This article is about the American politician. For the football player who went by the same name, seeMilton Romney. For the singer with a similar sounding name, seeRitt Momney.
After stepping down from his positions at Bain Capital and in the LDS Church, Romney ran as the Republican nominee for theU.S. Senate in Massachusetts in1994 and lost to the incumbent,Ted Kennedy. He then resumed his position at Bain Capital. Years later, a successful stint as president and CEO of the then-strugglingSalt Lake Organizing Committee for the2002 Winter Olympics led to a relaunch of his political career. Elected governor of Massachusetts in2002, Romney helped develop and later signed ahealth care reform law (commonly called "Romneycare") that provided near-universal health insurance access through state-level subsidies andindividual mandates to purchase insurance. He also presided over the elimination of a projected $1.2–1.5 billion deficit through a combination of spending cuts, increased fees, and closing corporatetax loopholes.
Romney did not seek reelection in2006, instead focusing on his campaignfor the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential election, which he lost to SenatorJohn McCain. Romney ran for president again four years later and was the Republican nominee in the2012 presidential election, becoming the first LDS Church member to be amajor party's nominee. He lost the election to PresidentBarack Obama. After reestablishing residency in Utah, Romney ran for U.S. Senate in2018. When Romney won the Republican nomination and general election, he became the first person in modern American history to be elected governor and U.S. senator of different states.[1]
Romney has three older siblings: Margo, Jane, and Scott. Mitt was the youngest by nearly six years.[16] His parents named him after a family friend, businessmanJ. Willard Marriott, and his father's cousin,Milton "Mitt" Romney, a former quarterback for theChicago Bears.[17] Romney was called "Billy" until kindergarten, when he expressed a preference for "Mitt".[18] In 1953, the family moved from Detroit to the affluent suburb ofBloomfield Hills and his father became the chairman and CEO ofAmerican Motors the following year and helped the company avoid bankruptcy and return to profitability.[19] By 1959, his father had become a nationally known figure in print and on television,[20] and Mitt idolized him.[21]
Romney attended publicelementary schools until seventh grade, when he enrolled as one of only a fewMormon students atCranbrook School, a private upscale boys'preparatory school a few miles from his home.[18][22] Many students there came from backgrounds even more privileged than his.[23] Not particularly athletic, he also did not distinguish himself academically.[21] He participated in his father's successful1962 gubernatorial campaign,[24] and later worked as an intern in the governor's office.[21][25] Romney took up residence at Cranbrook when his newly elected father began spending most of his time atthe state capitol.[22]
At Cranbrook, Romney helped manage theice hockey team, and joined thepep squad.[22] During his senior year, he joined thecross country running team.[18] He belonged to 11 school organizations andschool clubs, including the Blue Key Club, abooster group he had started.[22] During his final year there, his academic record improved but fell short of excellence.[21][23] Romney was involved in several pranks while attending Cranbrook. He has since apologized for them, stating that some of them may have gone too far.[nb 1] In March of his senior year, he began datingAnn Davies; she attended the privateKingswood School, Cranbrook's sister school.[23][30] The two became informally engaged around the time he graduated from high school in June 1965.[21][26]
In July 1966, he began a 30-month stint inFrance as aMormon missionary,[21][34] a traditional rite of passage in his family.[nb 3] He arrived inLe Havre, where he shared cramped quarters under meager conditions.[14][36] Rules against drinking, smoking, and dating were strictly enforced.[14]
On average, individual Mormon missionaries do not gain many converts[nb 4] and Romney was no exception:[36] he later estimated 10 to 20 for his entire mission.[41][nb 5] He initially became demoralized and later recalled it as the only time when "most of what I was trying to do was rejected."[36]
Romney soon gained recognition within the mission for the many homes he called on and the repeat visits he was granted.[14] He became a zone leader inBordeaux in early 1968, and soon thereafter became an assistant to themission president in Paris.[14][36][43] While in Paris, Romney resided at the Mission Home for several months, and enjoyed a mansion far more comfortable than the accommodations he experienced elsewhere in the country.[43]
When the French expressed opposition to the U.S. role in theVietnam War, Romney debated them. Those who yelled at him and slammed their doors in his face merely reinforced his resolve.[14][36]
Mitt's fatherGeorge (pictured here in a 1968 poster) lost the Republican presidential nomination toRichard M. Nixon and later was appointed to theNixon cabinet.
Mitt's mother Lenore, promoted here on a button, lost a Senate race in 1970. Mitt worked for her campaign.
In June 1968, while in southern France and driving an automobile that was hit by another vehicle, Romney was seriously injured. The crash killed one of his passengers, the wife of the mission president.[nb 6]
Romney then became co-president of a mission that had become demoralized and disorganized after theMay 1968 general strike and student uprisings and the car accident.[44] With Romney rallying the others, the mission met its goal of 200 baptisms for the year, the most in a decade.[44] By the end of his stint in December 1968, he was overseeing the work of 175 others.[36][45] As a result of his experience there, Romney developed a lifelong affection for France and its people, and has remained fluent in French.[47]
At their first meeting following his return, Romney and Ann Davies reconnected and decided to get married.[48] Before their wedding, Romney moved toUtah and enrolled atBrigham Young University, where Ann had been studying.[49] They married on March 21, 1969, in a civil ceremony in Bloomfield Hills and the next day, they flew to Utah for a Mormon wedding ceremony at theSalt Lake Temple; Ann hadconverted to the faith while he was away.[50][51]
At culturally conservative BYU, Romney remained separated from much of the upheaval of that era.[36][49] He became president of the Cougar Clubbooster organization and showed a newfound discipline in his studies.[36][49] During his senior year, he took a leave of absence to work as driver andadvance man for his mother's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign;[26][50] together, they visitedall 83 Michigan counties.[55][56] Romney graduated from BYU in 1971 with aBachelor of Arts degree inEnglish and a 3.97GPA.[49] He gave commencement addresses to both the College of Humanities and the whole of BYU.[nb 7]
The Romneys' first son,Taggart, was born in 1970[38] while they were undergraduates at BYU and living in abasement apartment.[49] Their son Matthew was born in 1971 and Joshua in 1975. Benjamin (1978) and Craig (1981) were born after Romney had begun his career.[38]
Romney wanted to pursue a business career, but his father advised him that aJuris Doctor degree would be valuable to his career even if he never practiced law.[59][60] As a result, he enrolled in the recently created four-yearjointJuris Doctor/Master of Business Administration program coordinated betweenHarvard Law School andHarvard Business School.[61] He readily adapted to the business school's pragmatic, data-drivencase study method of teaching.[60] Living in aBelmont, Massachusetts, house with Ann and their two children, his social experience differed from that of most of his classmates.[50][60] He was nonideological and did not involve himself in the political issues of the day.[50][60] Romney graduated from Harvard in 1975. He was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top 5% of his business school class and received hisJuris Doctor degreecum laude for ranking in the top third of his law school class.[57][61]
LDS Church service
During his business career, Romney held several positions in the church'slocal lay clergy. In the early 1970s, he served in a ward bishopric. He then served for a time as a seminary teacher and then as a member of thestakehigh council of the Boston Stake whileRichard L. Bushman was stake president.[62]
In 1977, he became a counselor to the president of the Boston Stake.[62] He served asbishop of the ward at Belmont, Massachusetts, from 1981 to 1986.[63][64] As such, in addition tohome teaching, he also formulated Sunday services and classes usingLDS scriptures to guide the congregation.[65] After the destruction of the Belmontmeetinghouse by a fire of suspicious origins in 1984, he forged links with other religious institutions, allowing the congregation to rotate its meetings to other houses of worship during the reconstruction of the Belmont building.[64][66]
From 1986 to 1994, Romney waspresident of the Boston Stake, which included more than a dozen wards in eastern Massachusetts and almost 4,000 church members.[67][65][68] He organized a team to handle financial and management issues, sought to counteranti-Mormon sentiment, and tried to solve social problems among poor Southeast Asian converts.[64][66] An unpaid position, his local church leadership often took 30 or more hours a week of his time,[65] and he became known for his considerable energy in the role.[67] He also earned a reputation for avoiding any overnight travel that might interfere with his church responsibilities.[65]
Romney took a hands-on role in the Boston Stake's matters, helping in domestic maintenance efforts, visiting the sick, and counseling burdened church members.[63][64][65] A number of local church members later credited him with turning their lives around or helping them through difficult times.[64][65][66] Others, rankled by his leadership style, desired a more consensus-based approach.[64] Romney tried to balance the conservative directives from church leadership in Utah with the desire of some Massachusetts members to have a more flexible application of religious doctrine.[67] He agreed with some requests from a liberal women's group that publishedExponent II calling for changes in the way the church dealt with women, but he clashed with women he felt were departing too much from doctrine.[67] In particular, he counseled women not to have abortions except in the rare cases allowed by LDS doctrine[nb 8] and encouraged unmarried women facing unplanned pregnancies to give their babies up for adoption.[67] Romney later said that the years spent as an LDS minister gave him direct exposure to people struggling financially and empathy for those with family problems.[69]
Health
Romney was treated forprostate cancer in summer 2017.[70] In 2024, Romney admitted he was worried about being at risk ofAlzheimer's disease due to years of working in high-stress jobs.[71]
After receiving hisJD–MBA from Harvard, Romney passed the Michiganbar exam but decided to pursue a career in business rather than law.[72] He was recruited by several large companies but joined theBoston Consulting Group (BCG), reasoning that working as amanagement consultant for a variety of companies would better prepare him for a future position as a chief executive.[59][73] Part of a 1970s wave of top graduates who chose to go into consulting rather than join a large company directly,[74] he found his legal and business education useful in his job.[59] He applied BCG principles such as thegrowth-share matrix,[75] and executives viewed him as having a bright future there.[59][76] At BCG, he was a colleague ofBenjamin Netanyahu, with whom he formed a friendship that has lasted for more than 50 years.[77]
In 1977, he was hired byBain & Company, a management consulting firm inBoston formed a few years earlier byBill Bain and several other ex-BCG employees.[59][75][78] Bain later said of the 30-year-old Romney, "He had the appearance of confidence of a guy who was maybe ten years older."[79] Unlike other consulting firms, which issued recommendations and then departed, Bain & Company immersed itself in a client's businesses and worked with them until changes were implemented.[59][75] Romney became a vice president of the firm in 1978,[18] working with such clients as theMonsanto Company,Outboard Marine Corporation,Burlington Industries, andCorning Incorporated.[73] Within a few years, the firm considered him one of its best consultants. In fact, clients sometimes preferred to use him rather than more-senior partners.[59][67]
Minor political issues
Two family incidents during this time later surfaced during Romney's political campaigns.[80][81] A state park ranger in 1981 told Romney his motorboat had an insufficiently visible license number and that he would face a $50 fine if he took the boat onto the lake. Disagreeing about the license and wanting to continue a family outing, Romney took it out anyway, saying he would pay the fine. The ranger arrested him fordisorderly conduct. The charges were dropped several days later.[82] In 1983, on a 12-hour family road trip, he placed the family'sdog in a windshield-equipped carrier on the roof of their car, and then washed the car and carrier after the dog suffered a bout of diarrhea.[50] The dog incident in particular later became fodder for Romney's critics and political opponents.[81][83]
In 1984, Romney left Bain & Company to co-found and lead the spin-offprivate equity investment firm Bain Capital.[84] He initially refrained from accepting Bill Bain's offer to head the new venture until Bain rearranged the terms in a complicated partnership structure so that there was no financial or professional risk to Romney.[59][79][85] Bain and Romney raised the $37 million needed to start the new operation, which had seven employees.[73][86] Romney held the titles of president[87] and managing general partner.[88][89] Though he was the sole shareholder of the firm, publications also called him managing director or CEO.[90][91][92]
Initially, Bain Capital focused onventure capital investments. Romney set up a system in which any partner could veto one of these potential opportunities, and he personally saw so many weaknesses that few venture capital investments were approved in the initial two years.[59] The firm's first significant success was a 1986 investment to help startStaples Inc., after founderThomas G. Stemberg convinced Romney of the market size for office supplies and Romney convinced others; Bain Capital eventually reaped a nearly sevenfold return on its investment, and Romney sat on Staples's board of directors for over a decade.[59][86][93]
Romney soon switched Bain Capital's focus from startups to the relatively new business ofleveraged buyouts: buying existing companies with money mostly borrowed from banking institutions using the newly bought companies' assets as collateral, taking steps to improve the companies' value, and then selling those companies when their value peaked, usually within a few years.[59][79] Bain Capital lost money in many of its early leveraged buyouts, but then found deals that made large returns.[59] The firm invested in or acquiredAccuride Corporation,Brookstone,Domino's Pizza,Sealy Corporation,Sports Authority, andArtisan Entertainment, as well as some lesser-known companies in the industrial and medical sectors.[59][79][94] Much of the firm's profit was earned from a relatively small number of deals; Bain Capital's overall success-to-failure ratio was about even.[nb 9]
Romney discovered few investment opportunities himself (and those that he did often failed to make money for the firm).[96] Instead, he focused on analyzing the merits of possible deals that others brought forward and on recruiting investors to participate in them once approved.[96] At Bain Capital, Romney spread profits from deals widely within the firm to keep people motivated, often keeping less than 10% for himself.[97] Data-driven, he often played the role of adevil's advocate during exhaustive analysis of whether to go forward with a deal.[59][93] He wanted to drop a Bain Capitalhedge fund that initially lost money, but other partners disagreed with him and it eventually made billions.[59] He opted out of the Artisan Entertainment deal, not wanting to profit from a studio that producedR-rated films.[59] Romney served on the board of directors of Damon Corporation, a medical testing company later found guilty of defrauding the government; Bain Capital tripled its investment before selling off the company, and the fraud was discovered by the new owners (Romney was never implicated).[59] In some cases, Romney had little involvement with a company once Bain Capital acquired it.[86]
Bain Capital's leveraged buyouts sometimes led to layoffs, either soon after acquisition or later after the firm had concluded its role.[75][85][86] Exactly how many jobs Bain Capital added compared to those lost because of these investments and buyouts is unknown, owing to a lack of records and Bain Capital's penchant for privacy for itself and its investors.[98][99][100] Maximizing the value of acquired companies and the return to Bain's investors, not job creation, was the firm's primary investment goal.[86][101] Bain Capital's acquisition ofAmpad exemplified a deal where it profited handsomely from early payments and management fees, even though the subject company itself later went into bankruptcy.[59][93][101]Dade Behring was another case where Bain Capital received an eightfold return on its investment but the company itself was saddled with debt and laid off over a thousand employees before Bain Capital exited (the company subsequently went into bankruptcy, with more layoffs, before recovering and prospering).[98] Referring to the layoffs that sometimes occurred, Romney said in 2007: "Sometimes the medicine is a little bitter but it is necessary to save the life of the patient. My job was to try and make the enterprise successful, and in my view the best security a family can have is that the business they work for is strong."[85]
In 1990, facing financial collapse, Bain & Company asked Romney to return.[84] Announced as its new CEO in January 1991,[88][89] he drew a symbolicsalary of one dollar[84] (remaining managing general partner of Bain Capital during this time).[88][89] He oversaw an effort to restructure Bain & Company's employee stock-ownership plan and real-estate deals, while rallying the firm's 1,000 employees, imposing a new governing structure that excluded Bain and the other founding partners from control, and increasing fiscal transparency.[59][73][84] He got Bain and other initial owners who had removed excessive amounts of money from the firm to return substantial amounts, and persuaded creditors, including theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation, to accept less than full payment.[102] Within about a year, he led Bain & Company to a return to profitability.[73] He then turned it over to new leadership and returned to Bain Capital in December 1992.[59][103][104]
Romney took a leave of absence from Bain Capital from November 1993 to November 1994 to run for U.S. Senate.[50][105] During that time, Ampad workers went on strike and asked Romney to intervene. Against the advice of Bain Capital lawyers, Romney met the strikers, but told them he had no position of active authority in the matter.[106][107]
By 1999, Bain Capital was on its way to becoming one of the foremost private equity firms in the nation,[85] having increased its number of partners from 5 to 18, with 115 employees and $4 billion under management.[79][86] The firm's average annualinternal rate of return on realized investments was 113%[73][108] and its average yearly return to investors was around 50–80%.[95]
Starting in February 1999, Romney took a paid leave of absence from Bain Capital in order to serve as the president and CEO of the 2002Salt Lake City Olympic Games Organizing Committee.[109][110] Billed in some public statements as keeping a part-time role,[109][111] Romney remained the firm's sole shareholder, managing director, CEO, and president, signing corporate and legal documents, attending to his interests within the firm, and conducting prolonged negotiations for the terms of his departure.[109][112] He did not involve himself in the firm's day-to-day operations or the investment decisions of its new private equity funds.[109][112] He retained his position on several boards of directors during this time and regularly returned to Massachusetts to attend meetings.[113]
In August 2001, Romney announced that he would not return to Bain Capital.[114] His separation from the firm concluded in early 2002;[109] he transferred his ownership to other partners and negotiated an agreement that allowed him to receive a share of the profits as a retired partner in some Bain Capital entities, including buyout and investment funds.[115][97] The private equity business continued to thrive, earning him millions of dollars in annual income.[97]
1994 United States Senate campaign in Massachusetts
For much of his business career, Romney did not take public political stances.[116][117] He had kept abreast of national politics since college,[36] and the circumstances of his father's presidential campaign loss had irked him for decades.[26] He registered as anIndependent[50] and voted in the1992 presidential primaries for theDemocratic former senator from Massachusetts,Paul Tsongas.[116][118]
By 1993, Romney had begun thinking about entering politics, partly on Ann's urging and also to follow in his father's footsteps.[50] He decided to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. senatorTed Kennedy, who was seeking reelection to a sixth term. Political pundits viewed Kennedy as vulnerable that year, in part because of the unpopularity of the Democratic Congress as a whole, and in part because this was Kennedy's first election since theWilliam Kennedy Smith trial in Florida, in which Kennedy's reputation had suffered.[119][120][121] Romney changed his affiliation toRepublican in October 1993 and formally announced his candidacy in February 1994.[50] In addition to his leave fromBain Capital, Romney also stepped down from his church leadership role in 1994.[65]
Radio personality Janet Jeghelian took an early lead in polls among candidates for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat, but Romney proved the most effective fundraiser.[122][123] He won 68% of the vote at the May 1994Massachusetts Republican Party convention; businessmanJohn Lakian finished a distant second, eliminating Jeghelian.[124] Romney defeated Lakian in the September 1994 primary with more than 80% of the vote.[18][125]
In the general election, Kennedy faced the first serious reelection challenge of his career.[119] The younger, telegenic, and well-funded Romney ran as a businessman who said he had created 10,000 jobs and as a Washington outsider with a solid family image and moderate stances on social issues.[119][126] When Kennedy tried to tie Romney's policies to those ofRonald Reagan andGeorge H. W. Bush, Romney responded, "Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to take us back to Reagan-Bush."[127] Romney said, "Ultimately, this is a campaign about change."[128]
Romney's campaign was effective in portraying Kennedy as soft on crime but had trouble establishing its own consistent positions.[129] By mid-September 1994, polls showed the race about even.[119][130][131] Kennedy responded with a series of ads that focused on Romney's seemingly shifting political views on issues such as abortion;[132] Romney responded, "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country."[133] Other Kennedy ads centered on layoffs of workers at the Ampad plant owned by Bain Capital.[119][134] The latter was effective in blunting Romney's momentum.[93] Kennedy and Romney held a widely watched late October debate that had no clear winner, but by then, Kennedy had pulled ahead in polls and remained so.[135] Romney spent $3 million of his own money on the race and more than $7 million overall.[136][nb 10] Despite adisastrous showing for Democrats nationwide, Kennedy won the election with 58% of the vote to Romney's 41%,[59] the smallest margin in any of Kennedy's reelection campaigns for the Senate.[138]
The day after the election, Romney returned to Bain Capital, but the loss had a lasting effect; he told his brother, "I never want to run for something again unless I can win."[50][139]
After election
When his father died in 1995, Mitt donated his inheritance to BYU'sGeorge W. Romney Institute of Public Management.[58] He also became vice-chair of the board of thePoints of Light Foundation,[114] which had embraced his father'sNational Volunteer Center. Romney felt restless as the decade neared a close; making more money held little attraction for him.[50][139] Although no longer in a local leadership position in his church, he still taughtSunday School.[63] During the long and controversial approval and construction process for the $30-millionMormon temple in Belmont, he feared that, as a political figure who had opposed Kennedy, he would become a focal point for opposition to the structure.[64] He thus kept to a limited, behind-the-scenes role in attempts to ease tensions between the church and local residents.[63][64][66]
Romney withOrrin Hatch at a press conference on Olympic security in October 2001
In 1998, Ann Romney learned that she hadmultiple sclerosis; Mitt described watching her fail a series of neurological tests as the worst day of his life.[50] After experiencing two years of severe difficulties with the disease, she found – while living inPark City, Utah, where the couple had built a vacation home – a combination of mainstream, alternative, and equestrian therapies that enabled her to lead a lifestyle mostly without limitations.[140] When her husband received a job offer to take over the troubled organization responsible for the2002 Winter Olympics andParalympics, to be held inSalt Lake City in Utah, she urged him to accept it; eager for a new challenge, as well as another chance to prove himself in public life, he did.[139][141][142] On February 11, 1999, theSalt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002 hired Romney as its president and CEO.[143]
Before Romney took over, the event was $379 million short of its revenue goals.[143] Officials had made plans to scale back the Games to compensate for the fiscal crisis, and there were fears it might be moved away entirely.[144] In addition, the Games' image had been damaged byallegations of bribery against top officials including prior committee president and CEO Frank Joklik. The Salt Lake Organizing Committee forced Joklik and committee vice president Dave Johnson to resign.[145] Utah power brokers, including GovernorMike Leavitt, searched for someone with a scandal-free reputation to take charge of the Olympics. They chose Romney based on his business and legal expertise as well as his connections to both the LDS Church and the state.[142][146] The appointment faced some initial criticism from both non-Mormons and Mormons that it represented cronyism and made the Games seem too Mormon-dominated.[42] Romney donated to charity the $1.4 million in salary and severance payments he received for his three years as president and CEO, and also donated $1 million to the Olympics.[147]
Romney restructured the organization's leadership and policies. He reduced budgets and boosted fundraising, alleviating corporate sponsors' concerns while recruiting new ones.[139][142] Romney worked to ensure the Games's safety after theSeptember 11 attacks by coordinating a $300 million security budget.[141] He oversaw a $1.32 billion budget, 700 employees, and 26,000 volunteers.[143] The federal government provided approximately $400 million[142][148][149] to $600 million[150][151] of that budget, much of it a result of Romney's having aggressively lobbied Congress and federal agencies.[151][152] It was a record level of federal funding for the staging of a U.S. Olympics.[149][152] An additional $1.1 billion of indirect federal funding came to the state in the form of highway and transit projects.[153]
Romney emerged as the local public face of the Olympic effort, appearing in photographs, in news stories, oncollectible Olympics pins depicting him wrapped by an American flag, and on buttons carrying phrases like "Hey, Mitt, we love you!"[139][142][154] Organizing committee chairRobert H. Garff later said, "It was obvious that he had an agenda larger than just the Olympics",[139] and that Romney wanted to use the Olympics to propel himself into the national spotlight and a political career.[142][155] Garff believed the initial budget situation was not as bad as Romney portrayed, given there were still three years to reorganize.[142] Utah SenatorBob Bennett said that much of the needed federal money was already in place.[142] ABoston Globe analysis later found that the committee had nearly $1 billion in committed revenues at that time.[142] Olympics critic Steve Pace, who led Utahns for Responsible Public Spending, thought Romney exaggerated the initial fiscal state to lay the groundwork for a well-publicized rescue.[155] Kenneth Bullock, another board member of the organizing committee and also head of theUtah League of Cities and Towns, often clashed with Romney at the time, and later said that Romney deserved some credit for the turnaround but not as much as he claimed.[139] Bullock said: "He tried very hard to build an image of himself as a savior, the great white hope. He was very good at characterizing and castigating people and putting himself on a pedestal."[142]
Despite the initial fiscal shortfall, the Games ended up with a surplus of $100 million.[156] PresidentGeorge W. Bush praised Romney's efforts and 87% of Utahns approved of his performance as Olympics head.[27][157] It solidified his reputation as a "turnaround artist",[142][158][159] and Harvard Business School taught a case study based around his actions.[75]U.S. Olympic Committee head William Hybl credited Romney with an extraordinary effort in overcoming a difficult time for the Olympics, culminating in "the greatest Winter Games I have ever seen".[142] Romney wrote a book about his experience,Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games, published in 2004. The role gave him experience in dealing with federal, state, and local entities, a public persona he had previously lacked, and the chance to relaunch his political aspirations.[139]
In 2002, plagued by political missteps and personal scandals, the administration of Republicanacting governor of MassachusettsJane Swift appeared vulnerable, and many Republicans viewed her as unable to win a general election.[157][160] Prominent party figures – as well as the White House – wanted Romney to run for governor[161][162] and the opportunity appealed to him for reasons including its national visibility.[163] ABoston Herald poll showed Republicans favoring Romney over Swift by more than 50 percentage points.[164] On March 19, 2002, Swift announced she would not seek her party's nomination, and hours later Romney declared his candidacy,[164] for which he would face no opposition in the primary.[165] In June 2002, theMassachusetts Democratic Party challenged Romney's eligibility to run for governor, noting that state law required seven years' consecutive residence and that Romney had filed his state tax returns as a Utah resident in 1999 and 2000.[166][167] In response, the bipartisan Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission unanimously ruled that he had maintained sufficient financial and personal ties to Massachusetts to be an eligible candidate.[168]
Romney again ran as a political outsider.[157] He played down his party affiliation,[169] saying he was "not a partisan Republican" but rather a "moderate" with "progressive" views.[170] He said he would observe a moratorium on changes to the state's laws on abortion, but reiterated that he would "preserve and protect a woman's right to choose" and that his position was "unequivocal".[133][171] He touted his private sector experience as qualifying him for addressing the state's fiscal problems[165] and stressed his ability to obtain federal funds for the state, offering his Olympics record as evidence.[149][152] He proposed to reorganize the state government while eliminating waste, fraud, and mismanagement.[169][172] The campaign innovatively utilizedmicrotargeting techniques, identifying like-minded groups of voters and reaching them with narrowly tailored messaging.[173]
In an attempt to overcome the image that had damaged him in the 1994 Senate race – that of a wealthy corporate buyout specialist out of touch with the needs of regular people – the campaign staged a series of "work days", in which Romney performed blue-collar jobs such as herding cows and baling hay, unloading a fishing boat, and hauling garbage.[172][174][175] Television ads highlighting the effort, as well as one portraying his family in gushing terms and showing him shirtless,[174] received a poor public response and were a factor in his Democratic opponent,Massachusetts State TreasurerShannon O'Brien, leading in the polls as late as mid-October.[172][175] He responded with ads that accused O'Brien of being a failed watchdog for state pension fund losses in the stock market and that associated her husband, a former lobbyist, with theEnron scandal.[169][175] These were effective in capturing independent voters.[175] O'Brien said that Romney's budget plans were unrealistic; the two also differed on capital punishment and bilingual education, with Romney supporting the former and opposing the latter.[176]
During the election, Romney contributed more than $6 million – a state record at the time – to the nearly $10 million raised for his campaign.[177][178] On November 5, 2002, he won the election with 50% of the vote to O'Brien's 45%.[179]
Romney announcing a Save America's Treasures Historic Preservation grant for the Old North Church in Boston, 2003
Romney was sworn in as the 70th governor of Massachusetts on January 2, 2003.[180] He faced aMassachusetts state legislature with large Democratic majorities in both houses, and had picked his cabinet and advisors based more on managerial abilities than partisan affiliation.[181][182] He declined a governor's salary of $135,000 during his term.[183] Upon entering office in the middle of afiscal year, he faced an immediate $650 million shortfall and a projected $3 billion deficit for the next year.[169] Unexpected revenue of $1.0–1.3 billion from a previously enactedcapital gains tax increase and $500 million in new federal grants decreased the deficit to $1.2–1.5 billion.[184][185] Through a combination of spending cuts, increased fees, and removal of corporate tax loopholes,[184] the state achieved surpluses of around $600–700 million during Romney's last two full fiscal years in office, although it began running deficits again after that.[nb 11]
Romney supported raising various fees, including those for drivers' licenses and gun licenses, to raise more than $300 million.[169][184] He increased a special gasoline retailer fee by $0.02 per US gallon ($0.0053/L), generating about $60 million per year in additional revenue.[169][184] Opponents said the reliance on fees sometimes imposed a hardship on those who could least afford them.[184] Romney also closed tax loopholes that brought in another $181 million from businesses over the next two years and over $300 million for his term.[169][190][191] He did so in the face of conservative and corporate critics who viewed these actions as tax increases.[190][191]
The state legislature, with the governor's support, cut spending by $1.6 billion, including $700 million in reductions in state aid to cities and towns.[192] The cuts also included a $140 million reduction in state funding for higher education, which led state-run colleges and universities to increase fees by 63% over four years.[169][184] Romney sought additional cuts in his last year as governor by vetoing nearly 250 items in the state budget; the legislature overrode all the vetoes.[193]
The cuts in state spending put added pressure on localities to reduce services or raise property taxes, and the share of town and city revenues coming from property taxes rose from 49% to 53%.[169][184] The combined state and local tax burden in Massachusetts increased during Romney's governorship.[169] He did propose a reduction in the state income tax rate, but the legislature rejected it.[194]
Romney sought to bring near-universal health insurance coverage to the state. This came afterStaples founderTom Stemberg told him at the start of his term that doing so would be the best way he could help people.[195] Another factor was that the federal government, owing to the rules ofMedicaid funding, threatened to cut $385 million in those payments to Massachusetts if the state did not reduce the number of uninsured recipients of health care services.[171][196] Although the idea of universal health insurance had not come to the fore during the campaign, Romney decided that because people without insurance still received expensive health care, the money spent by the state for such care could be better used to subsidize insurance for the poor.[195]
Determined that a new Massachusetts health insurance measure not raise taxes or resemble the previous decade's failed"Hillarycare" proposal at the federal level, Romney formed a team of consultants from diverse political backgrounds to apply those principles. Beginning in late 2004, they devised a set of proposals that were more ambitious than an incremental one from theMassachusetts Senate and more acceptable to him than one from theMassachusetts House of Representatives that incorporated a new payroll tax.[171][182][196] In particular, Romney pushed for incorporating anindividual mandate at the state level.[24] Past rival Ted Kennedy, who had made universal health coverage his life's work and who, over time, had developed a warm relationship with Romney,[197] gave the plan a positive reception, which encouraged Democratic legislators to cooperate.[171][196] The effort eventually gained the support of all major stakeholders within the state, and Romney helped break a logjam between rival Democratic leaders in the legislature.[171][196]
On April 12, 2006, Romney signed the resultingMassachusetts health reform law, commonly called "Romneycare", which requires nearly all Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance coverage or face escalating tax penalties, such as the loss of their personal income tax exemption.[198] The bill also establishedmeans-tested state subsidies for people who lacked adequate employer insurance and whose income was below a threshold, using funds that had covered the health costs of the uninsured.[199][200] He vetoed eight sections of the health care legislation, including a controversial $295-per-employee assessment on businesses that do not offer health insurance and provisions guaranteeing dental benefits to Medicaid recipients.[198][201] The legislature overrode all eight vetoes, but the governor's office said the differences were not essential.[201] The law was the first of its kind in the nation and became the signature achievement of Romney's term in office.[171][nb 12]
Romney's official gubernatorial portrait, 2005
At the beginning of his governorship, Romney opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions but advocated tolerance and supported some domestic partnership benefits.[171][203][204] A November 2003Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision,Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, required the state to recognize same-sex marriages.[205] Romney reluctantly backed a state constitutional amendment in February 2004 that would have banned those marriages but still allowed civil unions, viewing it as the only feasible way to comply with the court's ruling.[205] In May 2004 and per the court decision, he instructed town clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But citing a1913 law that barred out-of-state residents from getting married in Massachusetts if their union would be illegal in their home state, he said no marriage licenses were to be issued to people not planning to move to Massachusetts.[203][206] In June 2005, Romney abandoned his support for the compromise amendment, stating that it confused voters who opposed both same-sex marriage and civil unions.[203] Instead, he endorsed a ballot initiative led by the Coalition for Marriage and Family (an alliance of socially conservative organizations) that would have banned same-sex marriage and made no provisions for civil unions.[203] In 2004 and 2006, he urged the U.S. Senate to vote for theFederal Marriage Amendment.[207][208]
In 2005, Romney revealed a change of view regarding abortion, moving from theabortion rights positions expressed during his 1994 and 2002 campaigns to ananti-abortion one in opposition toRoe v. Wade.[171] He attributed his conversion to an interaction with Harvard University biologistDouglas Melton, an expert onembryonic stem cell biology, although Melton vehemently disputed Romney's recollection of their conversation.[209] Romney subsequently vetoed a bill on pro-life grounds that expanded access toemergency contraception in hospitals and pharmacies; the legislature overrode the veto.[210] He also amended his position on embryonic stem cell research.[nb 13]
Romney used abully pulpit approach towards promoting his agenda, staging well-organizedmedia events to appeal directly to the public rather than pushing his proposals in behind-doors sessions with the state legislature.[171] He dealt with a public crisis of confidence in Boston'sBig Dig project after afatal ceiling collapse in 2006 by wresting control of the project from theMassachusetts Turnpike Authority.[171] After two years of negotiating the state's participation in the landmarkRegional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that instituted acap-and-trade arrangement for power plant emissions in the Northeast, Romney pulled Massachusetts out of the initiative shortly before its signing in December 2005, citing a lack of cost limits for industry.[211]
In 2004, Romney spent considerable effort trying to bolster the state Republican Party, but it failed to gain any seats in the legislative elections that year.[169][212] Given a prime-time appearance at the2004 Republican National Convention, he began to be discussed as a potential 2008 presidential candidate.[213] Midway through his term, Romney decided that he wanted to stage a full-time run for president,[214] and on December 14, 2005, he announced that he would not seek reelection as governor.[215] As chair of theRepublican Governors Association, Romney traveled around the country, meeting prominent Republicans and building a national political network;[214] he spent more than 200 days out of state in 2006, preparing for his run.[216]
Romney had a 61 percent job approval rating after his initial fiscal actions in 2003, but it subsequently declined,[217] driven in part by his frequent out-of-state travel.[217][218] It stood at 34 percent in November 2006, ranking 48th of the 50 U.S. governors.[219] In the2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Democratic nomineeDeval Patrick beat Romney's lieutenant governor,Kerry Healey, by 20 points, with the win partially due to dissatisfaction with Romney's administration and the weak condition of the state Republican party.[218][220]
Romney filed to register a presidential campaign committee with theFederal Election Commission on his penultimate day in office as governor. His term ended on January 4, 2007.[221]
Romney formally announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination for president on February 13, 2007, inDearborn, Michigan.[222] Again casting himself as a political outsider,[223] his speech frequently invoked his father and his family, and stressed experiences in the private, public, and voluntary sectors that had brought him to this point.[222][224]
Holding an "Ask Mitt Anything" session inAmes,Iowa, in May 2007
The campaign emphasized Romney's highly profitable career in the business world and his stewardship of the 2002 Olympics.[214][225][nb 14] He also had political experience as a governor, together with a political pedigree courtesy of his father (as well as many biographical parallels with him).[nb 15] Ann Romney, who had become an advocate for those with multiple sclerosis,[231] was in remission and was an active participant in his campaign,[232] helping to soften his political personality.[233] Media stories called the 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) Romney handsome;[234][235][236][237] a number of commentators noted that with his square jaw and ample hair graying at the temples, he matched a common image of what a president should look like.[84][238][239][240]
Romney's liabilities included having run for senator and serving as governor in one of the nation's most liberal states and having taken positions in opposition to the party's conservative base during that time.[214][225][232] Late during his term as governor, he had shifted positions and emphases to better align withtraditional conservatives on social issues.[214][225][232] Skeptics, including some Republicans, charged Romney with opportunism and a lack of core principles.[118][171][241] As a Mormon, he faced suspicion and skepticism by some in theEvangelical wing of the party.[241]
For his campaign, Romney assembled a veteran group of Republican staffers, consultants, and pollsters.[225][242] But he was little-known nationally, and hovered around 10% support inRepublican preference polls for the first half of 2007.[214] He proved the most effective fundraiser of any of the Republican candidates and also partly financed his campaign with his own personal fortune.[225][243] These resources, combined with the mid-year near-collapse of nominal front-runnerJohn McCain's campaign, made Romney a threat to win the nomination and the focus of the other candidates' attacks.[244] Romney's staff suffered from internal strife; Romney himself was at times indecisive, often asking for more data before making a decision.[225][245]
During all his political campaigns, Romney has avoided speaking publicly about Mormon doctrines, referring tothe U.S. Constitution's prohibition of religious tests for public office.[246] But persistent questions about the role of religion in his life, as well asSouthern Baptist minister and formerGovernor of ArkansasMike Huckabee's rise in the polls based on an explicitly Christian-themed campaign, led to Romney's December 6, 2007,"Faith in America" speech.[247] In it, Romney declared, "I believe in my Mormon faith and endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers. I will be true to them and to my beliefs."[15] He added that he should be neither elected nor rejected because of his religion,[248] and echoed SenatorJohn F. Kennedy's famous speech duringhis 1960 presidential campaign in saying, "I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law."[247] Instead of discussing the specific tenets of his faith, he said he would be informed by it, saying: "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone."[247][248] Academics later studied the role religion played in the campaign.[nb 16]
Romney and supporters campaigning inNew Hampshire, September 2007
The campaign's strategy called for winning the initial two contests – the January 3, 2008,Iowa Republican caucuses and the January 8New Hampshire primary – to propel Romney nationally.[251] But he took second place in both, losing Iowa to Huckabee, who received more than twice the evangelical Christian votes,[252][253] and New Hampshire to the resurgent McCain.[252] Huckabee and McCain criticized Romney's image as aflip-flopper[252] and this label stuck to Romney through the campaign[225] (one that Romney rejected as unfair and inaccurate, except for his acknowledged change of mind on abortion).[233][254] Romney seemed to approach the campaign as a management consulting exercise, and showed a lack of personal warmth and political feel; journalistEvan Thomas wrote that Romney "came off as a phony, even when he was perfectly sincere".[233][255] The fervor with which Romney adopted his new stances and attitudes contributed to the perception of inauthenticity that hampered the campaign.[75][256] His staff concluded that competing as a candidate of social conservatism and ideological purity rather than of pragmatic competence had been a mistake.[233]
McCain's winin South Carolina and Romney'sin his childhood home Michigan set up a pivotal battle in the January 29Florida primary.[257][258] Romney campaigned intensively on economic issues and the burgeoningsubprime mortgage crisis, while McCain attacked Romney on Iraq policy and benefited from endorsements from Florida officeholders.[257][258] McCain won by five points.[257][258] Although many Republican officials were now lining up behind McCain,[258] Romney persisted through the nationwideSuper Tuesday contests on February 5. There he won primaries or caucuses in several states, but McCain won in more and in larger-population ones.[259] Trailing McCain in delegates by a more than two-to-one margin, Romney announced the end of his campaign on February 7.[259]
Altogether, Romney had won 11 primaries and caucuses,[260] receiving about 4.7 million votes[261] and garnering about 280 delegates.[262] He spent $110 million during the campaign, including $45 million of his own money.[263]
Romney endorsed McCain for president a week later,[262] and McCain had Romney on ashort list for running mate, where his business experience would have balanced one of McCain's weaknesses.[264] Behind in the polls, McCain opted instead for a high-risk, high-reward "game changer",Alaska GovernorSarah Palin.[265] McCain lost the election to Democratic senatorBarack Obama.
Activity between presidential campaigns
Romney supported the Bush administration'sTroubled Asset Relief Program in response to the2008 financial crisis, later saying that it prevented the U.S. financial system from collapsing.[266][267] During theU.S. automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010, he opposed a bailout of the industry in the form of direct government intervention, and argued that a managed bankruptcy of struggling automobile companies should instead be accompanied byfederal guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing from the private sector.[268]
After the 2008 election, Romney laid the groundwork for a2012 presidential campaign by using his Free and Strong Americapolitical action committee (PAC) to raise money for other Republican candidates and pay his existing political staff's salaries and consulting fees.[269][270] A network of former staff and supporters around the nation were eager for him to run again.[271] He continued to give speeches and raise funds for Republicans,[272] but fearing overexposure, turned down many potential media appearances.[254] He also spoke before business, educational, and motivational groups.[273] From 2009 to 2011, he served on the board of directors ofMarriott International, founded by his namesake J. Willard Marriott.[274] He had previously served on it from 1993 to 2002.[274][nb 17]
In 2009, the Romneys sold their primary residence in Belmont and their ski chalet in Utah, leaving them an estate alongLake Winnipesaukee inWolfeboro, New Hampshire, and an oceanfront home in theLa Jolla district ofSan Diego, California, which they had bought the year before.[254][277][278] The La Jolla home proved beneficial in location and climate for Ann Romney's multiple sclerosis therapies and for recovering from her late 2008 diagnosis ofmammary ductal carcinomain situ and subsequent lumpectomy.[277][279][280] Both it and the New Hampshire estate were near some of their grandchildren.[277] Romney maintained his voting registration in Massachusetts, however, and bought a smaller condominium in Belmont during 2010.[279][281] In February 2010, Romney had a minor altercation withLMFAO memberSkyler Gordy, known as Sky Blu, on an airplane flight.[nb 18]
Immediately after the March 2010 passage of thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Romney attacked the landmark legislation as "an unconscionable abuse of power" and said it should be repealed.[290] The antipathy Republicans felt for it created a potential problem for Romney, since the new federal law was in many ways similar to the Massachusetts health care reform passed during his gubernatorial tenure; as oneAssociated Press article stated, "Obamacare ... looks a lot like Romneycare."[290] While acknowledging that his plan was an imperfect work in progress, Romney did not back away from it. He defended the state-level health insurance mandate that underpinned it, calling the bill the right answer to Massachusetts's problems at the time.[290][291][292]
Innationwide opinion polling for the 2012 Republican presidential primaries, Romney led or placed in the top three with Palin and Huckabee. A January 2010National Journal survey of political insiders found that a majority of Republican insiders and a plurality of Democratic insiders predicted Romney would be the party's 2012 nominee.[293] Romney campaigned heavily for Republican candidates in the2010 midterm elections,[294] raising more money than the other prospective 2012 Republican presidential candidates.[295] Beginning in early 2011, he presented a more relaxed image, including more casual attire.[256][296]
On April 11, 2011, Romney announced, in a video taped outdoors at theUniversity of New Hampshire, that he had formed anexploratory committee for a run for the Republican presidential nomination.[297][298]Quinnipiac University political science professor Scott McLean said, "We all knew that he was going to run. He's really been running for president ever since the day after the 2008 election."[298]
Romney stood to benefit from the Republican electorate's tendency to nominate candidates who had previously run for president, and thus appeared to be next in line to be chosen.[271][299][300] The early stages of the race found him as the apparent front-runner in a weak field, especially in terms of fundraising prowess and organization.[301][302][303] Perhaps his greatest hurdle in gaining the Republican nomination was party opposition to theMassachusetts health care reform law that he had shepherded five years earlier.[296][298][300] As many potential Republican candidates with star power and fundraising ability decided not to run (includingMike Pence,John Thune,Haley Barbour,Mike Huckabee, andMitch Daniels), Republican party figures searched for plausible alternatives to Romney.[301][303]
On June 2, 2011, Romney formally announced the start of his campaign. Speaking on a farm inStratham, New Hampshire, he focused on the economy and criticized Obama's handling of it.[304] He said, "In the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense, and I intend to make it – because I have lived it."[300]
Romney raised $56 million in 2011, more than double the amount raised by any of his Republican opponents,[305] and refrained from spending his own money on the campaign.[306] He initially pursued a low-key, low-profile strategy.[307]Michele Bachmann staged a brief surge in polls, which preceded a poll surge in September 2011 byRick Perry, who had entered the race the month before.[308] Perry and Romney exchanged sharp criticisms of each other during a series of debates among the Republican candidates.[309] The October 2011 decisions of Palin andChris Christie not to run effectively settled the field of candidates.[310][311] Perry faded after poor performances in those debates, whileHerman Cain's "long-shot" bid gained popularity until allegations of sexual misconduct derailed it.[312][313]
Romney campaign event in Toledo, Ohio
Romney continued to seek support from a wary Republican electorate; at this point in the race, his poll numbers were relatively flat and at a historically low level for a Republican front-runner.[310][314][315] After the charges offlip-flopping that marked his 2008 campaign began to accumulate again, Romney said in November 2011: "I've been as consistent as human beings can be."[316][317][318] In the month before voting began,Newt Gingrich experienced a significant surge – taking a solid lead in national polls and most of the early caucus and primary states[319] – before settling back into parity or worse with Romney following a barrage of negative ads fromRestore Our Future, a pro-RomneySuper PAC.[320]
In the initial contest, theIowa caucuses of January 3, election officials announced Romney as ahead with 25% of the vote, edging out a late-gainingRick Santorum by eight votes (Ron Paul finished third).[321] Sixteen days later, however, they certified Santorum as the winner by 34 votes.[322] A week after the Iowa caucuses, Romney earned a decisive win inthe New Hampshire primary with 39% of the vote; Paul finished second andJon Huntsman Jr. third.[323]
In the run-up to theSouth Carolina Republican primary, Gingrich launched ads criticizing Romney for causing job losses while at Bain Capital, Perry referred to Romney's role there as "vulture capitalism", and Palin pressed Romney to prove his claim that he created 100,000 jobs during that time.[324][325] Romney also faced accusations ofasset stripping.[326][327][328] Many conservatives rallied in defense of Romney, rejecting what they took to be criticism of free-market capitalism.[324] During two debates in the state, Romney fumbled questions about releasing his income tax returns, while Gingrich gained support with audience-rousing attacks on the debate moderators.[329][330] Romney's double-digit lead in state polls evaporated; he lost the January 21 primary to Gingrich by 13 points.[329] Combined with the delayed loss in Iowa, Romney's poor week represented a lost chance to end the race early, and he quickly decided to release two years of his tax returns.[329][331] The race turned to theFlorida primary, where in debates, appearances, and advertisements, Romney launched a sustained barrage against Gingrich's record, associations and electability.[332][333] Romney enjoyed a large spending advantage from both his campaign and his aligned Super PAC, and after a record-breaking rate of negative ads from both sides, Romney won Florida on January 31, with 46% of the vote to Gingrich's 32%.[334]
With running matePaul Ryan inNorfolk, Virginia, during the vice presidential selection announcement on August 11, 2012
Several caucuses and primaries took place during February, and Santorum won three in a single night early in the month, propelling him into the lead in national and some state polls and positioning him as Romney's chief rival.[335] Days later, Romney told theConservative Political Action Conference that he had been a "severely conservative governor"[336] (while in 2005 he had maintained that his positions were moderate and characterized reports that he was shifting to the right to attract conservative votes as a media distortion[337]). He sought Donald Trump's endorsement, and received it in February 2012, with a speech by Trump and Romney in which Romney joked that he had spent his "life in theprivate sector, not quite as successful as this guy [Trump] but successful nonetheless".[338] Romney won the other five February contests, including aclosely fought one in Michigan at the end of the month.[339][340] In theSuper Tuesday primaries and caucuses of March 6, Romney won six of ten contests, including anarrow victory in Ohio over a vastly outspent Santorum. Although his victories were not enough to end the race, they were enough to establish a two-to-one delegate lead over Santorum.[341] Romney maintained his delegate margin through subsequent contests,[342] and Santorum suspended his campaign on April 10.[343] Following a sweep of five more contests on April 24, theRepublican National Committee put its resources to work for Romney as the party'spresumptive nominee.[344]
General election
Polls consistently indicated a tight race for the November general election.[345] Negative ads from both sides dominated the campaign, with Obama's proclaiming that Romney shipped jobs overseas while at Bain Capital and kept money in offshore tax havens andSwiss bank accounts.[346] A related issue dealt with Romney's purported responsibility for actions at Bain Capital after taking the Olympics post.[110][112] Romney faced demands from Democrats torelease additional years of his tax returns, an action a number of Republicans also felt would be wise; after being adamant that he would not do that, he released summaries of them in late September.[347][348] During May and June, the Obama campaign spent heavily and was able to paint a negative image of Romney in voters' minds before the Romney campaign could construct a positive one.[349]
In July 2012, Romney visited theUnited Kingdom,Israel, andPoland, meeting leaders in an effort to raise his credibility as a world statesman.[350] Comments he made about the readiness of the2012 Summer Olympics were perceived as undiplomatic by the British press.[351][352] Israeli Prime Minister (and former BCG colleague)Benjamin Netanyahu embraced Romney, though some Palestinians criticized him for suggesting that Israel's culture led to their greater economic success.[353]
On August 11, 2012, the Romney campaign announced RepresentativePaul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate.[354] On August 28, 2012, the2012 Republican National Convention inTampa, Florida, officially nominated Romney for president.[355] Romney became the first LDS Church member to be a major-party presidential nominee.[356]
In mid-September, a video surfaced of Romney speaking before a group of supporters in which he said that 47% of the nation pays no income tax, are dependent on the federal government, see themselves as victims, and will support Obama unconditionally. He went on to say, "And so my job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."[357][358][359] After facing criticism about the tone and accuracy of these comments, he at first characterized them as "inelegantly stated", then a couple of weeks later commented: "I said something that's just completely wrong."[360] Exit polls published following the election showed that voters never saw Romney as someone who cared about people like them.[349]
In an interview onCNN withWolf Blitzer, Romney called Russia "our number one geopolitical foe".[361][362] At the time an innocuous response to a foreign policy question, it became a focal point for Democratic attacks on Romney during the campaign.[363][364][365] Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, called Romney's position "dated" and said Russia had been an ally in solving problems,[366] while Joe Biden, then vice president, accused Romney of having a "Cold War mentality" and being "uninformed" on foreign policy.[367][368] John Kerry, then a senator, called Romney's comments "breathtakingly off target"[369] and reiterated that position at the Democratic National Convention, saying, "He's even blurted out the preposterous notion that Russia is our number one political geopolitical foe."[370] Romney defended his remarks, saying, "The nation which consistently opposes our actions at the United Nations has been Russia... Russia is a geopolitical foe in that regard",[371] and continued to defend his position in the presidential debates.[372]
Electoral College results
The first of three2012 presidential election debates took place on October 3, in Denver. Media figures and political analysts widely viewed Romney as having delivered a stronger and more focused presentation than Obama.[360][373] That debate overshadowed Obama's improved presentation in the next two debates later in October, and Romney maintained a small advantage in the debates when seen as a whole.[374]
The election took place on November 6, and Obama was projected the winner at about 11:14 pmEastern Standard Time.[375] He won 332 electoral votes to Romney's 206. Romney lost all but one of ninebattleground states and received 47% of the popular vote to Obama's 51%.[376][377] Media accounts described Romney as "shellshocked" by the result.[378] He and his senior campaign staff had disbelieved public polls showing Obama narrowly ahead and had thought they were going to win until the vote tallies began to be reported on election night.[378] But Romney'sget out the vote operation had been inferior to Obama's, both in person-to-person organization and in voter modeling and outreach technology[379] (the latter exemplified by the failure of theProject Orca application).[349] In his concession speech to his supporters, he said, "Like so many of you, Paul and I have left everything on the field. We have given our all to this campaign. I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead this country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader."[380] Reflecting on his defeat during a conference call to hundreds of fundraisers and donors a week after the election, Romney attributed the outcome to Obama's having secured the votes of specific interest groups, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, young people, and women, by offering them what Romney called "extraordinary financial gifts".[381][382][383] The remark drew heavy criticism from prominent members of the Republican party.[384][385]
During the first year after his defeat, Romney generally kept a low profile,[386] with his ordinary daily activities aroundSan Diego captured via social media glimpses.[387] In December 2012, he joined the board of Marriott International for a third stint as a director.[388] In March 2013, Romney gave a reflective interview onFox News Sunday, saying, "It kills me not to be there, not to be in the White House doing what needs to be done." He again expressed regret at the "47 percent" remark, saying "There's no question that hurt and did real damage to my campaign."[389][390] (He echoed both those sentiments a year later.[391]) Romney began working as executive partner group chairman for Solamere Capital, a private capital firm in Boston owned by his son Tagg.[392] He was also involved in supporting several charitable causes.[392]
The Romneys bought a home in theDeer Valley area ofPark City, Utah,[393][394] and a property inHolladay, Utah,[395][396] where they planned to tear down an existing house and build a new one.[392] They also gained long-sought permission to replace their La Jolla home with a much bigger one, including a car elevator that had brought some derision during the 2012 campaign.[392][397] Romney and his siblings continued to own a cottage in agated community calledBeach O' Pines south ofGrand Bend, Ontario, which has been in the family for more than 60 years.[398] With the new acquisitions the couple briefly had five homes, near each of their five sons and their families, and the couple continued to spend considerable time with their grandchildren, who by 2013 numbered 22.[392][397] They then sold the condominium in Belmont and decided to make their main residence in Utah,[391] switching their voter registration.[394] The 2014 documentary filmMitt showed a behind-the-scenes, family-based perspective on both of Romney's presidential campaigns and received positive reviews for humanizing Romney and illustrating the toll campaigning takes.[391][399][400]
Romney thought he might be branded a "loser for life" and fade into an obscurity like his fellow former Massachusetts governorMichael Dukakis[391] (a similar figure with no obvious base of political support who had lost what his party considered a winnable presidential election)[401] but, to the surprise of many political observers, that did not happen.[402] Romney reemerged onto the political scene in the run-up to the2014 U.S. midterm elections, endorsing, campaigning, and fundraising for a number of Republican candidates, especiallythose running for the U.S. Senate.[403][404]
By early 2014, the lack of a clear mainstream Republican candidate for the2016 presidential election led some supporters, donors, and pollsters to suggest that Romney stage a third run.[400] Regarding such a possibility, Romney at first refused.[400] Nevertheless, speculation continued: Obama's declining popularity led to remorse among some voters; the2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine made Romney's "number one geopolitical foe" remark look prescient; and an August 2014 poll of Iowa Republicans showed Romney with a large lead there over other potential 2016 candidates.[406] A July 2014 CNN poll showed Romney with a 53% to 44% lead over Obama in a hypothetical election "redo".[407][408]
By early 2015, Romney was considering the idea and contacting his network of supporters.[409][410] In doing so he was positioning himself in theinvisible primary – the preliminary jockeying for the backing of party leaders, donors, and political operatives – against former Florida governorJeb Bush, who had already set a likely campaign in motion and would be a rival to Romney for establishment Republican support.[410][411] Despite support in some quarters for a third bid for the presidency, there was a backlash from conservatives who wanted a fresher face without a history of presidential losses,[412] and many of Romney's past donors were not willing to commit to him again.[413] On January 30, 2015, Romney announced that he would not run for president in 2016, saying that while he thought he could win the nomination, "one of our next generation of Republican leaders" would be better positioned to win the general election.[414][415]
Relationship with Donald Trump
As the presidential election went into primary season, Romney had not endorsed anyone but was one of the Republican establishment figures who were becoming increasingly concerned about the front-runner status of New York businessmanDonald Trump.[416] Romney publicly criticized Trump for not releasing his taxes, saying there might be a "bombshell" in them.[417] Trump responded by calling Romney "one of the dumbest and worst candidates in the history of Republican politics".[416] In aMarch 3, 2016 speech at theHinckley Institute of Politics, Romney made a scathing attack on Trump's personal behavior, business performance, and domestic and foreign policy stances. He called him a "con man" who relied onhis father's loans[418] and "a phony, a fraud", adding: "He's playing members of the American public for suckers. If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished".[419][420] In response, Trump called Romney a "choke artist".[420] Romney's speech represented an unprecedented attack by a major U.S. party's most recent presidential nominee against the party's current front-runner for the nomination.[420][421][422]
Romney withPresidentDonald Trump during a White House listening session on the youth vaping and electronic cigarette epidemic in 2019
Romney encouraged Republicans to engage intactical voting, by supporting whichever of the remaining rivals had the best chance to beat Trump in any given state.[423] As such, Romney announced he was voting for, although not endorsing,Ted Cruz for president in theMarch 22 Utah caucus.[424] As the race went on, there was some evidence that tactical voting was occurring, and some partial arrangements were formed among candidates,[425][426] but by May 3, Trump had defeated all his opponents and became the party's presumptive nominee. Romney announced that he would not support Trump in the general election, saying, "I am dismayed at where we are now. I wish we had better choices."[427]
In June, Romney said that he would not vote for Democratic nomineeHillary Clinton, saying: "It's a matter of personal conscience. I can't vote for either of those two people." He suggested that he might vote for a third-party candidate, orwrite in his wife's name, saying she would be "an ideal president". When pressed on which of Trump and Clinton was more qualified to be president, Romney quotedP. J. O'Rourke: "Hillary Clinton is wrong on every issue, but she's wrong within the normal parameters."[428]
Romney considered voting for the Libertarian ticket of former Republican governorsGary Johnson andBill Weld (the latter, like Romney, also a former governor of Massachusetts), saying that he would "get to know Gary Johnson better and see if he's someone who I could end up voting for", adding that "if Bill Weld were at the top of the ticket, it would be very easy for me to vote for Bill Weld for president."[429] In September, he called for Johnson to be included in thepresidential debates[429] and in October it emerged that Independent candidateEvan McMullin was using an email list of 2.5 million Romney supporters to raise money.[430] McMullin's chief strategist said that it was purchased from Romney for President and that "we'll let other folks discuss what that may mean and certainly never speak for [Romney]."[430] A spokeswoman for Romney said that the list had been "rented by several political candidates in the presidential primary, and by countless other political and commercial users in the time since the 2012 campaign"[430] and Romney made no public comment on McMullin's candidacy.[431] Romney and his wife cast early ballots in Utah, but he declined to say who he voted for.[431] In May 2018, Romney revealed that he had cast a write-in vote for his wife Ann.[432]
After Trump won the election, Romney congratulated him by phone and on Twitter.[433] On November 19, Romney met with him at theTrump National Golf Club inBedminster, New Jersey, reportedly to discuss the position ofSecretary of State,[434][435] which ultimately went toRex Tillerson.[436] In February 2017, Romney said that Trump was "off to a very strong start" in fulfilling his campaign promises, although he had "no regrets" about his anti-Trump speech.[437] The next year, Trump endorsed Romney's 2018 senate campaign.[438]
Romney being sworn in as Senator from Utah by Vice PresidentMike Pence
September and October 2017 press reports said that should U.S. SenatorOrrin Hatch retire, Romney would run for that seat in 2018.[439][440] On January 2, 2018, after Hatch announced that he would retire, Romney changed his Twitter location from Massachusetts toHolladay, Utah, contributing to speculation that he was considering a Senate campaign.[441] On February 16, 2018, Romney formally launched his campaign with a video message posted on Facebook and Twitter.[442][443][444]
At the state Republican nominating convention held on April 21, 2018, Romney received 1,585 delegate votes (49.1%), finishing second toState RepresentativeMike Kennedy, with 1,642 delegate votes (50.9%). Since neither Romney nor Kennedy garnered the 60% of delegate votes necessary to claim the endorsement, they competed in a June 26 primary election.[445] In the primary, Romney defeated Kennedy, 71.7–28.3%.[446]
Romney waselected U.S. Senator from Utah on November 6, defeating Democratic nomineeJenny Wilson, 62.6% to 30.9%.[447]
Romney and other Republican Senators meet withPresidentJoe Biden to discuss COVID-19 relief in February 2021.
Shortly before assuming office, Romney wrote aWashington Post editorial strongly criticizing Trump's character.[449]Ronna McDaniel, Romney's niece and the chair of theRepublican National Committee, called his comments "disappointing and unproductive", while Trump wrote that he "[w]ould much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful".[450] By November 9, 2019, Romney was just one of three Republican senators, along withSusan Collins of Maine andLisa Murkowski of Alaska, who declined to co-sponsor a resolution opposing the impeachment inquiry process into Trump.[451][452] He was one of two Republicans (with Collins) who joined all Democrats voting to allow impeachment witnesses.[453]
Romney condemned the2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings, saying: "As we celebrate the miracle of Easter, we hold in our hearts the victims of the senseless violence in Sri Lanka and their loved ones."[454]
In the October 2019 issue ofThe Atlantic, Romney revealed that he used a secret Twitter account to keep tabs on political conversation there, saying, "What do they call me, alurker?"[456] Shortly thereafter,Slate found a Twitter account with the name Pierre Delecto. The account was registered in July 2011, followed about 700 people, and had eight followers at the time it was discovered. It had tweeted 10 times, always in reply to other tweets. The next day, Romney confirmed ownership of the account.[457][458]
First impeachment of Donald Trump (2019–2020)
"Full Remarks – Senator Mitt Romney to vote to convict President Trump on Abuse of Power" – video from C-SPAN
On February 5, 2020, after Romney read a prepared text on the Senate floor decrying "corrupting an election to keep oneself in office" as "perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one's oath of office that I can imagine",[459][460] he broke ranks with the Republican majority as the sole Republican senator to vote to convict Trump in hisfirst impeachment trial,[461] thereby becoming, according to press reports, the first U.S. senator inUnited States history to vote to convict a president of the same political party.[462][463][464]
Fallout from the vote included Romney's being formally censured by various Republican organizations outside of Utah; in comparison, anger against Romney among Republicans within Utah was more muted, and his impeachment vote, according to opinion polling, was supported by Utah Democrats.[465] Jason Perry, director of theUniversity of Utah'sHinckley Institute of Politics, said, "Democrats in Utah were more excited about Mitt Romney's vote than [Utah] Republicans were disappointed."[466]Republicans for the Rule of Law ran various ads thanking Romney.[467][468][469]
March with Black Lives Matter
On June 7, 2020, in response to themurder of George Floyd and theworldwide protests against police brutality, Romney became the first Republican senator to participate in a protest alongsideBlack Lives Matter.[470][471] He said, "We need many voices against racism and against brutality, and we need to make sure that people understand that Black Lives Matter."[472] This act drew praise and admiration from the left and right, with some Republicans questioning why other congressional Republicans were not showing support for the movement. On Twitter, SenatorKamala Harris praised Romney's actions, saying, "We need more of this."[473] Trump mocked Romney, saying, "Tremendous sincerity, what a guy. Hard to believe, with this kind of political talent, his numbers would 'tank' so badly in Utah!"[474]
Romney did not endorse Trump's2020 reelection campaign and told reporters that he did not vote for him.[475] In aWashington Post op-ed, Romney wrote that Trump "has not risen to the mantle of the office".[476] After the victory ofJoe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, Romney was the first Republican senator to extend his congratulations to them.[477]
On the morning of January 5, 2021, Romney was heckled and harassed atthe airport on his way toWashington, D.C., to certifyJoe Biden's election win in the Senate. Cellphone footage of the incident showed Trump supporters accusing Romney of not supporting Trump's baseless claims of election fraud, and chanting "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" as Romney boarded his flight.[478][479][480]
On the morning of January 6, protesters assembled at the"Save America" rally onthe Ellipse, where Trump,Donald Trump Jr.,Rudy Giuliani, and several members of Congress addressed the crowd fueling the conspiracy theories about election fraud.[481][482][483] Trump said, "We will never give up, we will never concede. You don't concede when there's theft", and encouraged his supporters to "fight like hell" to "take back our country" and to march to the Capitol.[484] Later that day, while the Senate was in session certifying the2021 United States Electoral College vote count within theUnited States Capitol, hundreds of Trump supporters violentlyattacked the Capitol, where they looted senators' offices and broke into thechamber of the United States Senate. Police evacuated the senators andVice President Mike Pence to an undisclosed area. As they were evacuating Romney, he yelled atTed Cruz and other Republican congressmen, "This is what you've gotten, guys!"[485] According toNew York Times reporterJonathan Martin, Romney told him with "fury in his voice", "This is what the president has caused today, this insurrection!"[486] Romney fully rebuked Trump and condemned the actions of the attackers. Later that night, when Congress had reconvened, Romney said on the Senate floor:
We gather today due to a selfish man's injured pride and the outrage of his supporters whom he has deliberately misinformed for the past two months and stirred to action this very morning... Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate, democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy... They will be remembered for their role in this shameful episode in American history. That will be their legacy…The best way we can show respect for the voters who are upset is by telling them thetruth! That is the burden, and the duty, of leadership. The truth is that President-elect Biden won the election. President Trump lost. I've had that experience myself. It's no fun.[487][488]
On February 10, 2021, new video was released duringTrump's second impeachment trial that showed capitol police officerEugene Goodman saving Romney from running into the Capitol rioters.[489] During a break in the hearing, Romney said, "It was very troubling seeing the great violence the capitol police were subjected to. It tears at your heart and brings tears to your eyes. It was overwhelmingly distressing and emotional." Romney also said he didn't know how close he was and didn't know it had been Goodman who diverted him away from the rioters, but that he looked forward to thanking Goodman.[490]
On May 27, 2021, along with five other Republicans and all present Democrats, Romney voted to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 attack. The vote failed for lack of 60 required "yes" votes.[491]
On February 13, 2021, Romney and five other Republican senators voted to allow other witnesses in the impeachment trial. Republican senator and Trump allyRon Johnson got in a heated exchange with Romney, saying, "We never should've had this impeachment trial."[494] Later that day Romney voted to convict Trump for the second time along with six of his Republican colleagues. The final vote was 57 to convict and 43 to acquit. He wrote a statement that read in part:
President Trump attempted to corrupt the election by pressuring theSecretary of State of Georgia to falsify the election results in his state. President Trump incited theinsurrection against Congress by using the power of his office to summon his supporters to Washington on January 6th and urging them to march on the Capitol during the counting of electoral votes. He did this despite the obvious and well known threats of violence that day. President Trump also violated his oath of office by failing to protect theCapitol, theVice President, and others in the Capitol. Each and every one of these conclusions compels me to support conviction.[495]
Committee assignments
During the 117th Congress, Romney sat on the following committees:[496]
In addition to calling for cuts in federal government spending to help reduce the national debt, Romney proposed measures intended to limit the growth of entitlement programs, such as introducingmeans testing and gradually raising the eligibility ages for receipt ofSocial Security andMedicare.[497] He supported substantial increases in military spending and promised to invest more heavily in military weapons programs while increasing the number of active-duty military personnel.[498][499] He was very supportive of the directions taken bythe budget proposals of Paul Ryan, though he later proposed his own budget plan.[500][501]
He also promised to seek income tax law changes that he said would help to lower federal deficits and would stimulate economic growth. These included reducing individual income tax rates across the board by 20%, maintaining theBush administration-era tax rate of 15% on investment income fromdividends andcapital gains (and eliminating this tax entirely for those with annual incomes less than $200,000), cutting the top tax rate on corporations from 35% to 25%, and eliminating theestate tax and theAlternative Minimum Tax.[505][506] He promised that the loss of government revenue from these tax cuts would be offset by closing loopholes and placing limits on tax deductions and credits available to taxpayers with the highest incomes,[506] but said that that aspect of the plan could not yet be evaluated because details would have to be worked out with Congress.[507]
Romney called Russia America's "number one geopolitical foe",[511] a position many ridiculed him for,[365] including former secretary of stateMadeleine Albright,[512] who later publicly apologized to him.[513] He has asserted that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear capability should be America's "highest national security priority".[514] Romney stated his strong support for Israel.[515] He planned to formally label China acurrency manipulator and take associated counteractions unless China changed its trade practices.[516] Romney supported thePatriot Act,[517] the continued operation of theGuantanamo Bay detention camp, and use ofenhanced interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists.[517] He described same-sex marriage as a "state issue" while running for Senate in 1994 and opposed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2002.[518] Romney opposedsame-sex marriage andcivil unions, but favored domestic partnership legislation that gives certain legal rights to same-sex couples, such as hospital visitation.[519] In 2011, he signed a pledge promising to seek passage of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.[520] In 2022, Romney reversed his previous position on federal marriage, and was one of 12 Republicans voting to advance legislation to codify same-sex marriage into federal law by voting for theRespect for Marriage Act.[521][522]
Since 2005, Romney has described himself as "pro-life".[523] That year, he wrote: "I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother."[524][nb 8][nb 13] During his 1994 Senate campaign, Romney had said, "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country", a stance he reiterated during his 2002 campaign for governor.[133][527] While Romney would prefer to see passage of a constitutional amendment that would outlaw abortion, he did not believe the public would support such an amendment;[528] as an alternative, he promised to nominate Supreme Court justices who would help overturnRoe v. Wade, allowing each state to decide on the legality of abortion.[529] His earlierpro-abortion rights stance in particular and support for some gay rights and gun restrictions as governor of Massachusetts earned him the criticism of some conservatives; the conservative magazineHuman Events labeled him one of the top tenRINOs in 2005.[530]
In July 2020, Romney, along withPat Toomey, was one of two Republican U.S. Senators who condemned Trump's decision to commute the sentence ofRoger Stone, which Romney described as "Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president."[538]
In September 2020, Romney said the Republicans' decision tonominate and confirmAmy Coney Barrett as anAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States before the2020 presidential election was fair: "the circumstance where a nominee of a president is from a different party than the Senate then, more often than not, the Senate does not confirm. So theGarland decision was consistent with that. On the other hand, when there's a nominee of a party that is in the same party as the Senate, then typically they do confirm."[539][540] The following month after meeting with Barrett, Romney stated, "She is impressive, and her distinguished legal and academic credentials make it clear that she is exceptionally well qualified to serve as our next Supreme Court justice. I am confident that she will faithfully apply the law and our Constitution, impartially and regardless of policy preferences."[541]
On July 21, 2024, when President Bidendropped out of the2024 presidential election, Romney posted a statement which read: "Others will judge his presidency. However, having worked with him these past few years, I respect President Biden. His decision to withdraw from the race was right and is in the best interest of the country." He added, "Ann and I send warm personal wishes to the President andFirst Lady."[543]
Electoral history
U.S. senator from Massachusetts
Note: percentages may not total 100% because of rounding.
Massachusetts United States Senate Republican primary, 1994[544]
In 2021, Romney received theProfile in Courage Award for being the only member of his party to vote to convict Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial.[561]
In 2024, Romney received the annual Legislative Achievement Award from the National Emergency Management Association for his efforts in creating the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission in Utah.[562][563]
^Pranks conducted by Romney during his Cranbrook years includedsliding down golf courses on large ice cubes, dressing as a police officer and tapping on the car windows of friends who were making out, and staging an elaborateformal dinner on themedian of a busy street.[21][23] The golf course escapade led to Romney and Ann Davies being detained by local police.[26][27]In 2012, five former classmates described a 1965 episode where Romney, then a senior, took the lead in holding down a younger student while cutting his long, bleached-blond hair with scissors.[22] Romney said that he does not recall the incident, though he acknowledged that he might have participated in some high school "hijinks and pranks" that went too far, and he apologized for any harm that resulted from them.[28][29]
^Pranks conducted by Romney during his Stanford years included dressing as a police officer and pretending to arrest people[32] and pre-"Big Game" customs involving theStanford Axe.[33]
^Mitt's great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and two uncles had been missionaries,[35] as had his brother, Scott.[36] He did briefly consider breaking with tradition and not going on a mission[37] (and he had successfully been rushed by thePhi Kappa Sigma fraternity at Stanford, for sophomore year membership).[31] But he did go, and all five of Mitt's sons later served as missionaries as well.[38]
^Based on figures from 1971 to 2010, the average Mormon gets only 4–8 baptism converts to the faith per year during a mission.[39] The church succeeds in expanding by having huge numbers of missionaries, so that the small number of conversions from each one add up.[40]
^Romney's task was complicated by proselytizing for areligion that prohibits alcohol in acountry known for it.[14] He reflected upon this in 2002: "As you can imagine, it's quite an experience to go to Bordeaux and say, 'Give up your wine! I've got a great religion for you!'"[42]
^On June 16, 1968, Romney and five fellow Mormons were traveling on dangerous roads in southern France.[21][44][45] As they drove through the village ofBernos-Beaulac, aMercedes that was passing a truck missed a curve and swerved into the opposite lane hitting theCitroën DS Romney was drivinghead-on.[21][46] Trapped between the steering wheel and door, the unconscious Romney had to be pried from the car; a French police officer mistakenly wroteIl est mort in his passport.[21][26][45] Besides killing the wife of the mission president, the other four passengers were seriously injured.[45] George Romney relied on his friendSargent Shriver, theU.S. Ambassador to France, to go to the local hospital and discover that his son had survived.[26] Mitt Romney, who was not at fault in the accident,[36][45] had suffered broken ribs, a fractured arm, a concussion, and facial injuries, but recovered quickly without needing surgery.[44][45] The French police say that they have no records of the incident because such records are routinely destroyed after 10 years.[45]
^Some sources incorrectly report that Romney graduated first in his class at BYU. Romney himself has corrected this notion, saying that he didn't. While Romney believes he did have the highest grade point average for his on-campus BYU years in the College of Humanities, he did not if his Stanford record was factored in.[57][58]
^abRomney's cited exceptions regarding abortion are in line with those of the LDS Church,[64] which allows it in cases of rape, incest, when the mother's health is seriously threatened, or when the fetus cannot survive past birth.[67] When Romney was a bishop in the 1980s, there was a case where a woman in his congregation with four children was advised by her doctor to terminate her pregnancy because she had a potentially life-threatening blood clot. Romney strongly advised her not to, but she did anyway.[67][64]
^One study of 68 deals that Bain Capital made during Romney's time there found that the firm lost money or broke even on 33 of them.[67] Another study that looked at the eight-year period following 77 deals during Romney's time found that in 17 cases the company went bankrupt or out of business, and in 6 cases Bain Capital lost all its investment. But 10 deals were very successful and represented 70 percent of the total profits.[95]
^Official state figures for fiscal year 2005 (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005) declared a $594.4 million surplus.[169][186] For fiscal 2006, the surplus was $720.9 million.[186] During fiscal 2007, Romney cut $384 million in spending that the legislature wanted; in January 2007, midway through the fiscal year, incoming GovernorDeval Patrick restored that amount,[187] and also declared that the state faced a "looming budget shortfall" of $1 billion for fiscal 2008.[188] Patrick consequently proposed a budget for fiscal 2008 that included $515 million in spending cuts and $295 million in new corporate taxes.[189] As it happened, the state ended fiscal 2007 with a $307.1 million deficit and fiscal 2008 with a $495.2 million deficit.[186]
^Upon passage of the law, Romney said "There really wasn't Republican or Democrat in this. People ask me if this is conservative or liberal, and my answer is yes. It's liberal in the sense that we're getting our citizens health insurance. It's conservative in that we're not getting a government takeover."[196] Within four years, the Massachusetts law had achieved its primary goal of expanding coverage: in 2010, 98% of state residents had coverage, compared to a national average of 83%. Among children and seniors the 2010 coverage rate was even higher, 99.8% and 99.6% respectively. Approximately two-thirds of residents received coverage through employers; one-sixth each received it through Medicare or public plans.[202]
^abRomney also amended his position onembryonic stem cell research: having once supported it broadly, he changed to being againsttherapeutic cloning of embryos for scientific research, insisting that "surplus embryos" from fertility treatments should be used instead.[525][526]
^American political opinion periodically looked towards industry for business managers who it was thought could straighten out what was held to be wrong in the nation's capital. The track record of such efforts was at best mixed, withLee Iacocca declining to run, Romney's father George andSteve Forbes failing to get far in the primaries, andRoss Perot staging one of the more successful third-party runs in American history.[226][227]
^Biographical parallels between George and Mitt Romney include: Both served as Mormon missionaries in Europe and considered the experiences formative. Both pursued high school sweethearts single-mindedly until the women agreed to marry them several years later, then had families with four or five children. Both had very successful careers in business and became known for turning around failing companies or organizations. Both presided over a stake in the LDS Church. Both achieved their first elected position at age 55, as Republican governor of a Democratic-leaning state. The two bear a close physical resemblance at similar ages and both have been said to "look like a president". Both staged their first presidential run in the year they turned 60. Both were considered suspect by ideological conservatives within the Republican Party.[24][228] Neither protested publicly against the LDS Church policy thatdid not allow black people in its lay clergy, although the elder Romney hoped the church leadership would revise the policy,[229] and his son has said that he was greatly relieved when the church did so in 1978.[36][62][230] There are also obvious differences in their paths, including that George had a hardscrabble upbringing while Mitt's was affluent, and that Mitt far exceeded George's accomplishments in formal education. Another is that Mitt's personality is more reserved, private, and controlled than his father's was, traits he got from his mother Lenore,[56] and his political personality is also shaped at least as much by Lenore as by George.[55] And while George was willing to defy political trends, Mitt has been much more willing to adapt to them.[24][55][182]
^Regarding the role of Romney's religion in the 2008 campaign, one academic study, based upon research conducted throughout the 2008 primaries, showed that a negative perception ofMormonism was widespread during the election, and that perception was often resistant to factual information that would correct mistaken notions about the religion or Romney's relationship to it.[249] The authors concluded that, "For Romney ... religionis the central story."[249] Another study, analyzing a survey conducted during January 2008 (when an African American, a woman, and a Mormon all had realistic chances of becoming the first president from that group), found that voters had internally accepted the notion of black equality, paving the way forBarack Obama's election; had partially established but not fully internalized the notion of gender equality, makingHillary Clinton's task somewhat more difficult; but had only selectively internalized the notion of religious equality, and in particular not extended it to Mormons, thus making Romney's run significantly more difficult.[250] Those authors concluded that, "for a Mormon candidate, the road to the presidency remains very rough ... The bias against a Mormon candidate is substantial."[250]
^During most of Romney's first stint on the Marriott board, he was a member of, and for six years chair of, the board'saudit committee.[275] In 1994, during Romney's time as chair, Marriott implemented theSon of BOSS tax shelter, which resulted in the company claiming $71 million in losses. In 2008 and 2009, federal courts ruled this use of the shelter illegal and said those losses never existed.PolitiFact.com calls a 2012 claim that Romney personally approved the shelter as "Half True".[275][276]
^After having attended the2010 Winter Olympics, Romney and wife were on board anAir Canada plane waiting to take off on a flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles when he got into a physical altercation with Sky Blu, sitting in front of him, over Sky Blu's seat not being in the upright position. Romney said that Sky Blu became physically violent and that he did not retaliate, while Sky Blu said that Romney gave him a "Vulcan grip" first and that he responded physically to that. Sky Blu was escorted off the aircraft by Canadian police but Romney did not press charges and Sky Blu was released.[282][283][284]
^Roberts, Gary Boyd (1998).Notable Kin: An Anthology of Columns First Published in the NEHGS NEXUS 1986–1995, Volume 2. Boston: Carl Boyer, 3rd. p. 212.ISBN978-0-936124-20-9.
^abcHewitt,A Mormon in the White House?, pp. 81–82.
^Stewart, David G. Jr. (2007).The Law of the Harvest: Practical Principles of Effective Missionary Work. Henderson, Nevada: Cumorah Foundation.ISBN978-0-9795121-0-0.
^Marcus, Ruth (October 21, 1994). "Clinton Gets a Sense of the Real Thing; Kennedy and Massachusetts Democrats Put on a Campaign Rally".The Washington Post.
Foster, Craig (2008).A Different God?: Mitt Romney, the Religious Right, and the Mormon Question. Draper, Utah: Greg Kofford Books.ISBN978-1-58958-117-3.
Turner, Lisa Ray; Field, Kimberly (2007).Mitt Romney: The Man, His Values, and His Vision. Silverton, Idaho: Mapletree Publishing.ISBN978-1-60065-109-0.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_Commanding_Officer%2c_Capt._Dennis_E._Fitzpatrick%2c_gives_the_Massachusetts_Gov._Mitt_Romney_a_tour_of_the_conventionally_powered_aircraft_carrier%2527s_flight_deck.jpg)
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
