Once an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, JD Vance, a former Marine, venture capitalist and writer, has switched allegiances in favor of the 45th president. Can he help boost Trump into the White House again?

Vance, 39, who appeared on Trump’s short list of possible VP picks, which included the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Marco Rubio and Gov. Doug Burgum, has overcome severe personal hardships to position himself just one move away from the second most powerful office in the land.

Born into an impoverished, fatherless family, and to a mother who was a drug addict, Vance made one of the most critical decisions in his life by enrolling in the US Marine Corps just out of high school in 2003. This period, which saw the young man assigned to the Public Affairs section of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, marked “the defining chapter” of his life where he first developed a true sense of purpose. Vance is the first former enlisted veteran to appear on the ballot since Al Gore in 2000.

But the man from the American Rust Belt hasn’t always been a booster of........

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