Donald Trump announced Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate on Monday, the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Vance, a first-term senator, is relatively new to the political scene. At only 39, he would be the second-youngest vice president to ever assume office if Trump was nominated for another term.

The Middletown, Ohio, native rose to prominence after writing his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” reflecting on his time growing up in a working class family in Ohio and being exposed to hardships such as violence and addiction. 

The book reached unexpected success and was made into a Netflix film that documented Vance’s story of overcoming a tough childhood with divorced parents to going to attending Yale Law School.

Vance’s name at birth was James Donald Bowman, but as his parents got divorced at a young age, Vance later adopted his grandfather’s name.

After finishing high school in Middletown, Vance enlisted in the US Marines and served as a journalist in the Iraq war. He then attended Ohio State University before going to Yale.

He was first elected into office in 2022 as a Senator after defeating Democrat Tim Ryan after he was endorsed by Trump.

Vance has previously been critical of Trump before changing his tune and fully supporting the former president in 2020.

He wrote an opinion piece in 2016 saying Trump’s policy proposals “range from immoral to absurd” before calling himself a “never-Trump guy.”

In 2020, Vance apologized to Trump for his previous criticism and came to be a supporter.