Paul Ryan, currently serving Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives, is the official Republican nominee for the U.S. vice presidency. After both major political parties hold their national conventions, the race to the White House will proceed at breakneck speed as candidates and their surrogates campaign across the nation.

Paul Ryan, joined by his family (children Charlie, Sam and Liza; his wife Janna; and his mother, Betty Ryan Douglas), waves after his speech accepting the Republican Party’s nomination for the vice presidency of the United States in Tampa, Florida, August 29.

In the weeks between the national party conventions and the U.S. election in November, vice presidential candidates from both parties will crisscross the nation in an exhausting schedule of personal appearances aimed at winning votes. The vice presidential nominees will also debate each other in a nationally televised event.

As provided in the U.S. Constitution, the vice president presides over the U.S. Senate, casts votes in the Senate when that vote would affect the outcome (as in breaking a tie or achieving or preventing a required supermajority) and would succeed to the presidency if the elected president were unable to continue in office.