WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance stood at the head of the table in the Roosevelt Room during one of the most significant moments of his life, joined by his mother, Beverly Aikins. Despite the presence of about 20 family members and friends, including his wife, Usha, and their three children, there was a brief moment when it felt like only JD and his mother existed as their eyes met and locked.
“I remember when I gave my RNC convention speech, which was the craziest thing, and I even said during the speech that we would have your 10-year medallion ceremony at the White House,” Vance said, smiling as he motioned around the historic West Wing meeting room named after two former presidents.
“Well, here we are. And you made it, and we made it. And most importantly, you’re celebrating a very, very big milestone. And I’m just very proud of you,” he said as he teared up, adding, “I’m, I’m gonna try not to cry here.”
For everyone in attendance who had traveled from Kentucky and Ohio to share this important milestone with Aikins and Vance, the word “here” wasn’t just significant because they were in the White House conference room located across from the Oval Office. The word “here” also meant that Aikins had survived the addiction that had left her and her son’s life in turmoil for decades.
Sitting to her son’s left as her two grandsons intermittently sat either beside her or on her lap, she listened as he recalled her story of recovery, redemption, and hope with the watchful eye of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Rider portrait above him.
“When I think about everything you’ve accomplished over the last 10 years and the fact that when I was thinking about becoming a father, I didn’t know whether you would live long enough to have a relationship with my kids. And now here they are, almost 8, 5, and 3, and you’re the best grandmother that these kids could ever ask for,” he said as both son and mother’s eyes welled.
“It is really an amazing thing to watch. It is one of the great blessings of becoming a father, is that I’ve been able to see these kids develop the love and the affection for you and to see it in return. And that’s just an incredible blessing,” Vance said.
Aikins told me that just over 10 years ago, she would not have been able to enjoy her relationship with her children, nor would she have been able to do the other passion in her life, nursing, because of the debilitating addiction to alcohol, heroin, and pretty much anything else she used to get high that had consumed every aspect of her life.
Aikins’s mother, Bonnie Vance, “Mamaw” to JD Vance, was profoundly influential in her grandson’s life and helped raise JD with the help of his older sister Lindsay when Aikins could not.
Vance recalled his tumultuous childhood with the ups and downs of Aikins’s addiction in his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which came out the year after she became sober. She made her debut on the national stage during the Republican National Convention when her son accepted President Donald Trump’s nomination to be his running mate.
The world saw the petite Aikins, her thick curly hair framing her face glowing with pride and emotion as her son recalled the challenges in their lives before announcing she had been sober for almost 10 years — a proclamation that caused those in the crowd to rise to their feet and burst into chants of “JD’s mom!”
Vance smiles and tells the story of the conversation Bev had with someone who just happened to be seated beside her just before he started his big speech as the new vice presidential nominee at the RNC convention in Milwaukee in July.
“Mom, who was sitting next to President Trump, and sitting next to another guy, sort of a shorter guy, good looking, very well spoken, very kind, and mom turns to him and says ‘Who are you? You work in politics too?’ and he says, ‘I’m Mike Johnson, I’m the speaker of the house,’” Vance says as the people in the room erupt into laughter.
“One of the things I love about mom is that she just treats you the same. Whether you are the President of the United States, whether you’re a beloved family member, whether you’re an addict who is celebrating not 10 years, but 10 hours of sobriety, you’re always a friend to mom. You’re always a family member to mom. And you’re always somebody that you know, she’s always somebody you can rely on,” he said.
Photo by Justin Merriman
Vance said one of the great things that recovery does is provide moments like this when you can bring family and friends together and celebrate the relationships you can regain.
“I meet a lot of people who think that there is no other side for those who suffer from addiction, unfortunately, we know that for some that’s true, but for many, there is another side. And you know, sometimes you get another opportunity with your friends and your family. Sometimes you get an opportunity to be a great grandmother to your grandchildren. And sometimes you end up celebrating your 10-year medallion ceremony a couple months late here in the White House,” he said.
The room was filled with applause, tears, and hugs. There were several people there who weren’t members of her immediate family, but who were people in recovery, who had hit rock bottom just as Aikins had, people she had guided through recovery in her role as a detox nurse.
Aikins regained her nursing license a couple of years ago and now works at a substance abuse treatment center as a nurse educator. “I teach the patients, and then I’m just there for them. That is my purpose — to help people,” Aikins said.
Aikins wasn’t alone in her struggle with addiction to drugs. According to the 2023 United States National Survey on Drug Use and Health 48.5 million, or 16.7 percent of Americans (aged 12 and older) battled a substance abuse disorder in the past year, including 10.2 percent who suffered from alcohol abuse specifically.
Many of those addicted die. In 2022 the Centers for Disease Control reported that fatal overdoses claimed 101,623 lives. A separate study published by the CDC showed there is hope, finding 3 out of 4 people who experience addiction eventually recover, in large part because of people like Bev, who become forces of nature in helping people.
Vance said that what was so great about this moment was that his mom was always the kind of person people could rely on.
“That’s what addiction took away. But that’s what recovery has given back, is that you are a person that others can rely on. And I know you’re an inspiration to a lot of people in the recovery and addiction community. So, uh, from the bottom of my heart and speaking for the whole family, we love you,” he said.
Vance then pulled something out of his pocket and slipped it into her hand.
“This is one of the president’s challenge coins,” he said, “He asked me to give this to you. And I will say that I love you and I’m so, I’m so glad that we’re here. I love you.”
The two embraced, and then Vance composed himself.
“And now anybody, just like a, a good old ‘Hillbilly Funeral,’ I’m gonna invite anybody who wants to say anything to come up here and say a few words about your friend, about your sister, about your loved one, about mom in her 10 years of sobriety,” Vance said.
And with that, the ‘Hillbilly funeral’ commenced, beginning with Aikins’s younger sister Lori Vance telling a hilarious story of caring for her while she was in recovery, and another woman named Michele, who when she met Aikins had been living in her car for over a year and hadn’t seen her young son and couldn’t hold a job.
“Your kindness changed my life,” she said, adding, “I just celebrated two years in recovery. Woo.”
Photo by Justin Merriman
It was a stateroom meant for dignitaries and decision makers, only on this day, it was filled with everyday Americans, the sons and daughters of steelworkers, nurses, and clerks: people in awe of having the privilege of not just being in the White House, but also honoring a grandmother who almost didn’t make it to see her grandchildren, or see her son overcome every disadvantage to become a Marine, a U.S. Senator, and the Vice President of the United States.
Her niece Rachel Vance’s remarks were the most powerful and hilarious. “Addiction is honestly something that I don’t understand. I don’t take my coffee the same way every day. I don’t stay married to the same people. And the idea of wanting something over and over again is totally foreign. I don’t get it,” she said.
“But one thing I do understand is courage, because it was a core value of my old fraternity. And John Wayne described courage as being scared to death, but saddling up,” she said, referencing her service in the Marine Corps.
“I understand that Bev fell, and fell again, and again a couple more times after that. But she mustered up the courage to face her fears and learn from mistakes. She dealt with her pain by saddling up and fighting a good fight. I’m happy for this day, not just for your family or your friends, your kids, the grandkids, but for you because your enduring courage paid off, and it led you to the gift of getting to hear me speak at the White House,” she said as everyone in the room laughed.
“I’m very proud of you, and I look forward to abusing you for 10 more years,” Rachel deadpanned.
After repeatedly stealing hugs from her grandchildren Aikins took her son’s spot at the head of the table and looked around the room to offer her thanks. For those who have never met her, the first thing you note is that she and her son share the same striking blue eyes. The second thing you note is her sense of humor.
“So how are you doing,” she asks, and her tone turns serious.
“When I tell my story or give my lead, as we call it in the recovery community, I tell everybody I think like a drug addict, so I wish that I could put what made me change in pill form, but in all honesty, it was the loss of my family,” she said.
“I hit rock bottom when my parents died. My brother and sister weren’t speaking to me. My kids weren’t speaking to me. I knew that I had to do something different. And that, you know, for this drug addict, is what saved, that’s what changed, that’s what saved my life,” she said.
Photo by Justin Merriman
Aikins looked around the room of people gathered to celebrate her day and smiled. “Today I’m grateful,” she said then her voice wavered, “I don’t know why I’m touched. I told JD we didn’t have to do this,” she says of holding the event in the White House.
“I love my family more than anything,” she said, looking at JD, Usha, and the three grandkids, adding, “I pray a lot more, and hopefully God gives me several more years to watch these guys grow up. I love you all. Thank you so much for being here. Now let’s celebrate. Yay,” she says.
Everyone then enjoyed a beautiful chocolate cake with white icing, the presidential seal in the center, and underneath that, “Congratulations Bev!”
Vance had one more gift to give his Mom and his family before they left and that was a personal tour of the West Wing of the White House guided and narrated by the Vice President of the United States.
His family was as awestruck as the 40-year-old vice president was two days after he and Trump were sworn in, when he told Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as he entered the Oval Office, “I’ve never been inside this room. This is incredible.”
As they walked along the West Colonnade toward the South Lawn for a family photo, Aikins tells me she was humbled by the outpouring of love and support from everyone, but also just by making it to this moment.
“It is an important milestone. It kind of brings everything full circle and I know it was important to JD because he kept talking about doing it and I kept putting him off,” she says smiling.
“He wanted to make it so special for everybody, and he is such a good boy.”
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As Vance wrangles the family together for a portrait, with both boys saluting for the pose, I ask him what this day means for him.
He smiles, “It is a good day. It is a very good day.”