Who is JD Vance, Donald Trump's pick for vice-president?
15 July 2024, 21:47 | Updated: 16 July 2024, 00:20
Donald Trump has named JD Vance as the man who will be his vice-president if he succeeds in his latest bid for the White House.
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Trump hailed Vance's "very successful business career" and praised him for his work on behalf of "American workers" in his announcement on Monday.
In a statement published ahead of the Republican convention, Trump also said that the 39-year-old senator for Ohio had "championed the hardworking men and women" of America.
But Vance hasn't always supported Trump - in fact he previously made a habit of criticising him in public.
Here we look at Vance's rise to prominence and his turn towards Trump's MAGA movement.
Read more: Donald Trump selects Ohio senator JD Vance as running mate and would-be vice president
Hillbilly Elegy
Vance first gained national - and international - attention with the publication of his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, in 2016.
The book details his difficult upbringing with his grandmother and drug-addicted mother in Middletown, Ohio. It looks how he moved on from that life by joining the US Marines, and then going to university and law school.
Hillbilly Elegy was released a few months before Trump was elected for the first time, and became a huge hit.
Many commentators saw it as an illustration of the struggles of America's downtrodden white working class since the deindustrialisation of many towns in the so-called Rust Belt in the late twentieth century.
Some felt that it explained to some degree the rise of Trump, although others felt that was an over-simplification of a complex phenomenon.
The book was adapted into a Netflix film in 2020, starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.
Criticism of Trump
Vance was frequently critical of Trump in the years after his election, calling him an "idiot" and "reprehensible" in various interviews online and on social media.
In 2016, he said the election was "really having a negative effect especially on the white working class,"
He added: "What it’s doing is giving people an excuse to point the finger at someone else, point the finger at Mexican immigrants, or Chinese trade or the Democratic elites or whatever else".
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Venture Capital
By the time he had written Hillbilly Elegy in his early 30s, Vance had already forged a successful career - something that Trump recognised in the announcement of his vice-presidential pick.
Vance worked at a law firm called Sidney Austin after graduating from Yale Law school.
He then moved to a venture capital firm run by right-wing US billionaire Peter Thiel. He later founded his own investment company, raising tens of millions of dollars in funding.
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Move to politics
Vance had talked about moving into the world of politics since 2016, and had also begun working as a political commentator for US television shows.
In 2021, he launched his campaign to become the Republican candidate for a US senate race in his home state of Ohio. He was backed by Thiel, his former boss, who provided several million in funding.
Vance defeated his Republican rivals to win the nomination in May 2022, then beat Democrat Tim Ryan by 53% to 47% in the November 2022 election.
A key stumbling block had been his previous criticism of Trump. But he apologised and managed to secure the former president's support - which was key in getting the Republican nomination.
Senate career
Vance has become a key voice in support of Donald Trump in the Senate.
He is a sceptic of the US' ongoing support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and has also backed populist economic policies.
Vance is a Catholic and has previously said he is against abortion, but has publicly supported Trump's stated view that the issue should be left up to individual states to decide.
