Normally, Vice Presidents fade into obscurity after taking office. Not so for J.D. Vance, whose profile and remit have grown since he and Donald Trump won last November’s election. Vance was central to overcoming resistance among GOP Senators to some of Trump’s controversial Cabinet picks and has taken a leading and contentious role on foreign affairs, including in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. He’s also become one of Trump’s most prolific attack dogs on social media. Along the way, he’s built an expanding list of pivotal supporters like Donald Trump Jr. and Tucker Carlson, fueling talk of a 2028 run for the White House. Such talk is premature for Vance, 40, who had served less than two years in the Senate when Trump tapped him to be his running mate and remains broadly unpopular outside the Republican Party. But he has political know-how and a compelling story. From a broken home, he came up through the U.S. Marines, Yale Law School, and the tech-bro world of Silicon Valley. Now, as Trump’s No. 2, he’s turned what was a political death sentence for his predecessor, Mike Pence, into a position of power, and potential.
Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief