5 Things to Know About Hillary Clinton's Running Mate, Tim Kaine

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine has officially hit the campaign trail running as Hillary Clinton's Vice Presidential pick, just one day after the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee announced her choice.

Kaine's readiness to do the job and personal and professional camaraderie with Clinton earned him the gig, a campaign source revealed to PEOPLE.

So who is the 58-year-old that's won Clinton's highest respect? Here's what else you need to know about the father-of-three ahead of the Democratic National Convention next week.

1. He's a University of Missouri grad
While Kaine has now spent much of his life in Virginia, he was born in Minnesota, and went to undergrad in Missouri.



In a recent Facebook #TBT, he shared a photo from his college days, praising the benefits of "dual enrollment."

"I was able to graduate a year early, alleviating the cost of college for my parents and me," he explained. "I'm committed to ensuring that students today have the same opportunities that I did when I searched for ways to pay for college."



2. He was once the DNC Chairman
While Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida is now the DNC chair, Kaine held the position before her, from 2009 to 2011.

The chairman works to organize the convention every four years, and leads fundraising efforts in the interim.

In addition, Kaine was the mayor of Richmond from 1998-2001, then Virginia Lt. Gov. from 2002-2006. He took over as governor for five years after that.

5 Things to Know About Hillary Clinton's Running Mate, Tim Kaine| 2016 Presidential Elections, Democratic National Convention, politics, Hillary Rodham Clinton
5 Things to Know About Hillary Clinton's Running Mate, Tim Kaine| 2016 Presidential Elections, Democratic National Convention, politics, Hillary Rodham Clinton


3. His wife is Virginia's Secretary of Education
Kaine has been married to Anne Holton since 1984 – after meeting at Harvard Law – and the pair are now parents to sons Woody and Nat (an active-duty Marine), and daughter Annella.

Holton has served as Virginia's Secretary of Education since 2014, but has a much deeper background in the state's government. Her father was former Gov. A. Linwood Holton, who pushed for desegregation during the 1970s, according to the Washington Post.

A champion of the public school system, Holton first worked as a legal aid lawyer, before becoming a judge in Richmond's juvenile and domestic relations court, the Post reported.

Currently, Holton is focused on overhauling high school curriculum in Virginia and refining standardized testing, according to the Post,.

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4. He's fluent in Spanish
Habla español.

Kaine is a fluent Spanish speaker, once speaking in the language for 13 minutes on the Senate floor, NPR reported in 2013.

It was the first time a senator delivered a full speech on the floor in a language other than English, NPR said.



He learned Spanish while living in Honduras to run a Roman Catholic school with Jesuit missionaries, according to the New York Times.

5. He plays the harmonica
Kaine might be kicking off the White House band, according to the Washington Post.

In 2015, he revealed his harmonica skills to the Post – but said not everyone is on board with the tuneage.

"I've had people comment less than favorably on my quality. My wife is the most honest. She says, 'Hey, you ought to play anytime they ask you because as soon as you're not in elected office, they're not going to ask you anymore,' " he joked.

He also alluded to harmonica-playing as his back-up career: "In politics you've got to have a fallback in our line of work because your career can be over in an instant. Not that I would make much money playing a harmonica."