Mike Pence, former US vice president, is set to launch his campaign for the White House next week, setting him up for a battle with his former boss Donald Trump.
The 63-year-old Democrat-turned-Republican was born into an Irish Catholic family of six children in Indiana on 7 June 1959.
His older brother, Greg, is a Republican in the US House of Representatives.
In his youth, Mr Pence was Democrat along with the rest of his family - he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980 and considered John F Kennedy to be a role model.
However, in college he converted to evangelical Christianity, to his mother's disappointment, and was influenced by former president Ronald Reagan to join the Republican Party.
"His ideals inspired me to leave the party of my youth and become a Republican like he did," Mr Pence said of Mr Reagan in 2016.
Mike Pence, who completed a bachelor of arts in history at Hanover College in Indiana and a law degree from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, worked as a lawyer and conservative talk show host before running for Congress in 2000.
He met his wife, Karen, while in law school. They have three children.
Mr Pence was first elected to the US House in 2001 and quickly became known as one of its most conservative members.
"I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order," he said when accepting the nomination to be Mr Trump's vice president.
He has said he does not believe in evolution and has lamented that creationism - the theory that God created Earth and humans - is no longer taught in schools.
Mr Trump's choice of Mr Pence for running mate in 2016 was widely seen as a move to solidify support among Christian conservatives.
Their relationship remained steady throughout Donald Trump's many scandals in office. Mr Pence repeatedly defended him or simply stayed silent.
That loyalty was not repaid as Mr Trump targeted Mr Pence in the lead-up to and during the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, which was the breaking point in their relationship.
"Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter on the afternoon of 6 January, while rioters were calling for Mr Pence to be hanged.
"I think the times call for different leadership," Mr Pence told NBC News in February, when asked whether Mr Trump should be the next Republican presidential candidate.
"I'm confident we'll have better choices than my old running mate."
