At the outset of his speech to the Republican convention, Mike Pence declared as he accepted the vice presidential nomination, "I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order."

His was an address to soothe the masses soon after Ted Cruz riled up the crowd and managed to get himself booed off the stage when he refused to say he endorsed the GOP nominee, Donald Trump.

Unlike Cruz, the vice presidential nominee presented himself as a man humbled and grateful to be on the presidential ticket, who embraced Donald Trump (although Pence had originally endorsed Cruz).

"I'm new to this campaign, and honestly I never thought I'd be standing here. I thought I'd be spending this evening with my friends in the Indiana delegation," he told the crowd. Acknowledging his relative lack of fame, he joked that Trump, with "his large personality, his colorful style, and lots of charisma," must have chosen him because "I guess he was looking for someone to balance the ticket."

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He told the crowd of his upbringing in a small town in Indiana that had a cornfield in the backyard, his past as a Democrat, which changed with the rise of Reagan Revolution.

Pence went on to praise Trump, a rare thing among the lawmakers and former rivals who spoke on the stage Wednesday night. Trump, he said, was "a fighter" and "a winner."

He rolled out the attacks against Hillary Clinton for offering a third term for President Obama, for pushing Obamacare, for advocating more taxes and regulation, for the deal she brokered with Iran over its nuclear program.

He talked about his economic record in Indiana, bragging about its $2 billion surplus and high credit rating the taxes he's cut since his election as governor.

Pence admitted Trump "can be a little rough with politicians on a stage, and I'll bet we see that again," but he went on to do his part to build the campaign's narrative of a kinder, gentler Donald Trump, mentioning his admiration for Trump's devotion to his family and his treatment of the people who work for him.