Elizabeth Warren: From caretaker's daughter to potential vice president

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren has endorsed presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and said she would be willing to stand as her running mate in the US presidential election.

"I'm ready to jump in this fight and make sure that Clinton is the next president and be sure that Donald Trump gets nowhere near the White House," she told the Boston Globe.

Her endorsement, which swiftly followed that of President Barack Obama, is seen as a major coup for the Clinton campaign as Warren commands respect from the party elite and is hugely popular with the public.

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"Warren has been something of a left-wing idol for a couple of years now," says the New York Times.

Tackling rising economic inequality and holding the rich and powerful to account has been at the heart of the 66-year-old's lengthy career in law, academia and politics.

"No progressive rally is currently complete in the US without Warren's appearance before adoring fans of all ages" The Guardian says. "Warren articulates the inchoate rage of everyone from Occupy protesters to working professionals unable to pay the rent."

The daughter of a caretaker, Warren was born in Oklahoma City and married her high school sweetheart at the age of 19. The couple had two children, but divorced after Warren graduated from law school. She went on teach at Harvard University, specialising in commercial law, contracts and bankruptcy.

Previously a self-confessed Republican, Warren joined the Democrats in 1995 and quickly became a formidable champion of middle-class America.

"People feel like the system is rigged against them,” she said. "And here's the painful part: they're right."

She was appointed chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel after the 2008 financial crash and pushed Obama to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2011 to hold Wall Street banks and other financial institutions accountable. Time magazine dubbed her the "new sheriff of Wall Street".

In 2012, Warren became the first female senator of Massachusetts and was soon encouraged by supporters to throw her hat in the ring for the presidential race.

Being incredibly popular on the streets hasn't stopped Warren earning herself some powerful enemies. "I can tell you from talking to people in the financial industry, in banking, on Wall Street, they think she is actually the devil," said Melissa Francis at Fox Business Network.

Warren and Clinton are said to have a friendly relationship, with sources telling CNN that the presidential hopeful has often called her for advice. The former US secretary of state also wrote a glowing tribute to Warren in Time, applauding her for never hesitating to "hold powerful people's feet to the fire: bankers, lobbyists, senior government officials and, yes, even presidential aspirants".

Clinton added: "She fights so hard for others to share in the American Dream because she lived it herself."