Apart from “James,” nothing is left of his birth name. Donald Trump’s US vice presidential candidate JD Vance already has three names behind him. Above all, “Donald” had to go.
Double-Donald for President – a little silly, but that could have been a battle cry of the Republicans in the current US election campaign. At least if JD Vance, the candidate for the vice presidency, had had a different relationship with his father. Or with his mother. In any case, he was not meant to become a Donald – the history of his transformations shows that.
The three names of JD Vance
The interpreter of rural America (“Hillbilly Elegy”) has already had three names in his life. Somehow this is not surprising for a man who has made several U-turns in his life: He came from the poorest of circumstances and became an elite university student and who transformed himself from a loud Trump critic to the loudest Trump advocate.
Vance was born “James Donald Bowman”, named after his father Donald Bowman. The marriage failed and his mother Beverly married a certain Bob Hamel, who adopted little James Donald. To demonstrate family ties (and to sever the old ones), Beverly renamed her son “James David”. To be more precise: James David Hamel.
Everything except Donald is ok
This marriage lasted longer, but not forever. And the divorce made the history of family names even more complicated. “My mother simply took the last name of every man she married,” Vance writes in his book.
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Eventually, JD was old enough to take care of his own affairs. In 2014, he married his fellow student . According to his birth certificate, his name was still the same as his biological father. But he had long since lost touch with Bowman. He and his wife promptly adopted the name Vance – his mother’s maiden name.
The only constant in Vance’s life has remained JD – that’s what he was called as a child. When his mother Beverly wanted to erase all traces of his biological father, it was important to her to keep JD – no matter how, as Vance writes: “Any name with D would have been OK, as long as it wasn’t Donald.”
Sources: Reuters, “”, “y”, “”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
