- Born
- Birth nameWillard Mitt Romney
- Height6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
- Willard Mitt Romney, the multimillionaire financier who was governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and a Republican Presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012, was born on March 12, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan, to businessman George Romney and his wife, Lenore Romney (née Lafount). At birth, he was named Willard Mitt after his father's best friend and hotelier, J. Willard Marriott, plus his father's cousin, Milton "Mitt" Romney, a pro football player who was the quarterback of the Chicago Bears. His mother was an aspiring actress who turned down a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to marry George. Of English, Scottish, and German ancestry, Mitt's father was born in Colonia Dublán, Galeana, Chihuahua, Mexico, to American parents.
George Romney eventually served as the head of the Detroit-based automaker, American Motors, and as a popular three-term governor of Michigan before launching his own aborted bid for the 1968 Republican Presidential nomination. A moderate Republican, who was a liberal on civil rights in the mold of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, George served in the first cabinet of President Richard Nixon as his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. George also was an important figure in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as was his son, Mitt.
Mitt served as a Mormon missionary in France before marrying his high school sweetheart, Ann Romney (nee Davies), in 1969. Mitt had met Ann when he was attending public elementary school and began dating her in his senior year, when he was attending the prep school Cranbrook, where he was the lone Mormon. (Anne, who was not a Mormon, was attending Cranbrook's sister school, Kingswood). His father oversaw Anne's conversion while he was away in France. The couple eventually would have five sons.
After graduating from Brigham Young University, he earned a joint J.D. (law) degree and M.B.A. at Harvard University. Remaining in the Boston area, he became a management consultant, eventually winding up at Bain & Co., where he became the C.E.O. He created the spin-off private equity investment company, Bain Capital, which made him a multimillionaire with a fortune conservatively estimated at $250 million.
A political independent, he registered as a Republican and won the GOP 1994 nomination for the U.S. Senate in the 1994, taking on the very popular incumbent, Ted Kennedy, who was not only the scion of Massachusetts' greatest political family but a political powerhouse in his own right. Though Romney lost the election 41% to Kennedy's 58%, it was the smallest margin of victory Teddy had experienced since first being elected to the Senate in 1962 when his brother John F. Kennedy was in the White House. (In his previous election, 1988, Teddy had won over the Republican nominee 65% to 34% and, in the next election, 2000, he trounced the Republican nominee 73% to 13%). In 2002, Romney took a sabbatical from business to manage the scandal-plagued Salt Lake Organizing Committee that was responsible for putting on the 2002 Winter Olympics. With a steady hand, he eliminated the problems that threatened the Olympics. The 2002 Olympics turned out to be a success.
That same year, he won the Republican gubernatorial nomination for the state of Massachusetts. He ran, unopposed, to win the Republican nomination; then beat the Democrat, State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien, 50% to 45% in the general election.
As Governor of Massachusetts, his signature accomplishments were eliminating a budget deficit, projected at $3 billion, by hiking fees and implementing spending cuts, and signing a law mandating universal health insurance. Though not as liberal as previous Republican Governor William Weld, he was considered a moderate.
With his poll numbers lagging at the end of his first term, indicating that he'd have a tough time winning re-election, Mitt demurred from seeking a second term. He already had his eye on the Presidency.
Romney had made many trips to neighboring New Hampshire, the site of the nation's first presidential primary, while still Governor, and continued to do so in the year after he left office in January 2007. However, U.S. Senator John McCain, a Granite State favorite (who had won the New Hampshire primary in 2000), bested Romney in the primary held on January 8, 2008. At the end of January 2008, Romney spent $90 million, $35 million of which was his own money, for the 2008 U.S. Republican presidential nomination. Though he did eventually win several primaries and caucuses, he failed to win in Florida and dropped out of the race on February 7, 2008, two days after his disappointing showing on "Super Tuesday". He endorsed McCain a week later.
Romney was questioned by federal courts on topics of campaign monies. Freed of constraints on campaign cash by the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United vs. F.E.C., Romney and his allies have spent much more than $90 million in the 2012 election cycle. Some opponents to Romney feel that in the Florida primary, alone, he won because of the money spent on advertising the campaign. Romney and his allies spent $15.4 million on TV and radio ads, which was $3.4 million more than John McCain spent on ads during the entire primary cycle of his 2008 campaign. In 2012, much had changed from 2008, though. Computers and social media now play a huge role in getting messages to every person in America who vote. This required spending much more money than in the past. He won the Republican nomination against opponents (in alphabetical order) Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.- IMDb Mini Biography By: MaryAnn Glatz - Mitt Romney is an American politician and businessman serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019. He previously served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election.
Raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, by his parents, George and Lenore Romney, he spent two-and-a-half years in France. He married Ann Davies in 1969, and they have five sons. By 1971, he had participated in the political campaigns of both parents. Romney earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Brigham Young University in 1971 and a joint JD-MBA from Harvard University in 1975. Romney became a management consultant and in 1977 secured a position at Bain & Company in Boston. Later serving as Bain's chief executive officer, he helped lead the company out of a financial crisis. In 1984, he co-founded and led the spin-off company Bain Capital, a highly profitable private equity investment firm that became one of the largest of its kind in the nation. Active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout his adult life, Romney served as bishop of his ward and later as a stake president near Boston.
Romney ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 Senate election in Massachusetts. After losing to Ted Kennedy, he resumed his position at Bain Capital. Years later, a successful stint as President and CEO of the then-struggling Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics led to a re-launch of his political career. Elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, Romney helped develop and later signed a health care reform law that provided near-universal health insurance access through state-level subsidies and individual mandates to purchase insurance. He did not seek re-election in 2006, instead focusing on his campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Though he won several primaries and caucuses, Senator John McCain was chosen as the Republican Party's nominee. Romney won the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, becoming the first LDS Church member to be a presidential nominee of a major party. He was defeated by President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.
After re-establishing residency in Utah, Romney announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat in the 2018 election; he defeated Mike Kennedy in the Republican primary and Democrat Jenny Wilson in the general election. In doing so, he became only the third individual ever to be elected governor of one state and U.S. senator for another state.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tango Papa
- SpouseAnn Romney(March 21, 1969 - present) (5 children)
- Children
- Parents
- RelativesScott Romney(Sibling)Jane Romney(Sibling)Lynn Romney(Sibling)Don Bluth(Cousin)Toby Bluth(Cousin)Ronna Romney McDaniel(Niece or Nephew)
- President and CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics Games.
- Is a Mormon.
- Was the governor of Massachusetts when it became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage.
- His efforts in saving the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics (including turning a $400 million revenue deficit into a $100 million surplus and ensuring their security after the then-recent attacks on 9/11) were so well-regarded that Harvard Business School taught a case study based around his efforts.
- His favourite film are Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and Henry V (1989).
- [Campaign speech, 2007] It's time for innovation and transformation in Washington. It's what our country needs. It's what our people deserve.
- I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more.
- My faith is grounded in the conviction that a consequence of our common humanity is our responsibility to one another - to our fellow Americans foremost, but also to every child of God. Some people believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.
- [on Obama's supporters] There are 47% of the people who will vote for the President, no matter what. All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, you name it. I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.
- Donald Trump says that he is very, very smart, but I'm afraid when it comes to foreign policy, he is very very not smart. He said he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating 9/11. Wrong. He saw no such thing. His imagination must not be married to real power.
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