Photo Gallery Romney Picks Running Mate
During a rally in Virginia on Saturday, Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney (right) announced that Congressman Paul Ryan (left) would be his running mate in the November election.
Ryan appears here with his wife Jenna and two of their three children during a campaign rally in Manassas, Virginia.
Ryan is considered a shooting star within the Republican Party. At 42, he's viewed as youthful, visionary and as a man who does not compromise on the issues that are important to him.
A setting rich in symbolism: Romney selected the USS Wisconsin warship as the location for Saturday's announcement. Today the ship is a museum, but it is named after Ryan's home state, which Romney hopes to win in the election.
Ryan has served in Congress since he was 27 years old.
At the rally, Romney described Ryan as the Republican Party's "intellectual leader."
Many have argued that Ryan was the best choice for the position: He's neither too boring nor poses a great number of risks as a candidate.
Indeed, Ryan, who heads the budget committee in the House of Representatives, is a young star of the Republican Party. He has called for tax cuts and also trimming the social system -- moves that have made him a favorite opponent of Obama's campaign staff.
Voters first elected the Wisconsin Republican into Congress in 1998.
In an interview with NBC, Romney recently said he was seeking a vice president with "strong character" and who has "a vision for the country that adds something to the political discourse."
Paul is Catholic, the father of three children and a fitness fanatic. He has said that his greatest vice is drinking two cups of coffee each morning.
