A Letter to Vice President JD Vance

Dear Mr. Vice President:

I know you have a lot going on right now, so I do not expect a prompt response to my letter but I hope you will assign it to some of your able staff so you can at least receive a summary of my letter. I am pleased to say that my legacy is in some way like yours. Both sides of my family came from eastern Kentucky; I served 39 years as a corporate attorney; and I am an Evangelical Christian, Conservative, and Republican in that order.  I hope you will be interested in what I have to share with you. And please do not be concerned that I am singling you out with this letter. I have previously written to President Donald Trump and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. I am particularly interested in writing this letter, since I believe you and I have more in common than is the case for me with President Trump and Governor Beshear.

This letter will focus on your recent book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith. In some way, I felt your pain as you described your first 18 years of life with your parents’ divorce; your mother’s drug addiction and multiple marriages; your birth father giving you up for adoption at age 6; and other family dysfunction with alcohol, drug abuse, and physical and mental abuse. My mother experienced much of the same things in her family of origin with her father’s gambling, alcohol abuse, and marital unfaithfulness. Just as your upbringing caused fear and trust issues for you, my mother had similar experiences. And, as you might not be shocked to learn, I received some “exhaust fumes” from my mother’s family background which I deal with yet to this day. I trust that your children will be spared your family legacy in this regard. As I read your story, I could not get past the thought that God surely placed a hedge of protection around you. Even during your family chaos, you were able to be part of a gathering of Christians in a local Pentecostal church and you were able to become part of the United States Marines when you graduated from high school. I am certain you have often thought how much different your life would have been without the local church and the military.

It seems that your legal education experience at Yale was somewhat ambivalent for you, and your brief career in private law practice was in some ways a disappointment to you. I am sorry this was the case for you. I totally understand your concern about private law practice being a grind and a sweat shop for many young attorneys. I have heard anecdotal stories that things may be changing some in this regard for the better. Many young lawyers are insisting on a different and less all-encompassing work environment. This is a good thing. But you know what is the best thing for any young lawyer working in America? It is America and Americans have freedom in choosing their life’s work. You did not like the practice of law, and you made your way into business and Private Equity. You have written two best-selling books; you and your wife have multiple residences; and you are in the proverbial 1%. God has blessed you richly with your family, wealth, business, and political career. I am sure you reflect often on God’s many blessings for you.

I don’t intend to spend a great deal of time on your pilgrimage from what you describe as Evangelical Christianity to Atheism to Roman Catholicism. I am less focused on your journey than where you are today. You seem clear in your belief that you embrace Jesus’ teachings, and He is your Lord and Savior. I share this understanding from Scripture myself.  I believe Scripture makes clear in Ephesians 2:8-9 that Salvation comes through faith in Christ alone and separate and apart from good works. The working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians enables Christian charity and good works but good works themselves do not provide Salvation for an individual. I trust this is your understanding as well.

I understand your concerns that some in Corporate America seem to bow their knees and worship at the throne of Capitalism. I have those concerns myself. But despite its failings, I have no doubt that Capitalism creates more wealth and opportunity for individuals to pursue entrepreneurship, own and operate small businesses, and secure good paying jobs in successful businesses in our economy. Despite its imperfection, our free-market economy provides more opportunity for upward mobility than any other economy in the world and creates wealth and an abundance which can be shared throughout society far better than any other economic system. Economic prosperity provides the opportunity and the means to help and assist the poor and disadvantaged in society who need this assistance. I believe your life story is in many ways representative of this.

I was a bit surprised at your embrace of organized labor. To be sure, workers should have the right to join a labor union if they believe it promotes their best interests. I am just curious if you have ever worked for a company with a unionized work force. I had this experience through my work for several years in the Bell Telephone System.  I was in management, and the clerical staff was unionized. I vividly recall one interaction with a clerk who also happened to be a union steward. She served another manager and his staff. One day when I needed prompt assistance, I asked this clerk if she would go to the copy machine and make a copy of a document for me. She quickly replied that she would not do so because she was not required by the union contract to serve a different manager and his staff! I also understand that you are a great admirer of the current Teamster President, Sean O’Brien. He certainly had his way in negotiating the latest collective bargaining agreement with UPS but is it possible that the new labor deal with UPS was almost “too good” which resulted in UPS eliminating thousands of jobs through “voluntary” early retirement? I also trust that you will share your thoughts some day on your views for teacher unions. Do you think they served the needs of students well during the COVID-19 pandemic with their strident opposition to the reopening of schools? Do you believe they have the best interests of children and their parents at heart when they oppose Charter Schools (a form of public schools) and tax credits and voucher programs which parents can use to choose public or private schools for their children? I trust that you believe that parents are in the best position to make these decisions on education for their children.

You also seemed to have concerns about the retail sector of the United States economy with employees forced to work on holidays and black Fridays. I understand. I have worked in retail myself. Yes, work schedules were at times inconvenient for family gatherings, especially around holidays. But I made the choice to work in retail. No one forced me to do so. It was the best job I could get at the time. And thankfully I was able to make a choice later to leave retail for what I thought was a better job. But many individuals enjoy retail work and make a good living in this work. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal last week regarding an employee at Costco who worked as a lead cashier at $33.00 per hour with over $1M in his 401K. He also has excellent health insurance and other benefits and so do his co-workers. I doubt that he has any desire to leave retail anytime soon!

Mr. Vice President, you have a remarkable life story, and your story is far from being finished. My prayer for you is that you will be able to resist the temptation to overindulge your populist tendencies for perceived political gain. I am sure you know that you will never be able to outdo the Progressive left in this regard! To be sure, it is not a sin to be successful and create wealth. You did this in spades. No apology is needed. Were you ever hired for a job by a poor individual? Just handle your material blessings in a God honoring way. In your public service, I trust that you will seek to pursue a strong national defense, education, tax, and regulatory policies which will protect our nation and encourage literacy, entrepreneurship, and job creation throughout our great country so that a generation can be enabled to flourish and contribute to society just as you have. There is no time to waste! Godspeed Mr. Vice President.

God bless you and thank you for the privilege of your time in reading my blog.

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