Sarah Palin first captured national attention in 2008, when John McCain selected the then-Alaska governor as his running mate.

Known for her folksy confidence and scrappy appeal, she became a household name almost overnight. Behind the headlines, however, her life was rooted in Alaska’s rugged rhythm, balancing family, work, and later, politics.

Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, and raised in Wasilla, Alaska, Palin met her future husband, Todd, while still in high school. The two eloped in 1988 with only two witnesses from a nearby retirement home, starting a family that would grow to five children. Palin juggled family responsibilities with reporting the news, running the family’s commercial fishing business, and later entering politics, eventually becoming Alaska’s youngest and first female governor in 2006.