Politics

JD Vance’s Troubled Past with His Mother—And How They Finally Rebuilt Their Bond

Published on: March 15, 2025 at 6:36 PM ET

JD Vance And His Difficult Relationship With His Mother

Divya Verma
Written By Divya Verma
Senior Editor
Mohar Battacharjee
Edited By Mohar Battacharjee
Senior Editor
JD Vance and his mother
JD Vance and his mother have come a long way from their difficult relationship. (Image Credit: JeremyTate41/X.Com;Sogburn57/X.Com;Daniel Torok/Wikimedia Commons)

Everyone in this world is fighting a silent battle that others may or may not know about. Some show courage and talk about it, and some would rather hide it in fear of social scrutiny.

JD Vance, for all his faults. He has shared his tumultuous past in his book Hillbilly Elegy. The Vice President of the United States had a difficult childhood that left him scarred. One may or may not agree with the policies of his viewpoints. But no one can dispute that he has fought hard to be where he is.

JD Vance had a challenging childhood and was at the center of all the troubles of his mother, Beverly Aikins. His mother battled with addiction for the majority of JD’s growing years. Which resulted in both of them not being in contact for many years. Though the two seem to have built back their relationship, it was not more effortless in the past.

JD Vance’s father left him and his mother when he was young. He grew up with a single mother and occasional help from his grandmother.

The New York Times reports that Aikin’s drug addiction began with a simple dose of Vicodin for headaches. She soon grew addicted to the pain med. Unfortunately, it soon took a turn for the worse when she started smuggling even more powerful drugs, like Percocet. However, she was caught and lost her nursing license. Yet, it didn’t stop the addiction. Instead, it fueled it as she then progressed to heroin.

While his mother was struggling with addiction, young JD was doing everything he could to help his mother. He read books on addiction and took his mother to several meetings. But nothing seemed to be working. His mother became increasingly abusive, both verbally and physically.

He described how, among other upsetting things, she self-harmed and made him give her his urine so she could pass a drug test. She frequently vanished from his life.

However, all this was nothing in comparison to when she threatened to kill him. Once, when Vance was 12, he stayed with his grandmother after a problematic episode of abuse with his mother. Aikins came over to take him out and apologize to him. Vance obliged and went with his mom, but something irritated her while driving.

He described this incident in his book, in which he says that she sped up the car on the highway; it seemed at the time like she was driving over 100 mph,” Vance explained. He then told how she kept saying she was going to crash the car and kill them both.

Vance, after a struggle, got out, called the police and saw his mother arrested. This was probably the last time he saw her.

He never got out of the guilt of getting his mother arrested, though. Due to such a difficult childhood, the trauma never left JD Vance. His anger issues also stem from all the abuse he had to go through at a young age.

Later in life, JD Vance joined the Marines and went to Yale Law School. There, he met his wife, Usha Vance, and finally, life started to look good.

JD Vance is in a better place now and has reconciled with his mother. She came to D.C. to see her son take an oath as the Vice President of the United States.

This may have been rocky for this mother-son duo, but the road ahead looks smooth for now.

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