J.D. Vance, first Ohio State alum to be elected vice president, sworn in during Monday’s presidential inauguration

Nora Igelnik, Reilly Ackermann
Mon, 20 Jan 2025 18:09:45 +0000
Campus, Instagram Page, National, News, Bible, brett kavanaugh, election, former buckeye, Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance, Melania Trump, ohio state, ohio state university, osu, osu alum, president, president donald trump, President Ted Carter, presidential inauguration, Ted Carter Jr, Usha Vance, Vice President JD Vance

Ohio State graduate J.D. Vance was sworn in as vice president of the United States Monday. Credit: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/TNS [Ohio Republican Senate Candidate JD Vance speaks to supporters at a Save America Rally at the Covelli Centre on Sept. 17, 2022, in Youngstown, Ohio. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/TNS)]

J.D. Vance — former United States senator of Ohio and Ohio State graduate — was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh Monday as vice president of the United States at the 60th Presidential Inauguration.

Vance, a former venture capitalist and author of best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” took the oath of office while standing beside his wife, Usha. Vance took the oath by using a family Bible that belonged to his great-grandmother, who is featured in “Hillbilly Elegy” — a chronicle of Vance’s rural Appalachian roots and experiences with his mother, who suffered from drug addiction, according to The New York Times. He received the Bible in 2003 when he left to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Vance — who attended Ohio State from 2007 to 2009 after his time in the Marines and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and philosophy — is the first Ohio State alum to reach the Oval Office.?

Vance was historically a “never-Trumper” Republican during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2016, but Vance changed his tune during his own campaign for Ohio Senator when he was endorsed by Trump in 2022. This endorsement ultimately led to Vance’s win, according to the Associated Press.?

When The Lantern sat down with university President Ted Carter Jan. 14, he said he had a phone conversation with Vance after he was elected.

“At some point, I’m sure I’ll have a chance to visit with him, and hopefully we’ll be talking about what it was like to win a national championship,” Carter said.?

Carter said despite operating in an “apolitical fashion,” he acknowledges Vance’s distinction as the first Buckeye to be elected into the White House.?

“I’m not standing on the sidelines cheering for J.D. Vance, because I’m politically neutral in all this,” Carter said. “I am just acknowledging his work. So, I understand there are people that are very supportive of Trump and Vance, and there are some people who are not, and I respect that, and that’s why we have elections.”?

The university commended Vance’s electoral win in a Nov. 6, 2024, X post, which read “Congratulations to Vice President-elect JD Vance, an alumnus of The Ohio State University and native Ohioan.”