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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Writing > How to write a great cover letter for a job

How to write a great cover letter for a job

Job hunting can be tough—especially when it comes to your cover letter. Writing a unique, eye-catching cover letter for a job application is one of the toughest parts of the entire process.

To help you land your dream job, we’ve created this quick guide to writing a stand-out cover letter. Let’s dive in.

What is a cover letter?

Before you can write an outstanding cover letter for a job application, you’ve got to understand what it is.

Your resume lays down the facts about your professional history. Your cover letter puts all of that information in context. A good cover letter will contain:

• An explanation for why you are applying for a role
• A description of how your past work history makes you an outstanding candidate
• A hint of your soft skills and ability to adapt to a new work culture

Cover letter contents vary depending on your industry, work history, and the open job. There is no clear formula for writing one, though there are certain tips you can follow. Because there is no “right” way to craft a cover letter, templates will not be much help. While you can use a template to format your cover letter, you’ll want to write the bulk of it yourself.

The more unique and creative your cover letter is, the more likely a recruiter will contact you for an interview.

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Why is having a good cover letter important?

Cover letters are optional for some applications. In the current tight job market, employers try to make it easier for people to apply for their positions. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t write one.

Over half of senior managers say that cover letters are worthwhile. If other applicants don’t include a cover letter for a job and you do, you have already set yourself apart from the pack. If your cover letter is well-written, your initial impression gets more of a boost. Even if a cover letter isn’t requested, it’s a good move to include one anyway. Be sure to go the extra mile.

For jobs that do require cover letters, a well-written cover letter can easily prove your professionalism to recruiters.

Ten tips for writing a stand-out cover letter for a job

Cover letters are important, but how do you write one that recruiters and hiring managers won’t stop talking about? Here are ten top tips for crafting a cover letter for a job:

• Address your recruiter or hiring manager by name. Using your recipient’s name quickly makes your cover letter stand out. Addressing your recipient by name shows them that you’re willing to put that extra work in.
• Link your history to the job description. Carefully review the job description before you write your cover letter. Pick out a few leading job requirements, and connect your work history examples to those requirements.
• Show, don’t tell. Don’t just tell your audience about your achievements. Show them. Give examples, and try to include results where you can. Add in numbers where you can, too. Quantified results will stand out.
• Create a story. In your cover letter, demonstrate how your past work history has raised you to your present level. Then, explain how you will be able to succeed at the specific role you’re applying for. Think of it as a story with a strong narrative arc.
• Use an appropriate, approachable tone. Formal cover letters can seem off-putting in this day and age. Write in a casual yet professional tone. If your industry skews conservative or otherwise, keep that in mind.
• Insert your personality. Hiring teams want to know if you’ll be a flexible co-worker. Try to make your cover letter reflect your personality—especially if you’re naturally energetic, positive, or kind.
• Be honest. Don’t stretch the truth in your cover letter. In fact, this is the place to address any potential issues, like an employment gap or botched project. Honesty can be impressive, showing hiring managers how you would resolve a mistake or problem in your new role.
• Leave out what you can. Mainly, you don’t want to overwhelm your readers with information. They can ask follow-up questions during the interview. Leave out any history that isn’t necessary or relevant.
• End with a call of action. Don’t tell the letter recipient that you’d like for him or her to reach out immediately. That’s overstepping boundaries. But you should feel free to let them know that you’re excited to talk with them soon.
• Coordinate your letter with your resume. Finally, you can coordinate your cover letter with your resume. Ensure both documents use similar language. You can even ensure the design matches for that extra touch with cover letter and resume templates .

Overview: what your cover letter is really about

At the end of the day, the best way to write a good cover letter for a job is to be yourself and show how much you want the job. Ultimately, recruiters and hiring managers are looking for enthusiastic team members who are willing to work hard for good results.

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A good cover letter can mean the difference between catching the hiring manager’s attention and languishing in job search limbo. But many job seekers find it hard to stare down that blank page. How do you summarize your most important qualifications in a way that makes it clear that you’re the best candidate for the job? Cover letter templates can help.

A cover letter template provides a "fill-in the-blank" format. You can use it to create your own letter to send with your resume when you apply for a job.

Using a template saves you a few steps and helps you structure your letter in a professional way.

Free Microsoft cover letter templates are available online from Microsoft Office Online, as a download for Microsoft Word users, or are available within your Word program.

Note that not all templates may work with all versions of Word, so check before you download. There will be a message next to the download button advising if there are restrictions.

Not a Microsoft user? Google Docs also has  free template samples  available for letters and resumes. Using any of these templates can help you to feel confident that you are properly writing and  formatting your cover letter .

Free Microsoft Word Cover Letter Templates

There are a variety of templates available for Microsoft Word. Template options include  general cover letters  and both job- and career-specific cover letter samples. For example, there are cover letter templates for professionals, temporary workers, and candidates who are sending in their resumes unsolicited.

Microsoft Word also offers a variety of different cover letter template designs, with resume templates to match. Note that if you choose one of these fancier template designs, you’ll want to choose a resume template to match.

Be consistent in your application materials, whether it’s matching your cover letter to your resume or choosing a font or format. That way, hiring managers can focus on your work experience—not your stylistic choices.

Access Cover Letters From Your Computer

Open Microsoft Word, then click on:

Then, search for online templates by typing your keywords (e.g., “cover letter”) in the field provided. You can also click on the "Resumes and Cover Letters" category to get more options. Review the available options and choose the design you like best.

If you don’t own a copy of Microsoft Office or a subscription to Microsoft 365, you can still access  cover letter templates . These templates are free and editable online.

Visit the  Microsoft Cover Letter Templates  website, browse the cover letter templates, then click on the title to preview the sample. You'll need to sign up for a free account to edit the document.

Once you find a template you like, click Edit In Browser, then follow the instructions to customize and save your cover letter. There are also sets, which include matching resumes and cover letters, available to use.

Use the Template to Create a Customized Cover Letter

Once you have downloaded or opened  a cover letter template file , type over the text in the file to create your own  personalized cover letter .

The template will include all the relevant information that you need to include in your document. Simply change the generic version to include your personal and professional information.

It's a good idea to include additional details about your qualifications and experience. Take the time to  match your qualifications to the job description . Include  keywords related to your skills and achievements.

To  customize your cover letter  further, look for a contact person at the company, ideally the hiring manager or HR contact, and address the letter to this person. If you have an employee contact at the company who is willing to refer you, be sure to mention them in the first paragraph of your cover letter. Employee referrals carry a lot of weight with hiring managers.

Double-check to make sure there is none of the template information left in your final saved version. Finally, carefully proofread for grammar and typographical errors before saving and sending your cover letter.

To avoid sending a blank template or the wrong version of your cover letter,  choose a file name  that’s easy to remember. It should always include your name and may also contain the name of the position for which you’re applying. 

Avoid version numbers and cutesy nicknames when choosing a file name for your resume.

• Send one.  Even when an employer does not directly ask for one, be sure  always to send a cover letter . The only time you don’t want to send one is when the job listing says not to.
• Review examples . Review cover letter examples and tips for how to write a cover letter , so yours makes the best impression.
• Customize each letter.  It might seem tedious, be it is important to  customize each cover letter  to fit the specific job you are applying for. It will make your letter stand out.
• Highlight relevant qualifications.  In your cover letter, address one or two skills or qualifications that you have that match the job description. Provide a specific example of a time you demonstrated each of these qualifications. These examples will make your cover letter different from your resume, which is important.
• Explain any potential issues.  You can use your cover letter to go into detail about something in your resume that needs explaining. For example, a cover letter is a good place to talk about a  career shift  or  explain an extended gap in employment .
• Carefully edit your letter.  Be sure to edit each cover letter before sending it thoroughly. Consider asking a friend or family member, or a  career counselor , to read over your cover letter.

More Templates for Resumes and Letters

Microsoft letter templates are available as a free download for Microsoft Word users or are available within your Word program, to use to create a variety of letters. There are letter templates for cover letters,  resignation letters ,  reference letters , thank you letters, interview letters, and a variety of business letters.

Additionally,  Microsoft resume templates  are available as a free download for Microsoft Word users to use to create a resume. Microsoft Word resume options include basic resumes, job-specific resumes, and career-specific resumes.

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Free Word Cover Letter Templates

Enhance your job application with our exclusive collection of Word cover letter templates. These professionally designed cover letter templates for Word are user-friendly and customizable to fit your unique career story. We craft each template in Microsoft Word .docx format to ensure ease of editing and compatibility.

The cover letter templates available on this page are free to download and designed to complement our wide range of Word resume templates . This means you can create a cohesive and professional application package with matching designs. With our cover letter templates for Word, you can stand out in the competitive job market. Download your preferred template today and start crafting a compelling cover letter that aligns with your professional aspirations.

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Cover Letter Templates by Profession

Here you can find cover letter templates designed for specific professions. If you are looking for more examples take a look at our inventory of cover letter examples by profession.

Other Cover Letter Formats Available

We have got you covered if you require cover letter templates in a file format other than Word.

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Do I Need a Cover Letter?

Cover letters enable you to explain things you may not be able to in the resume, for example to explain a gap in work history, or your reason for a sudden career change, or if you have any connections to the company and need to name drop.

If you want to be the chosen one for the job you’re applying for, make sure to always keep in mind the following: crafting a personalized cover letter tailored to the company’s needs is crucial. Trust me, it will make you stand out from the crowd and increase your chances of landing that dream job!

Why Choose Our Word Cover Letter Templates?

Choosing our cover letters offers several advantages that can significantly enhance your job application process. Firstly, these templates are professionally designed, ensuring that your cover letter will have a polished and sophisticated appearance.

Another key benefit is the ease of customization. Our user-friendly cover letter templates allow you to modify various elements like color schemes, fonts, and layout to fit your personal style while maintaining a professional look. This flexibility ensures that your cover letter will be both unique and relevant to the position you are applying for.

In addition, these templates are designed to complement our range of Word resume templates, providing a cohesive and coordinated application package. This consistency in design between your cover letter and resume can demonstrate your attention to detail and organizational skills, traits highly valued by employers.

Finally, our cover letter templates for Word are easy to download and edit. They are compatible with Microsoft Word, a widely used and familiar software, which makes the process of editing and personalizing your cover letter straightforward, even for those with basic computer skills.

By choosing our Word cover letter templates, you’re equipping yourself with a tool that enhances your ability to present a professional, customized, and coherent job application, increasing your chances of making a strong impression on potential employers.

How to Create a Unique Cover Letter by Using Template?

Creating a unique cover letter using a Word cover letter template is a straightforward yet creative process that begins with selecting the right template. Opt for a template that aligns with your industry and professional level, and ensure it has a matching cover letter template to maintain consistency in design and formatting.

Once you’ve chosen the template, start personalizing it. The key to a standout cover letter is making it uniquely yours. Edit the color scheme, fonts, and layout to reflect your personal brand while keeping it professional.

Next, focus on the content. Tailor your cover letter to the specific job and company you’re applying for. Use the template as a guide, but ensure your personality and career achievements shine through. Highlight relevant experiences, skills, and why you are the ideal candidate for the role. The goal is to make a compelling case for why you’re a great fit, using clear, concise, and engaging language.

Finally, proofread your cover letter thoroughly. A well-designed cover letter can lose its effectiveness if it contains typos or grammatical errors. Consider getting a second pair of eyes to review it for errors and to provide feedback on the overall flow and impact of your letter.

By carefully selecting and customizing your Word cover letter template and focusing on writing your cover letter , you can create a unique cover letter in Word that not only complements your resume but also captures the attention of potential employers.

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Simple cover letter templates

Finish your application and get hired with ease. Our simple templates are the right balance of attractive and functional design.

Reviewed by the community. Trusted by professionals

The perfect simple cover letter template to get the job done.

Who ever said simple was a bad thing? Sometimes a basic design that’s both straightforward and classy is just what you need to get your application finished and in the hiring manager’s inbox. After all, you can’t get hired if you don’t submit your materials. Our simple cover letter templates are perfect for the moments when speed and ease count for everything.

One of the biggest advantages of simple cover letter templates is their versatility. Whether you’re a high school student looking for your first job, a seasonal employee or skilled professional in a trade industry, a simple cover letter template keeps the focus on you, your abilities and experiences.

When to pick a simple job application letter template

There are dozens of instances when a simple job application letter template is the best choice. When applying to multiple positions at similar types of companies, in retail for example, you’ll want a job application letter that you can put together and edit quickly. These templates are perfect for when the content of your job application letter should be the star of the show.

That’s not to say that a simple job application letter lacks style. On the contrary, its strengths lie in its ability to highlight your skills and achievements without calling too much attention to itself. This collection of templates are elegant and timeless, meaning the cover letter you create today will look its best even in future applications.

Explore why a good resignation letter is important and how to write it, and check out our free resignation letter examples.

Top 5 why choose a simple cover letter for a resume

• This is your first cover letter and you want to keep the format simple
• You’re aiming to keep the focus on your letter’s writing and content
• You appreciate classic design that works well for a variety of positions
• You work in a skills-based industry where no-frills formatting is preferred
• You need to create a cover letter quickly and easily

What makes a basic or simple application letter

A basic or simple application letter doesn’t get bogged down by the details. It remains classy and classic by keeping the focus on the important stuff – your strengths and abilities. Our basic and simple application letter templates help you to achieve this goal by serving as a blank canvas for your personal expression and perspectives.

One mistake many applicants make is writing with too much professional jargon or overly complex grammar. Just like your template, it’s OK to keep your writing simple and effective. Don’t be afraid to capture your natural tone of voice.

In order to make your basic application letter stand out, you should use emotive language and strong action verbs to bring your anecdotes and experiences to life. It’s also important to keep your letter concise and focused on the key qualities that make you a great fit for the position. With an application letter or resume , there’s no need to over-complicate the process – it’s all about writing a letter that gets you hired!

Free simple cover letter template – download as PDF or Word file

At Resume.io, our mission is to help you land the job you’re after without wasting precious time and energy. That’s why we offer a free simple cover letter template that you can download as a PDF or Word file. Edit your document in the program that’s most comfortable for you so you can submit your application and get back to the things that matter most.

Here is exactly how you can write a cover letter that will stand out from the crowd, and help you land that interview.

With our free simple cover letter template, you can be sure you’re getting a classic design that will benefit you in virtually any position or industry. These simple templates are the best of both worlds when it comes to style and functionality. And most importantly, they make sure the emphasis stays on you. Check out our collection to see how a free simple cover letter template can enhance any application and don't forget to check out our simple resume templates ! 

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Microsoft Word Cover Letter Templates

Thesee free Word cover letters formats by Microsoft . They are freely editable to your liking. These formats work best in the newer versions of Word. Most of these templates are fully editable to your liking. Color, format and all the content, edit to make your own stunning cover letters! For free, with direct downloads.

Classey Casey

Clean Green

Edgy Edward

Geometric 1

Geometric 2

Jack Wilson

Download them directly with one click. The formats might not be compatible or work optimal with older verions of MS Word.

Little Grey

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Retro Ricky 2

Retro Ricky 3

Simply Good

We earn by promoting  resume.io’s cover letter generator, which is completely free, always. If you later become a paying subscriber to their resume builder tool, we earn a commission, at no cost to you.

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Free cover letter templates.

These cover letters have been made with the, absolutely free, cover letter tool (AI-assisted) from  Resume.io .

Here you can download the Pdf- & JPEG files, but with the tool, also in Word format, so you can keep editing them yourself.

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Use the cover letter builder tool and make matching resume’s. Fill in and download yours. Easy does it.

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How to end a cover letter.

A few good and quick tips on how to end your cover letter strong and convincing.

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Cover Letter Template

While a resume provides details to show you CAN do the work, a cover letter shows you WANT to do the work. Cover letters are used to introduce you to the prospective employer, highlight the most important details about you, and if well written, entice the reader to seriously review your resume. Continue reading below to learn how to write a cover letter, see examples of cover letters and to download a free cover letter template .

Resume Cover Letter Template

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Description.

Looking for a change in employment? Use this free resume cover letter template to help you get started. Looking for help on Resumes? Check out our tips and templates for resumes .

Author : Brent Weight and Jon Wittwer

License : Limited Use

Cover Letter Objectives

Before writing a cover letter, make sure you have a clear understanding of the goals or objectives for the letter. These objectives include:

• Introduce yourself and your resume
• Explain your experience in more detail by providing pertinent stories or experiences
• Provide a sample of your written communication
• Hook the reader so they will want to read your resume

Personalize Your Cover Letter

Cover letters should be personalized as much as possible. Never send out the same cover letter twice. It may require you to do some research and to reach out to your network to make connections and introductions. Here are some things to include.

• Make sure you tailor your letter to a specific individual and greet them by name.
• If you don't have a name, then consider skipping the generic salutation.
• Try to include details specific to the company or the position.
• Provide a reference about how you heard about the job. This may include the date of the newspaper post or the online job reference number.
• If you have had prior contact with the recipient, remind them of it in the introduction.
• Be sure to mention any third parties that are recommending you or referring you for the position.
• Consider listing the job you are applying for in a subject line.

The main body of the cover letter should have appropriate content. Don't use it to simply recreate your resume. Pick 3 or 4 key traits, skills or attributes you really want to highlight and focus on those. Consider picking traits that may be most appropriate based on the job listing. Use experiences, stories and results to demonstrate your use or possession of the traits or attributes.

Make sure you end with a strong closing that is short and to the point. The time for details and stories has passed. Consider inviting them to read your resume and include a request for a response or an interview. You may decide to keep the ball in your court and simply inform them you will follow up with a phone call. And be considerate and thank them for their time.

Additional Cover Letter Writing Tips

• Use a formal business letter structure - You are writing a letter, not a memo or email. Use a formal business letter template .
• Avoid bad grammar and spelling. - Poorly written and edited letters can kill your chances before they even look at your resume. Consider hiring a professional to edit your cover letter.
• Don't sound desperate - Avoid sounding desperate by avoiding phrases such as "I really need this job" or "I hope you pick me".
• Use formatting wisely - Use formatting such as bullets, italics, bold and font changes to draw attention to key items and to increase readability.
• Avoid anything negative - Honesty about issues or special circumstances you face is important, but you don't have to mention it in your cover letter. Use interviews to provide these details.
• Keep it short - Your letter should highlight and demonstrate, not bore and wander. Keep to the main points and be succinct.
• Don't mess up in the delivery - Make sure your letter looks correct when printed. Consider using nicer paper for actual letters. When sending electronically, send it as a PDF since almost everyone has software to read a PDF file.
• Avoid uncommon language - Avoid terms that are specific to past employers and not used my most people. This would include acronyms and company jargon.

Use AI To Help Write a Resume Cover Letter

There are multiple generative AI tools that can help you come up with a draft for a letter. For example, using the Bing AI Chat or ChatGPT, you could use some of these prompts:

• Create a cover letter for this job posting. [Paste job listing here]
• Create a cover letter for a job as a tie fighter pilot in the empire.

BONUS! If you have a ChatGPT Plus account, check out our Letter Writing AI .

Sample Cover Letters

Sample cover letter for recent graduate.

Bill Stevenson 123 Anywhere Street Somewhereville, Best State 88889

Mr. Ryan Francom IT Manager XYZ Aviation Company 456 Somewhere Road Best Town, Best State 88888

Dear Mr. Francom,

In May, I will graduate from Tech University with a Master's of Science in Aeronautical Engineering. I am seeking to pursue my life long goal of becoming an aeronautical engineer for a world-class aviation company. Let me briefly highlight the skills, values and passion I will bring to XYZ Aviation Company.

• Lifelong passion for all things aeronautical including receiving my pilot's license at the age of 15.
• Solid understanding of aeronautical design processes and procedures gained at ABC Corp as a Level 1 engineer.
• Ability to work with others on interdisciplinary design teams in order to meet goals and complete projects on time.
• An aptitude for defining problems and identifying creative solutions while building consensus between all affected parties.
• A hardworking and self-directed work ethic with a dedication to detail.

An interview to further review your needs and my skills would be mutually beneficial. Next week I will contact you to schedule an interview. I look forward to talking to you soon.

Bill Stevenson

Example Cover Letter

Nancy Thompson 123 Anywhere Street Somewhereville, Best State 88889

Ms. Emily Smith HR Manager XYZ Company 456 Somewhere Road Best Town, Best State 88888

Dear Ms. Smith,

Bob Jones, your IT director, suggested that I contact you regarding the recently listed Sales Director position. I would love to be an integral part of your leadership team and contribute my proven management skills, efficiency and productivity to your corporate goals.

Highlights of my 20 year career include

• Over 10 years of experience managing direct sales staff with 20 years of marketing and sales experience.
• Creation and implementation of a direct sales program with annual sales reaching $50 million in less than 4 years.
• Deadlines met on time and in budget with a willingness to work with others to accomplish corporate tasks.
• Led the successful acquisition and merger of ACME Companies catalog sales division with ABC Companies sales division.

I am confident my qualifications will allow me to add significant value to your company as the Sales Director. I will call you directly to schedule an appropriate time for us to speak about the challenges and opportunities your company faces and how I can contribute to your company's future growth and success. Thank you in advance for your time.

Nancy Thompson

More Resume Cover Letter Templates

There are some sample cover letters in the Microsoft Office template gallery, under the category Letters . You can also find templates by opening Microsoft Word, going to File > New, and searching for "resume cover letter." Below are examples of some of the letters you can find this way:

• Resume Cover Letter to Use When Referred by a Colleague
• Cover Letter for an Entry-Level Resume
• Cover Letter in Response to Advertisement
• ... for a Temporary Position
• ... Announcing Your Job Search
• ... for a Functional Resume
• ... with Salary Requirements
• ... for Unsolicited Resume

Additional Resources

Below are some additional resources to help you write a great cover letter for your resume. They contain additional writing guidelines and tips.

• What is a Cover Letter? at purdue.edu - A down-and-dirty guide to writing cover letters.
• 6 Secrets to Writing a Great Cover Letter at forbes.com - Some extra tips
• Cover Letter Tips (PDF) at michigan.gov - Basic cover letter structure and tips with additional examples.
• Cover Letter Writing at northwestern.edu

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How To Format Your Resume in Word in 2024

Font Settings

Paragraph settings, layout settings, frequently asked questions about formatting your resume in word.

In the guide below, we’ll walk you through the key settings you’ll need to familiarize yourself with to create a professional-looking resume in Microsoft Word. There’s no need to turn in something that looks like it was pecked out on a typewriter. Putting a little time and effort into formatting your resume can make the difference between a hiring manager passing you by or catching their eye.

The following suggestions are meant to be a jumping-off point and are based on general best practices for crafting a resume. You can tweak these default settings based on your preferences or industry standards.

Home: Font 

While 11-point font is typically the gold standard size these days, certain things should be bigger to highlight important points (your name) or as a way to organize your resume’s sections.

Set your name to 17, section headings to 14, and all other text to 11.

Don’t use more than two fonts on your resume (one for your name and section headings, and one for everything else). For most traditional industries, stick with traditional resume fonts like Calibri or Cambria.

For a simple resume format, stick with black text throughout. If you’d like to introduce color, see the tip on shading below.

Bold, italic, underline

Use bold for all titles (e.g., your name, job titles, and college degrees) and italic for all organizations (e.g., past employers and schools).

But keep in mind bolded text stands out more than italicized text. So you may want to reverse this setting if your past job titles are now less important than your employer names.

Generally, avoid underlining text on your resume, except hyperlinks .

CAPS and Small Caps

Home: Font: dialog box launcher (arrow in the bottom-right corner): Effects

Use all caps or small caps for your section headings to help set them off from the other information. (You can also use caps to set off job titles and organizations.) But note that caps make the text slightly harder to read, so don’t use them if your section headings are long or uncommon (e.g., Presentations and Publications, not PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS).

Line spacing

Home: Paragraph

Keep your entire document at Word’s default paragraph spacing of 1.15.

Text alignment

In general, set the entire document to “Align Left.” This is the standard alignment most people are used to, and anything else can feel jarring. However, as a final formatting step, consider setting your name, contact info, section headings, and text of shorter sections to “Center” for a more balanced look.

Bullet points

Use bullet points to set off all the achievements in your Experience section. Also, consider bulleting your job duties and profile summary.

Use either the standard circle symbol or a simple alternative such as squares, diamonds, arrows, or check marks.

Add light gray shading behind your name, contact info, and section headings. You can also use color, but make it a light tint to not obscure the text. Also, consider shading for any atypical text on your resume, such as client testimonials or special awards.

Add a slim border below each section heading and a slightly thicker border below your contact info.

Point spacing

Layout: Paragraph

Before you set your resume’s point spacing, it’s a good idea to delete all “empty” paragraphs. Click the Show/Hide button (Home: Paragraph) to make all paragraph marks visible on your document (they look like a backward P ). Then delete all paragraph marks that have no accompanying text, i.e., those that are flush against your left margin.

Once you’ve deleted all empty paragraphs, set “After” spacing to zero points for the entire document.

Set “Before” to:

• 14 points for all section headings
• 5 points for all bulleted information
• 11 points for all other information

Page margins

Layout: Page Setup: Margins: Custom Margins…

Page margins are the white space on every side of the page. While you can adjust the margins later if you feel you need more or less white space, set the margins to 0.7” on all four sides by default.

Layout: Page Setup

Keep your entire document as one column. When a resume section comprises many short items or phrases (e.g., the key skills section), you can use the pipe symbol or tab stops to consolidate them and avoid having too much white space.

What can I do about extra blank space? -

After formatting your resume text, you may have a mostly blank second or third page. Extra space may also be created when the last word of a paragraph or bullet point appears on its own line. Remember, the above recommendations are just a starting point. Feel free to tweak them to solve these or other spacing issues that arise. 

If your document text runs onto an extra page, make your page margins smaller (but don’t go below 0.5” on all sides). Then reduce the font size or point spacing slightly. Also, delete the document’s headers and footers , or shift their position since they can interfere with whatever page margins you’ve set. 

If the last word of a paragraph or bullet appears on its own line, play around with Word’s hyphenation and character spacing options. These settings can help you condense the text slightly so that the extra line disappears. 

Only delete resume text as a last resort. 

What Word settings can I ignore? -

For the purposes of a standard resume, you can safely ignore many of Word’s more advanced settings and features, such as:

• Content controls 
• Illustrations 
• Section breaks 
• Tables 
• Text boxes 
• Text effects 
• Themes 

Features like these are generally meant for longer Word documents with more sophisticated formatting demands. Leaving them off your resume makes it much simpler and easier to update with new information later. 

What about applicant tracking systems? -

The above recommendations will help your resume perform better on applicant tracking systems ( ATS) platforms . Generally, a simple and consistent resume format is likelier to pass ATS and reach a hiring manager's desk. 

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Jacob Meade

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, ACRW)

Jacob Meade is a resume writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience. His writing method centers on understanding and then expressing each person’s unique work history and strengths toward their career goal. Jacob has enjoyed working with jobseekers of all ages and career levels, finding that a clear and focused resume can help people from any walk of life. He is an Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW) with the Resume Writing Academy, and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches.

Build a Resume to Enhance Your Career

• How to Build a Resume Learn More
• Basic Resume Examples and Templates Learn More
• How Many Jobs Should You List on a Resume? Learn More
• How to Include Personal and Academic Projects on Your Resume Learn More

Essential Guides for Your Job Search

• How to Land Your Dream Job Learn More
• How to Organize Your Job Search Learn More
• How to Include References in Your Job Search Learn More
• The Best Questions to Ask in a Job Interview Learn More

7 Common Mistakes to Avoid While Searching for a Job

1. Your Resume or Cover Letter Isn’t Specific to the Job

The same resume and cover letter won’t work for every employer or every job. Tailor your resume to the job you’re applying for. Employers want a candidate who matches their job description, so make sure to highlight your most relevant experience for each position. When writing your cover letter, showcase the skills that are most applicable to the specific job. Identify the characteristics or skills that are in the job description and show how your experience relates to them. A cover letter gives potential employers a more complete understanding of your skillset.

2. Your Resume Isn’t Formatted Correctly for an Applicant Tracking System

As the use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) increases, so does the number of employers that use applicant tracking systems (ATS) and AI to read resumes. You could be the perfect candidate for a job, but your resume may be missing certain keywords or AI may not be able to read it. This can cause your resume to be rejected and not make it to the hiring manager’s desk.

3. You’re Applying for the Wrong Jobs

Carefully look at the jobs you’re applying for to ensure you have the right level of qualification. Most people stay away from applying to jobs they are not qualified for, but being overqualified can be just as problematic. Employers don’t want to hire a candidate who is overqualified because they are more likely to get bored in the position and leave. Employers don’t want to have to fill the position again in six months.

4. You’re Not Letting Your Professional Network Know About Your Job Search

You may have built a professional network of colleagues in the field you’re interested in, but are you utilizing your network? Make sure your network knows that you are looking for a job. Share your job search on LinkedIn, post on personal social media, and talk about your job search while not at work. Often, knowing the right people can get you an interview or even a job. If you’re looking to grow your network, check out our blogs on Networking and Tips for Networking .

5. You’re Not Prepared for Your Interview

Interviews and phone screenings give the interviewer an opportunity to get to know you. It is important to be prepared for both after applying for a job. Some phone screens are scheduled, and others aren’t. Be sure to answer the phone in a professional manner, be familiar with the company’s work, be prepared to ask questions about the position, and have an idea of how much you’d like to be paid. For more tips on how to have a great interview, read our blog post about preparing for interviews or our video interview blog post .

6. You Didn’t Prepare Your References

It is important to inform your references that you’re applying for jobs. Make sure you have their permission to use them as a reference and inform them of the positions you’re applying for. Different positions require different skills, so if they know the position you are applying for they can highlight your skills that fit that position. You may also want to send them your cover letter and resume, so they are up to date on your current work experience. You could even ask them for feedback. Read our previous blog posts to learn how to secure a reference and prepare a reference .

7. You Experienced Setbacks in the Interview Process

Portraying the right amount of excitement and skills is essential in the interview process. You want to highlight your skillset and why you think you’re a good candidate. It is important to show enthusiasm about the position and the company. Make sure to show up a little early and dress appropriately for the job .

How Can Ticket to Work Help

Social Security's Ticket to Work (Ticket) Program supports career development for people ages 18 through 64 who receive Social Security disability benefits (SSDI/SSI) and want to work. Through this free and voluntary program, eligible participants can work with service providers to receive the services and supports they need to find and maintain employment as they move toward financial independence through work.

The Ticket Program can support you throughout every step of your job search. Through the Ticket Program, a service provider such as an Employment Network (EN) can assist you with your job search. ENs can help you write your resume and cover letter, find the right jobs to apply for and prepare you for an interview. If you’re not having success in your job search, you can ask your service provider for suggestions to improve your chances.

To learn more about the Ticket to Work Program, call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842. For callers who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, call 1-866-833-2967 (TTY). Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.- 8 p.m.; or visit https://choosework.ssa.gov .

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FACT FOCUS: A look at false claims around Kamala Harris and her campaign for the White House

Democrats are quickly rallying around Vice President Kamala Harris as their likely presidential nominee after President Joe Biden’s ground-shaking decision to bow out of the 2024 race.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 22, 2024, during an event with NCAA college athletes. This is her first public appearance since President Joe Biden endorsed her to be the next presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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The announcement that Vice President Kamala Harris will seek the Democratic nomination for president is inspiring a wave of false claims about her eligibility and her background. Some first emerged years ago, while others only surfaced after President Joe Biden’s decision to end his bid for a second term.

Here’s a look at the facts.

CLAIM: Harris is not an American citizen and therefore cannot serve as commander in chief.

THE FACTS: Completely false . Harris is a natural born U.S. citizen. She was born on Oct. 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, according to a copy of her birth certificate, obtained by The Associated Press.

Her mother, a cancer researcher from India, and her father, an economist from Jamaica, met as graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley.

Under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, anyone born on U.S. soil is considered a natural born U.S. citizen and eligible to serve as either the vice president or president.

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” reads the amendment.

There is no question or legitimate debate about whether a citizen like Harris is eligible to serve as president or vice president, said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School.

“So many legal questions are really nuanced — this isn’t one of those situations,” Levinson told the AP on Monday.

Still, social media posts making the debunked assertion that Harris cannot serve as president went viral soon after Biden announced Sunday that he was dropping out of the race and would back Harris for president.

“Kamala Harris is not eligible to run for President,” read one post on X that was liked more than 34,000 times. “Neither of her parents were natural born American citizens when she was born.”

False assertions about Harris’ eligibility began circulating in 2019 when she launched her bid for the presidency. They got a boost, thanks in part to then-President Donald Trump, when Biden selected her as his running mate.

“I heard today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” the Republican said of Harris in 2019.

CLAIM: Harris is not Black.

THE FACTS: This is false. Harris is Black and Indian . Her father, Donald Harris, is a Black man who was born in Jamaica. Shyamala Gopalan, her mother, was born in southern India. Harris has spoken publicly for many years, including in her 2019 autobiography , about how she identifies with the heritage of both her parents.

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Despite ample evidence to the contrary, social media users are making erroneous claims about Harris’ race.

“Just a reminder that Kamala Harris @KamalaHarris isn’t black,” reads one X post that had received approximately 42,000 likes and 20,400 shares as of Monday. “She Indian American. She pretends to be black as part of the delusional, Democrat DEI quota.”

But Harris is both Black and Indian. Indeed, she is the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. This fact is highlighted in her biography on WhiteHouse.gov and she has spoken about her ethnicity on many occasions.

Harris wrote in her autobiography, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,” that she identifies with the heritage of both her mother and father.

“My mother, grandparents, aunts, and uncle instilled us with pride in our South Asian roots,” she wrote. “Our classical Indian names harked back to our heritage, and we were raised with a strong awareness and appreciation for Indian culture.”

In the next paragraph, she adds, “My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters.” Harris again refers to herself as a “black woman” in the book’s next chapter.

CLAIM: Harris got her start by having an affair with a married man, California politician Willie Brown.

THE FACTS: This is missing some important context. Brown was separated from his wife during the relationship, which was not a secret.

Brown, 90, is a former mayor of San Francisco who was serving as speaker of the California State Assembly in the 1990s when he and Harris were in a relationship. Brown had separated from his wife in 1982.

“Yes, we dated. It was more than 20 years ago,” Brown wrote in 2020 in the San Francisco Chronicle under the article title, “Sure, I dated Kamala Harris. So what?”

He wrote that he supported Harris’ first race to be San Francisco district attorney — just as he has supported a long list of other California politicians, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Harris, 59, was state attorney general from 2011-2017 and served in the Senate from 2017 until 2021, when she became vice president. She has been married to Doug Emhoff since 2014.

Harris’ critics have used the past relationship to question her qualifications, as Fox News personality Tomi Lahren did when she wrote on social media in 2019: “Kamala did you fight for ideals or did you sleep your way to the top with Willie Brown.” Lahren later apologized for the comment.

Trump and some of his supporters have also highlighted the nearly three-decade old relationship in recent attacks on Harris .

CLAIM: An Inside Edition clip of television host Montel Williams holding hands with Harris and another woman is proof that Harris was his “side piece.”

THE FACTS: The clip shows Montel with Harris and his daughter, Ashley Williams. Harris and Williams, a former marine who hosted “The Montel Williams Show” for more than a decade, dated briefly in the early 2000s.

In the clip, taken from a 2019 Inside Edition segment , Williams can be seen posing for photographs and holding hands with both women as they arrive at the 2001 Eighth Annual Race to Erase MS in Los Angeles.

But social media users are misrepresenting the clip, using it as alleged evidence that Harris was Montel’s “side piece” — a term used to describe a person, typically a woman, who has a sexual relationship with a man in a monogamous relationship.

Williams addressed the false claims in an X post on Monday, writing in reference to the Inside Edition clip, “as most of you know, that is my daughter to my right.” Getty Images photos from the Los Angeles gala identify the women as Harris and Ashley Williams.

In 2019, Williams described his relationship with Harris in a post on X, then known as Twitter.

“@KamalaHarris and I briefly dated about 20 years ago when we were both single,” he wrote in an X post at the time. “So what? I have great respect for Sen. Harris. I have to wonder if the same stories about her dating history would have been written if she were a male candidate?”

CLAIM: Harris promised to inflict the “vengeance of a nation” on Trump supporters.

THE FACTS: A fabricated quote attributed to Harris is spreading online five years after it first surfaced.

In the quote, Harris supposedly promises that if Trump is defeated in 2020, Trump supporters will be targeted by the federal government: “Once Trump’s gone and we have regained our rightful place in the White House, look out if you supported him and endorsed his actions, because we’ll be coming for you next. You will feel the vengeance of a nation.”

The quote was shared again on social media this week. One post on X containing an image of the quote was shared more than 22,000 times as of Monday afternoon.

The remarks didn’t come from Harris , but from a satirical article published online in August 2019. Shortly after, Trump supporters like musician Ted Nugent reposted the comments without noting they were fake.

CLAIM: A video shows Harris saying in a speech: “Today is today. And yesterday was today yesterday. Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. So live today, so the future today will be as the past today as it is tomorrow.”

THE FACTS: Harris never said this. Footage from a 2023 rally on reproductive rights at Howard University, her alma mater, was altered to make it seem as though she did.

In the days after Harris headlined the Washington rally, Republicans mocked a real clip of her speech, with one critic dubbing her remarks a “word salad,” the AP reported at the time .

Harris says in the clip: “So I think it’s very important — as you have heard from so many incredible leaders — for us, at every moment in time, and certainly this one, to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present, and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates not only to the past, but the future.”

NARAL Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights nonprofit whose president also spoke at the rally, livestreamed the original footage. It shows Harris making the “moment in time” remark, but not the “today is today” comment.

The White House’s transcript of Harris’ remarks also does not include the statement from the altered video. Harris’ appearance at the event came the same day that Biden announced their reelection bid .

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck .

Harris Rallies Exuberant Wisconsin Crowd, Saying ‘When We Fight, We Win’

Vice President Kamala Harris visited a key battleground state and quickly went on the offensive against former President Donald J. Trump, casting the race as a contest between a prosecutor and a felon.

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Simon J. Levien and Nicholas Nehamas

Harris also secured the backing of the top Democrats in Congress.

In the first rally of her presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris greeted an exuberant crowd in Wisconsin and assailed the former president, telling them that she’d taken on fraudsters and cheaters as a prosecutor and “I know Donald Trump’s type.”

Supporters who seemed to be releasing pent-up energy after weeks of uncertainty over the future of the Democratic campaign chanted Ms. Harris’s name as she forcefully contrasted herself with Mr. Trump. She vowed to protect access to abortion and nodded to her relative youth, saying now “the baton is in our hands.” Ms. Harris closed her remarks by telling the fired-up audience, “When we fight, we win!” before leaving the stage to Beyoncé’s “Freedom.”

Here’s what else to know:

Open to debate: Mr. Trump said in a call with reporters that he “absolutely” would debate Ms. Harris and was “willing to do more than one debate.” But he once again said he did not want the debate to be hosted by ABC, even though he previously agreed to a debate with President Biden hosted by the network.

Key endorsements: A day after she clinched commitments from enough delegates to secure the party’s presidential nomination, Ms. Harris got the backing of Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries , the two top Democrats in Congress. Mr. Schumer said they were giving her their support “now that the process has played out from the grass roots, bottom up.”

Biden to address the nation: Mr. Biden, who was isolating with Covid when he decided to drop his re-election bid on Sunday, will address the nation on Wednesday night , three days after he said he would end his re-election campaign and endorsed Ms. Harris to take his place at the top of the ticket. Mr. Biden, who for weeks resisted intense pressure to drop out after his poor debate performance last month, said in a social media post that his remarks would focus “on what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people.”

Piling up the cash: The Harris campaign said it had raised more than $100 million between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, far outstripping what either Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump had been able to raise in that amount of time. And a coalition of groups that support paid family leave is spending $500,000 to run a mostly biographical advertisement about Ms. Harris, the first announced independent expenditure to support her candidacy.

Clooney backs Harris: On Tuesday, the actor and Democratic donor George Clooney — who wrote a scathing essay in The New York Times two weeks ago calling on Mr. Biden to drop out — endorsed Ms. Harris for the presidency , pledging to do “whatever we can” to get her elected.

Virtual vote: The Democratic Party will nominate its presidential candidate in an online vote by Aug. 7 , giving the party just over two weeks to deliberate over the selection after swiftly coalescing behind Ms. Harris.

Running mates: Ms. Harris will have a series of potential vice-presidential running mates to choose from ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 19 in Chicago. Here’s a look at the candidates in contention.

Trump’s schedule: Mr. Trump’s next campaign rally is scheduled for Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C. He wrote in a social media post that he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Friday at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla.

Chris Cameron contributed reporting.

Theodore Schleifer

A super PAC tied to Elon Musk will be led by former aides to Ron DeSantis.

Two Republican operatives who played senior roles helping the presidential campaign of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida have taken on leadership roles in a new pro-Trump super PAC that could spend tens of millions of dollars in the presidential race and has ties to Elon Musk.

The aides, Generra Peck, who initially managed the DeSantis campaign, and Phil Cox, a former head of the Republican Governors Association who ran the DeSantis political operation in the years before his run, are quietly guiding the group, America PAC, according to three people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The super PAC has acquired an air of mystery in the Trump orbit, with other outside groups largely in the dark about its plans. The involvement of Mr. Cox and Ms. Peck may help legitimize it within the Republican establishment as it aims to become one of the leading groups on behalf of Mr. Trump. Ms. Peck and Mr. Cox are two of the party’s most prominent operatives and now lead a public affairs firm, P2 Pathway Public Affairs, and their involvement also helps unify the DeSantis and Trump orbits even further.

Also involved, according to a separate person briefed on the matter, is Charlie Spies, a senior election lawyer for the Republican Party. Mr. Spies, Ms. Peck and Mr. Cox declined to comment.

The group has taken pains to be secretive. Joe Lonsdale, an Austin-based tech entrepreneur, has played a key role in the group, recruiting many of his friends — including the Jimmy John’s founder, John Liautaud; Antonio Gracias, a former director of Tesla; and the Craft family of Kentucky — to help fund the effort. Mr. Musk, who recently endorsed former President Donald J. Trump and is a friend of Mr. Lonsdale, has described himself as having “created” the group and is expected to donate, but the amount remains unclear.

Ms. Peck rose to prominence as the initial campaign manager for Mr. DeSantis’s bid. By the end of the Republican primary race, she had drawn criticism for the Florida governor’s failure to live up to expectations. Mr. Cox worked for outside groups backing Mr. DeSantis during the primary contest.

Another Republican consultant, Dave Rexrode, who has led the political operation of Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia and is also a former director of the R.G.A., is playing a smaller role in the group than Ms. Peck and Mr. Cox, with whom Mr. Rexrode has worked closely.

The group has spent $21 million on independent expenditures — primarily on a voter turnout program.

On Monday, Mr. Musk confirmed that he was connected to the group, saying that he created it in part to serve as a moderating influence in politics. Some donors to the group have similarly expressed a belief that it is not meant to be partisan but merely aims to deliver a ground game that ensures a “fairly conducted” election, according to one donor to the organization.

Mr. Musk dismissed a report that he would spend $45 million a month on the group as “not true.”

“It’s not meant to be sort of a hyperpartisan PAC,” he told the conservative commentator Jordan Peterson, adding that he wanted to “promote the principles that made America great in the first place. I wouldn’t say that I’m, for example, MAGA, or Make America Great Again. I think America is great. I’m more M-A-G, Make America Greater.”

Who Might Kamala Harris Pick as Her Running Mate?

The first big decision for Ms. Harris: Who will be her running mate if she is nominated by the Democratic Party to run for president in August.

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Maggie Haberman

The Trump campaign files a complaint over the transfer of Biden funds to Harris.

Donald J. Trump’s campaign filed a complaint on Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission against President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing them of violating campaign finance laws by rolling Mr. Biden’s campaign funds over to Ms. Harris.

The complaint, filed by the Trump campaign’s general counsel, David Warrington, came after Mr. Biden’s team amended the name of its committee on Sunday to “Harris for President,” once Mr. Biden announced he was no longer running for a second term.

The fight is over what is left in Mr. Biden’s coffers that he is turning over to Ms. Harris, who had been his running mate.

“Kamala Harris is seeking to perpetrate a $91.5 million dollar heist of Joe Biden’s leftover campaign cash — a brazen money grab that would constitute the single largest excessive contribution and biggest violation in the history of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended,” Mr. Warrington wrote in the complaint.

Mr. Warrington accused the president, Ms. Harris and the campaign treasurer of “flagrantly violating the Act by making and receiving an excessive contribution of nearly one hundred million dollars, and for filing fraudulent forms with the Commission purporting to repurpose one candidate’s principal campaign committee for the use of another candidate.”

Not all campaign finance legal experts share Mr. Warrington’s view — some believe the Harris team is on legally safe ground — and it’s unclear what the F.E.C. will decide. But the Trump team is looking to grind the gears in the transition from Mr. Biden to Ms. Harris in any way they can.

Mr. Trump’s advisers had made clear they would seek to legally block Mr. Biden from transferring funds to Ms. Harris, suggesting a lawsuit was likely. Instead, they are filing a complaint with the F.E.C., which may not be resolved before Election Day.

An F.E.C. spokeswoman said the agency could not comment on pending enforcement matters.

Charles Lutvak, a spokesman for the Harris campaign, pointed to a giant campaign fund-raising haul the vice president’s expanded team has raised since Mr. Biden endorsed her.

“Republicans may be jealous that Democrats are energized to defeat Donald Trump and his MAGA allies, but baseless legal claims — like the ones they’ve made for years to try to suppress votes and steal elections — will only distract them while we sign up volunteers, talk to voters and win this election,” he said.

The Trump campaign’s complaint with the F.E.C. argues, among other things, that Ms. Harris isn’t yet the official nominee — that will happen at the Democratic National Convention next month — and that Mr. Biden, by saying he won’t be a candidate in the general election, isn’t in a position to keep the general-election contributions he has received.

“To date, Biden for President has provided no indication that it will return or redesignate all of its general election contributions,” Mr. Warrington wrote. “Thus, each and every general election contribution received by Biden for President is an excessive contribution.”

And Mr. Warrington accused the campaign’s treasurer and Ms. Harris of “attempted fraud” of the F.E.C. by using their forms to “rename and repurpose” the committee, seeking a Justice Department referral.

He argued in the letter that the commission should address the matter quickly and that Ms. Harris “is in the process of committing the largest campaign finance violation in American history and she is using the Commission’s own forms to do it.”

Trump has scheduled a finance event in the Hamptons on Aug. 2, per an invite I’ve seen. The event is stacked with loyalists and not many new names: It will be hosted by Howard Lutnick in Bridgehampton, and co-hosts include Trump friends such as Steve Witkoff, Woody Johnson and John Paulson. Tickets range from $25,000 to $500,000.

Nicholas Nehamas

The Democrats lay out a timeline for when Harris’s nomination will be set in stone.

The Democratic National Committee offered new clarity on how the party will formalize its next nominee, who is almost certain to be Vice President Kamala Harris, in a set of draft rules released on Tuesday.

According to the proposed rules, candidates for the nomination must demonstrate they have met the qualifying criteria by the evening of July 30, principally by having acquired the support of at least 300 delegates, with no more than 50 from a single state.

If only one candidate meets that threshold — that is, if Ms. Harris remains unchallenged — delegates will begin voting virtually on Aug. 1. The D.N.C. had previously said the vote must be complete by Aug. 7.

No plausible Democrats have stepped forward to challenge Ms. Harris after President Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her. On Monday, she secured the pledges of the majority of delegates needed to become the nominee. She will choose her running mate separately.

On Wednesday, the Democratic National Convention’s rules committee will vote on the proposed rules in a public meeting.

Kate Conger

A lawmaker flags concern over X users being blocked from following Harris.

After some users on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, were blocked from following Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign account in recent days, members of the House Judiciary Committee aired concerns that the platform might be censoring political speech.

In a letter to Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and the committee’s chair, Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and the ranking member, wrote: “X may be intentionally throttling or blocking Vice President Harris’s ability to communicate with potential voters. If true, such action would amount to egregious censorship based on political and viewpoint discrimination.”

But employees of X who were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter said the campaign account was most likely caught in an anti-spam tool the company uses. The tool flags accounts that acquire a lot of new followers at once, since such activity is often linked to spam.

Some X users were also blocked from following Senator JD Vance’s personal account after he was announced as former President Donald J. Trump’s pick for vice president, those employees said — an indication that political bias was not the root of the issue.

Michael C. Bender

Reported while traveling with Senator JD Vance from Ohio to Virginia.

JD Vance is adjusting to his new role, aboard a plane with his name on it.

Senator JD Vance was unsure where to stand or where to put his hands.

With a fresh haircut and a closely tailored blue suit on his first day of solo campaigning as the Republican vice-presidential nominee, Mr. Vance walked to the back of his chartered airliner to chat with reporters on Monday. Briefly uncertain of how to start, he furrowed his brow and looked from side to side.

His unease was understandable — the utilitarian design of airplane seating does not exactly facilitate group discussion — but also revealing.

Where a more seasoned politician may have simply leaned against a seat, Mr. Vance in his initial confusion hinted at the inexperience of a 39-year-old embarking on his maiden national campaign just one year after being sworn in to his first elected office. When a flight attendant approached and urged everyone to fasten their seatbelts before landing, Mr. Vance plopped into an empty seat in the press cabin and quickly buckled up — as if he were just another passenger, and not the only one inside the plane with his name on the outside of it, too.

The in-flight candidate is, in many ways, a useful metaphor for the moment: a gifted yet fledgling political talent — whose calling card is his connection to the working class — adjusting to a new life with his own chartered Boeing 737 as the newly minted member of a Republican ticket headed by a three-time presidential contender.

Mr. Vance had arrived in Milwaukee last week for the Republican National Convention not knowing if he would be picked as Mr. Trump’s running mate, and he left town at the end of it on his own chartered jet.

“When President Trump asked me to be his running mate, I really had no idea what was coming,” Mr. Vance said during his speech in Ohio. “I thought he might ask me, but I thought he might ask somebody else — there were a lot of good guys running.”

As a first-time candidate in 2016, Mr. Trump and his campaign did not reserve a plane for the vice-presidential nominee, Mike Pence. Instead, that task of lining up air travel fell to the team surrounding the then-governor of Indiana. Mr. Trump was irate when he found out the Pence team had rented a plane, telling one aide that he preferred to use his own private jets.

Eight years later, Mr. Trump’s third campaign is a bit more professional. His 2024 operation started raising money online weeks ago for the running mate’s plane, which they refer to as Trump Force Two. In 2016, reporters referred to the Republican fleet as Hair Force One and Hair Force Two.

The red and blue Trump-Vance logo is stripped across the front of the plane, straddling the first dozen windows behind the cockpit. The tail is wrapped with names of dozens of contributors who helped underwrite the cost of the charter: Edward M. from Georgia, Victoria W. from Alabama, Barbara M. from Michigan.

Inside the jet, Trump campaign material is inescapable. If you were curious what the price of gasoline was during Mr. Trump’s last year in office, or how much the G.D.P. grew during that time, you can find the answers plastered on the walls above the windows along the 17 rows of the plane. Each overhead bin is wrapped with broad policy goals, in Trump-trademark all-caps: “Free, honest and lawful elections” and “Secure borders and reclaim national sovereignty.”

To be sure, the Trump campaign widely viewed Mr. Vance’s first day on the trail as a success.

“President Trump is thrilled with the choice he made with Senator Vance, and they are the perfect team to take back the White House,” said Steve Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman.

Mr. Vance drew large crowds in Middletown, Ohio, and in Radford, Va., where he made his case for supporting the Trump campaign by leveraging folksy tales about his hardscrabble upbringing. And he easily sparred with reporters on his plane, showing off his quick wit and combative instinct when asked about criticism from Gov. Andy Beshear, a Kentucky Democrat, that Mr. Vance has overstated his blue-collar roots.

“It’s very weird,” Mr. Vance shot back, “to have a guy whose first job was at his dad’s law firm and who inherited the governorship from his father criticize my origin story.”

But there were plenty of signs of Mr. Vance’s inexperience, too.

He spoke mostly without a teleprompter at the two rallies, but some of his lines did not quite land. He made a strained joke about how Democrats may attack him as racist because he enjoyed Diet Mountain Dew.

In Ohio, he either ignored or was unaware of one headline-generating moment at his rally. State Senator George Lang, speaking shortly before Mr. Vance took the stage, told the crowd, “It’s going to take a civil war to save the country” if Republicans fail to win the White House in November. Mr. Lang issued a statement after the rally saying he regretted the “divisive remarks.”

On his plane, Mr. Vance explained to reporters that his anti-abortion positions would take a back seat to Mr. Trump as the party’s presidential nominee. But on the campaign trail, he said it was fair game to make Ms. Harris answer for all of the Biden administration’s policies.

“There is simply no way that you can sit here and say the policies of Joe Biden have worked, which is to say that we’ve got to kick Kamala Harris out of the Oval Office,” Mr. Vance said in Radford. “Don’t give her a chance to run away from the Biden record — the Biden record is the Kamala Harris record.”

At the end of the day, as the sun set over the Appalachian Mountains and Mr. Vance climbed up the stairs for his return flight home to Ohio, he paused when a reporter on the runway shouted a question asking how he had enjoyed his first day on the trail.

“It was fun,” Mr. Vance shouted back.

Reporters, mostly stunned that he had stopped to answer, didn’t immediately offer a follow-up question. So Mr. Vance ducked back into his plane.

Michael Gold

Donald Trump announces he will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday at Mar-a-Lago.

Former President Donald J. Trump, who often calls himself the staunchest ally of Israel to ever sit in the Oval Office, will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Friday in Palm Beach, Fla., Mr. Trump said on Tuesday.

“Looking forward to welcoming Bibi Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago,” Mr. Trump wrote in a post on his social media site, referring to his private club and residence.

The pair’s meeting will follow Mr. Netanyahu’s address to Congress in Washington on Wednesday and his meeting with President Biden at the White House on Thursday. (Mr. Trump announced three different dates: An initial post on Tuesday afternoon said he would meet with Mr. Netanyahu on Wednesday, then he deleted that post and replaced it with one saying Thursday. Minutes later, he said the meeting was moved to Friday at Mr. Netanyahu’s request.)

Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump were close allies during Mr. Trump’s presidency. But their relationship became strained when the prime minister congratulated Mr. Biden on winning the 2020 presidential election.

Mr. Trump, who has continued to insist falsely that he won the election in 2020, saw the move as disloyal. And days after Hamas’s deadly attacks on Israel in October, Mr. Trump criticized Mr. Netanyahu and Israeli intelligence officials as being poorly prepared.

In the months since, Mr. Trump has retreated from his criticism. He has voiced support for Israel’s right to defend itself and forcefully denounced pro-Palestinian protesters on American college campuses. He has suggested that he supported greater use of force in Gaza.

Mr. Trump has also expressed criticism, saying that images of devastation in Gaza were detrimental to Israel’s global image and were costing it public support.

Since the war in Gaza began, Mr. Trump has insisted that he would have it ended immediately if elected, though he has not provided a clear plan for doing so. He has denounced Mr. Biden and Democrats as doing little to preserve peace, an assertion he repeated in his social media post on Tuesday.

“Millions are dying, and Kamala Harris is in no way capable of stopping it,” Mr. Trump wrote, a new line of criticism against the vice president now that she is poised to replace Mr. Biden on the Democratic ticket. Mr. Netanyahu is also expected to meet with Ms. Harris.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump repeatedly tries to paint himself as pro-Israel, citing how he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and reminding supporters of the role he played in deals that established formal diplomatic ties between Israel and three Arab states.

Since the Gaza attacks, he has often criticized Mr. Biden as being insufficiently supportive of the country.

Mr. Trump has for years been trying to peel American Jews, many of whom are liberal, away from the Democratic Party, a push that has intensified since the war in Gaza exposed divisions among Democrats over how the Biden administration has handled it.

Mr. Netanyahu is set to join a handful of global leaders who have met with Mr. Trump during his third presidential campaign. Mr. Trump has met twice with Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, a right-wing leader with whom he shares anti-immigration and populist views.

While standing trial in Manhattan in April, Mr. Trump hosted the right-wing president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, at Trump Tower.

Mr. Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. comes as he faces anger at home over the prolonged war in Gaza and failure to bring home the hostages held in the enclave.

Noah Weiland

Doug Emhoff attacks Trump over abortion during visit to Virginia clinic.

Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, visited an abortion clinic in the Washington suburbs on Tuesday, a Biden administration event that doubled as a sort of kick off for Mr. Emhoff as he began taking Ms. Harris’s abortion message on the road.

“We’re here because of the former president,” Mr. Emhoff said, condemning what he referred to as the “post-Dobbs hellscape that Donald Trump created.”

He was added to the event schedule late Monday night, underscoring the urgency of the campaign’s attention to abortion rights.

Ms. Harris, during a stop on Monday with Mr. Emhoff to what had been the Biden-Harris campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., promised to sign a federal law that would codify reproductive rights, if Congress were to pass one. “The government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” she said.

The visit on Tuesday to Meadow Reproductive Health & Wellness, a small clinic in McLean, Va., was part of a nationwide tour focused on reproductive rights and led by Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary. The clinic was established last year as an effort to expand abortion access after Roe v. Wade was overturned; its organizers say they spent a year searching for a landlord willing to lease space.

Dr. Jessica Rubino, the medical director of the clinic, once practiced as an abortion provider in Austin, Tex., before the state’s efforts to ban abortions made the work untenable, she said at the Tuesday event. She grew impatient only being able to conduct ultrasounds and talk to patients.

“When someone says they need an abortion, when they ask you for that — that’s when they need their abortion,” Dr. Rubino said. “They don’t need it delayed. It’s wrong of me as a provider to instruct them to go get on a plane and go to another state.”

Now, she added, calls were coming from all over the country to the Virginia clinic, including from communities where she used to work.

Mr. Emhoff blamed Mr. Trump, saying that he “deigns to run for president again on a platform of taking us backward.”

Ms. Harris, he said, rejected the kind of environment the abortion clinic was operating in, “where freedoms are taken away, where autonomy is taken away, where they’re telling you you can’t read this book, they’re telling you you can’t learn these facts. They’re telling you you can’t vote.”

Ms. Harris “has united the party. She’s going to unite the country,” Mr. Emhoff said, then added: “She’s going to win this election.”

Trump says he is willing to debate Harris multiple times.

Former President Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday that he would “absolutely” be willing to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, who has already clinched commitments from enough delegates to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

“I would be willing to do more than one debate, actually,” he said.

In a call with reporters hosted by the Republican National Committee, however, he also said he was “not thrilled” about having a debate hosted by ABC — even though he and President Biden agreed months ago to take part in a debate put on by that network in September.

Mr. Trump’s remarks were his first extensive comments on Ms. Harris since Mr. Biden announced he would drop out of the presidential race on Sunday. It was the second time this week he appeared to try to change the terms of a debate.

On Sunday, after Mr. Biden declared he would end his bid, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that the debate that had been scheduled for September should be moved to Fox News, a channel on which he generally gets more favorable coverage, from ABC.

During Tuesday’s call, Mr. Trump — who for months insisted he would debate Mr. Biden anytime and anywhere — told reporters that the debate terms he agreed to applied only with Mr. Biden.

“I haven’t agreed to anything. I agreed to debate with Joe Biden,” Mr. Trump said. “But I want to debate her, and she’ll be no different because they have the same policies.”

Mr. Trump spent most of Tuesday’s call criticizing Ms. Harris’s record on immigration and the U.S. border with Mexico, trying to tie her to an issue he made central to his attacks against Mr. Biden for the last year.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly used the word “invasion” when he talks about the record number of crossings at the southern border, a surge that has slowed from its height earlier this year. And he blames migrants for a host of issues that he says Democrats ultimately bear responsibility for.

On the call, Mr. Trump claimed that Ms. Harris “was appointed border czar” in March 2021, misleading language that Republicans have often used to refer her. The mission that Mr. Biden deputized her for was a diplomatic one, focused on solving the “root causes” of migration that prompt people from Central America to make the journey.

He argued that her views on immigration were to the left of Mr. Biden’s, picking at her record in California as a senator. And he criticized her time as San Francisco’s district attorney. Ms. Harris, for her part, aggressively hit at Mr. Trump during her remarks in Wisconsin and said she would “proudly put my record against his every day of the week.”

Mr. Trump’s criticisms offered a window into how he and his campaign are likely to shift their focus from Mr. Biden to Ms. Harris. His advisers plan to attack Ms. Harris by linking her to unpopular aspects of Mr. Biden’s tenure and suggesting she is more liberal than Mr. Biden.

Reid J. Epstein and Simon J. Levien

Reid J. Epstein reported from Washington, and Simon J. Levien from West Allis, Wis.

Harris rallies exuberant Democrats in Wisconsin: ‘The baton is in our hands.’

Harris holds first rally as the likely democratic nominee, vice president kamala harris listed her campaign pledges, which included expanding abortion rights, building a strong middle class and protecting unions..

So Wisconsin, I am told as of this morning that we have earned the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. I was elected attorney general of the State of California, and I was a courtroom prosecutor before then. And in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So here me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type. [cheering] And now Wisconsin, the baton is in our hands. We who believe in the sacred freedom to vote will make sure every American has the ability to cast their ballot and have it counted. And we who believe in reproductive freedom — we’ll stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body, and not have their government tell them what to do.

Delivering a jolt of enthusiasm to a party reeling from weeks of infighting, Vice President Kamala Harris rallied Democrats on Tuesday in Wisconsin and laid out a fierce argument against former President Donald J. Trump.

Ms. Harris vowed, in her first rally as the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, to defeat Mr. Trump by attacking him as a prosecutor would. She defined herself as a tribune of the middle class fighting against a tool of billionaires and as a champion of abortion rights against a man who would deny such rights to all Americans.

Ms. Harris offered a far more energetic denunciation of Mr. Trump than President Biden, in front of a crowd that her campaign said was the largest she or Mr. Biden had addressed since their re-election bid began over a year ago. She walked out to cheers to the tune of Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” which the singer had allowed her to use. As one attendee put it, the moment felt like a release of months of pent-up Democratic energy.

Interrupted several times by chants of “Ka-ma-la,” Ms. Harris demonstrated how Mr. Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race and her elevation have transformed a desultory, almost perfunctory campaign into a bastion of enthusiasm. She highlighted the $100 million in contributions since Sunday and took a victory lap for effectively wrapping up the Democratic presidential nomination within 48 hours.

“We have earned the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination,” Ms. Harris said. “I am so very honored and I pledge to you I will spend the coming weeks continuing to unite our party so that we are ready to win in November.”

The vice president recycled phrases from her 2020 presidential campaign, calling her bid “people-powered” and promising that, as president, she would prioritize the needs of the middle and working class over the desires of corporate interests and the wealthy.

And in a nod to her relative youth — she is 59, decades younger than the 81-year-old Mr. Biden and the 78-year-old Mr. Trump — and her potential to become the first woman elected as president, Ms. Harris placed the 2024 campaign on a continuum with the civil and voting rights struggles of America’s past.

“The shoulders on which we stand, generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom and now, Wisconsin, the baton is in our hands,” she said. “We who believe in the sacred freedom to vote will make sure every American has the ability to cast their ballot and have it counted.”

The vice president drew perhaps her largest cheers during the section of her stump speech that compared her biography to Mr. Trump’s. She told of being a local prosecutor and attorney general in California who investigated “fraudsters” and “cheaters,” among other miscreants, and reminded the crowd that Mr. Trump was found liable of sexual assault by a Manhattan civil court.

“So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said. “In this campaign, I promise you I will proudly put my record against his every day of the week.”

She accused Mr. Trump of aiming “to take our country backward” and said Trump allies’ plans, known as “Project 2025,” would damage the middle class. (Mr. Trump has sought to distance himself from the voluminous conservative policy proposals.)

“We know we got to take this seriously,” she said. “Can you believe they put that thing in writing? Read it! It’s 900 pages.”

Ms. Harris arrived in Wisconsin riding a 48-hour wave of momentum from a Democratic Party that swiftly united around her after more than a year of intramural hand-wringing about whether Mr. Biden was its best shot at defeating Mr. Trump.

Also on Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee released draft rules setting the schedule for when it will formalize its nomination. Any candidates must meet certain criteria by July 30. If Ms. Harris remains unchallenged, delegates will begin voting virtually on Aug. 1. The rules will be voted on on Wednesday.

Even before Ms. Harris arrived in Milwaukee, it was clear that local Democrats were excited about the change to the top of the ticket. The Harris campaign said every Democratic statewide officeholder — even the public schools superintendent — would attend the rally in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, a stark contrast from Mr. Biden’s last Wisconsin visit, when Senator Tammy Baldwin held her own event 190 miles away from the president’s stop in Madison.

As Ms. Harris stepped off Air Force Two at the Milwaukee airport, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez embraced her and insisted on a selfie , as Gov. Tony Evers and Ms. Baldwin hovered in the background.

Public opinion research conducted by Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC, immediately after Mr. Biden’s exit from the race showed Ms. Harris generating more enthusiasm than he had among young voters — a key group that had never warmed to the president’s re-election bid.

Among Democratic-leaning voters in battleground states who are between the ages of 18 and 34, the percentage of voters who said they would definitely vote increased by five percentage points in the 24 hours after Mr. Biden’s withdrawal, according to the data, which was shared with The New York Times. The Priorities USA survey also found Ms. Harris faring four points better among Black voters and three points better among Latinos than Mr. Biden had.

In a state in which the vast majority of communities are either deep red or deep blue, West Allis, an inner-ring, working-class Milwaukee suburb named for a tractor manufacturing plant that once dominated the community, is a rare battleground city. Mr. Biden won 55 percent of the city’s vote in 2020 .

In the school gymnasium, the crowd held up signs reading “Kamala” and “USA.” One group held up letters that spelled out “Yes we Kam!” in a play on former President Barack Obama’s winning 2008 campaign slogan.

Among the crowd, the most common reactions to Ms. Harris’s presidential run were “excited” and “relieved.”

“We are part of the groundswell,” said Renee Borkowski, a 56-year-old rallygoer from Lake Forest, Ill., adding that this was the first rally she had attended since Jimmy Carter’s 1976 campaign.

Ellen Holly of Elkhorn, Wis., wore a Biden-Harris campaign shirt but took painter’s tape and covered Mr. Biden’s name. She scrawled over it with what has become a rallying cry for the Harris campaign: “Let’s win this.”

“I would vote for a dead animal in the road before I vote for Trump,” said Ms. Holly, 67, a retired teacher who also supported Mr. Biden.

Other attendees highlighted the historic nature of Ms. Harris’s first presidential campaign rally while expressing cautious optimism.

“I’m worried, but I’m more hopeful than I was last week,” Katrice Battle, 37, a Milwaukee photographer, said of Ms. Harris’s candidacy, adding she was invigorated as a Black woman to try to elect the first female president.

But she acknowledged that once the rah-rah feelings of a new campaign fade, Ms. Harris has ground to make up against Mr. Trump. “It was relief, then trepidation,” Ms. Battle said.

Donald Trump, in a press call, said that he still would have chosen JD Vance to be his running mate if he’d known that Biden would drop out of the race and that Harris might be his opponent. “I’d do the same pick," Trump said. "He’s doing really well, he’s really caught on.”

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. This is the first public appearance since Biden contracted Covid and announced he would step aside in the presidential race to make way for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Donald Trump, in a call with reporters, accused Kamala Harris of being part of the “willful demolition of American borders” and tried to tie her to the Biden administration’s immigration policy, which he has repeatedly blamed for a spike in crime that has not been supported by available data. Trump’s remarks, focused entirely on Harris’s stance on immigration, were his first extensive comments on Harris since Biden said he would suspend his re-election bid.

Trump said that if Harris, who is not yet her party’s nominee, becomes president, she would make “the invasion” at the border “exponentially worse.”

Vice President Kamala Harris leads former President Donald J. Trump by two percentage points, 44 percent to 42 percent, in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published Tuesday. The survey was conducted Monday and Tuesday — a relatively short period — and Harris’s lead was within the margin of error, according to Reuters . But the survey may be welcome news to Democrats looking for early signs that Harris has a better chance than President Biden of defeating Trump.

Trump, in a call with reporters, said he “absolutely” wants to debate Kamala Harris if she becomes the nominee and that he would be “willing to do more than one debate.” But he once again said he did not want to have the debate hosted by ABC, even though he agreed to a debate with Biden hosted by the network.

That was a short stump speech but, judging from the crowd’s reaction, an effective one for Democrats. Her condemnations of Donald Trump seemed especially to hit home. Biden often struggled to deliver a consistent message against his Republican rival.

Simon J. Levien

Harris concluded her speech, saying that “when we fight, we win!” Beyonce’s “Freedom” is playing again.

Katie Rogers

As someone who has covered campaign events led by Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden and now Kamala Harris, the enthusiasm of her crowd looks and sounds much like what I saw in high school gyms in the Midwest back in 2008. It’s much later in the cycle, of course, but this energy was missing for much of the time Joe Biden was campaigning.

Harris delivered a full-throated message on abortion access, declaring to applause that if Congress passed a law to protect access she would “sign it into law.” Democrats had hoped that Biden would press on this policy issue at the debate, but he flubbed his response.

Harris is listing out her campaign pledges, including building a strong middle class, protecting unions, and preserving and expanding abortion rights. They are essentially the same promises as Biden’s. What’s different is the messenger.

Michael Barbaro

How will Harris make her relative youthfulness an issue in this race? We just got a potential answer. She made a subtle but important reference to it by mentioning the generations that came before and the idea that now “the baton is in our hands.”

“What kind of country do we want to live in?” Harris asks. “A Kamala one!” an attendee shouts out, to cheers. She laughs.

The crowd is now chanting: “We’re not going back.” Even on TV, the energy feels higher than the Biden rallies I attended.

“Donald Trump wants to take our country backward,” Harris says. Her reference to Project 2025, a document authored by Trump allies as a plan for the next conservative administration, draws boos from the crowd — suggesting that her campaign's attempts to hammer the plan as a threat to the nation is working, at least among committed Democrats.

“We are focused on the future, the other, focused on the past,” Harris said, comparing her message to Trump’s. At rallies in recent months, Trump has said the opposite, arguing that Democrats are so focused on dragging him down that they have no policies focused on the future.

Harris said that she knows "Donald Trump’s type,” comparing him to the criminals she has prosecuted. The line drew chants of her name from the crowd, just as it did yesterday when she used it in a speech at her campaign headquarters.

Harris is directly comparing her record as a prosecutor to Trump’s legal issues and convictions. In her first campaign stop, Harris is pushing the contrast between the parties that Democrats have already begun messaging on: the 2024 presidential race as a race between a prosecutor and a felon.

Harris points out that there are only 105 days until the election. Even for a politician with a national profile, that’s an extremely short window to reintroduce herself to voters, demonstrate her vision for the nation and shrug off the burden of President Biden’s low approval ratings.

Harris is grinning ear to ear. She is delivering her remarks with confidence, and the crowd is eating it up.

Reid J. Epstein

The beginning of this Harris speech in Wisconsin has the feel of Democrats letting out 16 months of pent-up nervous energy they had been holding in while President Biden was their nominee.

Vice President Kamala Harris walked out to wild cheers and chants from a crowd on their feet, as “Freedom“ by Beyonce played.

Theodore Schleifer Michael C. Bender and Rebecca Davis O’Brien

JD Vance hits the money circuit after joining Trump’s ticket.

Senator JD Vance of Ohio is moving aggressively to raise money for the Republican presidential ticket, making fund-raising one of his earliest priorities as he seeks to convert his donor relationships into cash as the running mate for former President Donald J. Trump.

Bringing in money is always part of a running mate’s duties, but Mr. Vance’s team plans to lean into this role even more than usual. Mr. Vance, who spent some of his early years working in Silicon Valley’s tech industry , has some unique connections among major donors, and he could persuade some contributors who have resisted supporting the Republican nominee to get on board.

Mr. Vance has at least seven fund-raisers coming up across the country over the next week, according to invitations for each event seen by The New York Times. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to headline an event in Fort Wayne, Ind., hosted by the Indiana businessman Bill Bean, a longtime friend and supporter of former Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Bean said last week that he expected up to 400 people could attend.

On Thursday, Mr. Vance and Mr. Trump are headlining a fund-raiser in Doral, Fla. On Friday, Mr. Vance has two fund-raisers — a breakfast in St. Louis and a sold-out luncheon in Oklahoma City hosted by an Oklahoma banking executive, Mark Davenport, and co-hosts like the billionaires Joe Craft and Harold Hamm. On Saturday, he heads to Minneapolis for a reception.

Next week, Mr. Vance is set to head to California for two fund-raisers, including an intriguing event on Monday in Silicon Valley, where he worked as a junior venture capitalist and a biotech executive. He is scheduled to headline a dinner in Palo Alto, although no hosts are listed on the invitation, unlike the other events on his calendar.

On July 31, he is scheduled to be in Coalinga, in Central California’s agriculture belt, where he will be toasted by John Harris, a prominent farming executive. Fellow hosts of that lunch include Richard Spencer, a major Republican fund-raiser in the state.

Mr. Trump wanted a running mate who could help him bring in big money , and vice-presidential hopefuls like Mr. Vance were eager to flaunt their donor relationships . Mr. Vance is also likely to take the lead on lower-dollar events that may not raise as much money as fund-raisers headlined by Mr. Trump.

Mr. Vance, who lives in Cincinnati and must balance his campaign travel against Senate commitments in Washington, had only one public event on his schedule as of Tuesday as he focused on fund-raising: a rally on Saturday in Minnesota.