After months of speculation and an impressive lack of leaks from the Trump campaign, JD Vance was announced Monday as Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, should he be elected in November.

The Ohio senator, age 39, came to prominence in 2016 with his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, but the VP nomination will catapult him to a much more visible role. He’s something of a political newcomer in the grand scheme of things, as he was only elected to the Senate two years ago and has no prior political experience. And his relationship with Trump has not always been harmonious.

Still, Trump liked what he saw in 2024—and on Monday, he made it official, writing on Truth Social that “after lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio.”

Now Vance could find himself one heartbeat away from the presidency. Here’s what you need to know about him.

How long has JD Vance been in politics?

Not long. While he considered a run in 2018, Vance did not enter the political world until 2021. He won the Republican primary with 32% of the vote in May of the following year, then captured 53% of the vote in the general election, earning a spot in the Senate. He was backed, in part, by Peter Thiel, who gave $10 million to a Super PAC that supported his candidacy.

Where is JD Vance from?

While he’s a senator from Ohio, Vance grew up in Jackson, Kentucky (as well as Middletown, Ohio). He and his family currently live outside of Cincinnati, in the East Walnut Hills neighborhood, as well as in Alexandria, Virginia, where Vance bought a $1.5 million home last year.

Is JD Vance married?

Yes, in 2014, Vance married Usha Chilukuri, now Vance, an attorney, one year after they both graduated Yale Law School. They have three young children: Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel.

Did JD Vance once call Trump “America’s Hitler”?

Vance was a vocal opponent of Trump in 2016, calling him an “idiot” and “reprehensible” and, yes, in 2016, he privately texted a former roommate, comparing Trump to Adolph Hitler.

“I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler. How’s that for discouraging?” he wrote.

He has since walked back those comments and even received Trump’s endorsement in his Senate race, thanks to an unlikely friendship that sprung up between Vance and Donald Trump Jr. According to the New York Times, Vance and Don Jr. text or talk almost every day and try to meet if they’re in the same city.

Where does JD Vance stand on abortion?

Vance opposes abortion and last year referred to it as “murder.” He has been taking a more moderate stance as his political visibility has increased, though, saying he agrees with Trump’s support of the mifepristone abortion pill as well as Trump’s belief that abortion should be a state-decided issue.

What are JD Vance’s views on immigration?

Vance is a hard-liner on immigration and threw his support behind finishing the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border when campaigning for the Senate in 2022. Vance also suggested at that time that Democrats were attempting to use immigrants to “transform the electorate,” saying, “You’re talking about a shift in the democratic makeup of this country that would mean we never win, meaning Republicans, would never win a national election in this country ever again.”

What is JD Vance’s book Hillbilly Elegy about?

Vance’s book tells the story of his life growing up in poverty and the Appalachian values he learned along the way. The book discusses his grandparents’ alcoholism and abuse he suffered from them, as well as his mother’s history of drug addiction. He blamed what he called “hillbilly culture” for those misfortunes. The book was a New York Times bestseller and was eventually turned into a movie directed by Ron Howard and starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.

Did JD Vance attend Donald Trump’s trial?

Regularly. Vance attended the trial, and called the verdict “an absolute miscarriage of justice” and “a disgrace to our judicial system.”

How well known is JD Vance?

Vance’s name is about to become a familiar one, but to many people, there’s likely to be a lot of head scratching. A CNN/SSRS poll late last month found that 56% of voters had never heard of him. Another 15% had heard of him but had no opinion.