U.S. Representative Paul Ryan is set to accept the Republican Party's nomination as its vice presidential candidate on Wednesday night at the party's national convention in Tampa, Florida, continuing his rise as a national political figure.

The 42-year-old lawmaker from Wisconsin has energized conservative activists ever since he was named as the running mate of presidential candidate Mitt Romney earlier this month.

But Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, has come under fire for his proposals to overhaul Medicare, the federal health insurance program for elderly Americans, and impose deep cuts in other social programs.

Mr. Romney and Ryan were formally nominated Tuesday on the first full day of the convention, which featured speeches by Mr. Romney's wife, Ann, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Ann Romney used her speech at the Republican National Convention Tuesday night to promote her husband's accomplishments as a businessman, governor of Massachusetts and leader in the Mormon church. She asked the country to give her husband the chance to lead the United States “to a better place.”

In his keynote address, Christie accused the Democratic Party under President Barack Obama of failing America, depicting the Democrats as “whistling a happy tune” while driving America “off a fiscal cliff.”

He praised Romney as someone who will “lead with conviction” and will tell Americans the “hard truths” needed to put the country back on the “path to growth.”

Mr. Romney heads to Indianapolis, Indiana on Wednesday to speak to a group of military veterans before returning to the convention to give his nomination acceptance speech Thursday night. Mr. Obama is campaigning in the college town of Charlottesville, Virginia. The Democrats hold their convention next week in Charlotte, North Carolina.