'

In fact, in 2016, Vance was quite critical of Trump, going so far as to call him 'America's Hitler.' But as Vance prepared to run for the Senate in 2022 and received Trump's backing in the Republican primary, he shifted his pitch. Additionally, in 2017, Imagine Entertainment was awarded the rights to turn Vance's novel into a film. The film had a limited theatrical run in November 2020 before making the transition to streaming shortly thereafter. As per Deadline, the film was reportedly funded with $45 million by Netflix.