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Just a few hours after Donald Trump announced his choice of vice president, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance made his way through the crowd at the Republican National Convention to thunderous applause and chants of “J.D.”

Among those showing their support for Vance was Pennsylvania delegate and former U.S. Congressman Fred Keller, who said he thought Vance exemplifies what’s possible in America.

“Here’s a guy that has proven the American dream is possible, and it gives that hope to so many people,” Keller told WHYY News. “It could only happen in America, and I think J.D. Vance will bring that discussion there.

Vance rose to national fame with the publication of his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” about growing up in Ohio amid social isolation, poverty and drug use. He recounts the religious and political changes he witnessed in greater Appalachia.

His well-timed book became a national bestseller, as many Americans bought and read it to understand the rise of Donald Trump’s power and popularity in rural and “Rust Belt” regions often termed “flyover states” by coastal residents.

Keller, who represented Pennsylvania’s 12th U.S. Congressional District from 2019 to 2023, said that he could empathize with Vance, having grown up as “this poor kid in America.”

“My parents never owned their own home,” he said. “We lived in a place that had no running water and electricity for a period of time, and I was [eventually] able to own my own home, have my own business, run a larger business, and have the privilege to represent people in both the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the United States Congress. That’s the American dream.”