Former President Donald Trump has selected Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) to be his running mate in November, signaling a monumental shift in the direction of the Republican Party away from conservatism as we know it.

Vance rose to fame with his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which documented his childhood, interwoven with commentary about the culture of rural Appalachia. Vance enlisted in the Marines after high school, graduated from the Ohio State University, and then earned a law degree from Yale University. He was elected to the Senate in 2022, and he has since made a name for himself as one of the leading national populists on Capitol Hill.