As a Hands-on Father, the Vice President is Leading By Example

At the March for Life last month, Vice President J.D. Vance told a cheering crowd, “I want more babies in the United States of America!” The newly-minted vice president has made his pro-natalist views no secret. And at the centerpiece of his political career is the idea that the conservative and pro-natalist movements must be linked to a strong pro-family agenda. 

But perhaps more important than policy proposals, he is leading by example as a hands-on father to young children. 

This was particularly noticeable in his first trip overseas as vice president, a trip he brought his entire family on. As he disembarked in Paris, who couldn’t help but delight, and chuckle, at the image of his children, ages seven, four, and three, beside him and his wife in their peacoats and jammies. 

He would have been forgiven for leaving them behind. As any working parent understands, nothing threatens to derail the success of a business trip like three young kids in tow. But one wonders if the decision to travel together is a part of a concerted effort to keep their family together during a time of enormous upheaval for them. This wouldn’t be surprising for a man from a broken home who is clearly trying to live his family life purposefully, including his role as a father. 

The video is adorable. The stunned four-year-old in his striped pajama pants. Vice President Vance walking down the steps with his barely awake three-year-old draped over his shoulder sucking her thumb. His wife making sure the unsteady four-year-old doesn’t fall down the steep steps. 

Rather than political stunt work, it seemed uncannily…normal. It’s become obvious that Vance doesn’t view his children as something to be stuffed away. Rather, the way he greeted dignitaries without even setting his daughter down suggests a dad who is used to doing so, something he doesn’t seem to have plans to change despite being thrust into the political spotlight. 

He was again seen carrying his daughter, who according to international press was “suffering a sniffle,” throughout his family’s tour of Notre Dame. He had her in his arms yet again as they departed for Germany. As one influencer put it on X: “Vance leaves Paris, carrying his daughter—only to set her down to take pictures with police. This is exactly the kind of role model America needs. Get married. Have kids. View children as blessings, not burdens.”

The same influencer posted a photo a couple of days later of the vice president mid-air “bouncing on a trampoline park with his kids. Exactly the role model America needs,” she wrote.

There is plenty to disagree about these days, but the need for more role-model fathers is not. America’s fatherhood crisis is acute, with approximately one in four children, or somewhere near 18 million kids, living without a father in the home. Countless more live with fathers who are disengaged or are struggling with addiction. Studies estimate, for example, that somewhere between 40 and 60% of men in substance abuse programs are fathers to children under the age of 18. 

Meanwhile the data is eminently clear that active fathers are the linchpins of their families and the keys to their children’s physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. How many of our social ills would be resolved by more fathers who are engaged in their family’s lives in an authentic and hands-on way? 

And yet how many boys are growing into men without an example to emulate? All the social science in the world is no substitute for a role model. 

Unquestionably, the best role model is the one-on-one mentor who teaches in an up close and personal way. But national role models matter, too, and Republicans are no exception to the importance of modelling and practicing what they preach. It's impossible to shape a culture into being more pro-family without leading by example. 

And so, it's a step forward to have a vice president who isn’t just sparking conversation about the family on a policy level, but as a result of his personal example as well. It’s highly unusual to have someone so prominently featured in the national eye who also has several young children. Which means it’s all the more significant that his meteoric rise to fame did not also entail the deterioration of his family, something all too common with high achievement. 

And frankly, it’s a good thing that we are talking positively about a happy and intact family in a political setting, whether it’s relating to the Band-Aid wars over Vance’s daughter's Bluey bandages at the inauguration, or smiling at pictures of him mid-air at a trampoline park. 

If we truly want more babies in America, we are going to need more hands-on and committed fathers who aren’t looking for political get-out-of-jail-free cards. The second most powerful man in America carrying a three-year-old around during his “work trip” is a good start. 

Ashley E. McGuire is a Contributing Editor at the Institute for Family Studies and the author of Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female (Regnery, 2017).

*Photo credit: Maxim Elramsisy / Shutterstock.com