BOSTON (AP)— From his slicked, carefully coifed hair to his data-driven business
principles to his unwavering devotion to his oft-maligned Mormon faith, Mitt
Romney is the spitting image of his father physically, professionally and
morally.The depth of their bond can be seen in one early story.
As an 18-year-old, Mitt Romney met a 15-year-old girl with whom he felt he
could share his life. He then left for a year of college and a 2 1/2-year Mormon
mission in France, during which time his father not only took his future wife,
Ann Davies, to church, but converted her to their faith.
"Your gal looked lovely as always," George Romney wrote to his son in
February 1967. "I sat next to her in church and asked if that ring of yours on
her engagement finger meant what it usually means, and she said it did."
At the time, George Romney was governor of Michigan and former chairman of
American Motors; Ann's father, Edward Davies, had a less lofty title as the
part-time mayor of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., where both families lived.
By the time Mitt returned in 1969, Ann's conversion was complete. Three
months later the couple - he was 22, she 19 - married, first in a civil ceremony
in Ann's home and the next day in the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City.Today, as he runs for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney
highlights his 38-year marriage, his five sons and the family life he's built
with Ann - all tied to his father's influence.
"My dad is my life hero," said Romney, now 60. "I probably would have never
thought about politics; it would have never crossed my mind, had I not seen him
do it. He's the real pioneer."
Willard Mitt Romney was born on March 12, 1947, the youngest of George and
Lenore Romney's four children. Although they lived a privileged life in the
Detroit suburbs, Romney's parents sought to instill working-class values in
their children by making sure they pitched in with chores. That routinely
included waking them before dawn to shovel during snowstorms.
In the 1960s, Democrats dominated Michigan - no surprise given its vibrant
labor movement thanks to the auto industry. What was a surprise was George
Romney's success in being elected governor in 1962 as a Republican.
The father invited the son to strategy sessions, giving him a front row seat
on the campaign.
"I saw how he solicited views from other people, how he built a team of great
individuals, how he made decisions based on data and analysis and solid thinking
and not just gut feeling or opinion," Romney said.
George Romney was an early favorite for the 1968 GOP presidential nomination.
Then, during an interview shortly after visiting Vietnam, the elder Romney
expressed frustration with the increasingly unpopular war and with the generals
he felt were misleading the public.
"I'd just had the greatest brainwashing that anybody can get," he told a
television reporter.
"Brainwashing" became "brainwashed" in some accounts, and before Romney knew
it, a throwaway line had blossomed into questions about his mental health. He
quit the campaign a few weeks before the New Hampshire primary.
The reversal of fortune was bitter for Mitt Romney and would grate on him for
the next four decades.
George Romney wanted his son to go to law school after Brigham Young
University, but Mitt wanted to attend business school. He opted for both,
enrolling in a dual-degree program at Harvard in 1971. Over five years, he would
simultaneously earn a law degree from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard
Business School.
Romney landed a prized job at the Boston Consulting Group, helping companies
streamline their operations and fatten their bottom lines.
He moved to a rival consulting firm, Bain & Co., in 1977 and was so
promising that the company's founder tapped him to head Bain Capital, a spin-off
Bain envisioned would combine analytical and management expertise with
investments in promising companies.
With Romney at the helm, Bain Capital helped launch or reshape hundreds of
companies, including Staples and Domino's Pizza. Romney went on to make tens of
millions of dollars, part of a net worth now estimated at up to $250 million.
"He's able to focus through all the noise," said Bob White, a longtime friend
and business associate.
In 1994, Romney decided to follow his father's path into politics. And like
George Romney, Mitt Romney did not shy from a political challenge. In one of the
bluest of Democratic states, the Republican decided to challenge Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy, a liberal icon.
Romney started off strong, tapping into a well of Kennedy fatigue. But
Kennedy rallied and focused on some of Bain Capital's business deals, bringing
in workers from an Indiana business where Bain had laid off employees, cut wages
and slashed benefits.
Kennedy ended up winning, 58 percent to 41 percent.
"He had been advertised by certain pundits as being over the hill, but he is
far from it," Romney said. "He took me to school."
A different challenge a few years later brought acclaim.
In the late 1990s, Utah, the seat of Romney's Mormon faith, was reeling. To
land the 2002 Winter Olympics, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee had enticed
International Olympics officials with lavish gifts. Accusations of bribery mired
the Games in scandal. Resignations sullied the region's reputation.
Utah officials went looking for a white knight.
Romney took the job. As president and CEO of the organizing committee he
pared the budget, boosted revenues and worked to repair the committee's
reputation with sponsors. The Games cemented Romney's reputation as a
"turnaround" king. That prompted his return to the political arena.
Recruited by the Massachusetts GOP to run for governor in 2002, Romney
presented himself as a fiscal conservative and social moderate. He opposed new
taxes, but also pledged not to change the state's abortion laws, and he vowed
support for gay rights and other liberal agenda items. Boosted by more than $6
million of his own money, he won.
The victory only sharpened the parallels with his father's life: successful
businessman, dedicated family man and, now, governor.
Romney brought a CEO's focus to the job, his term noted particularly for a
landmark health care law. Still, political opponents say he missed some
opportunities because he chose political battles instead of real
accomplishments.
By the end of 2005, Romney approached a self-imposed deadline for deciding
whether to seek re-election the following year. His father had served three
terms, but Romney decided to leave after just one.
"In this four-year term, we can accomplish what I set out to do," he said.
"In fact, we've already accomplished a great deal."
In February, Romney formally declared his candidacy for president at the
Henry Ford Museum in his native Michigan. Behind him was a Rambler, a car made
during his dad's final year as American Motors chairman just before he entered
politics.
"The fact that he took that path of course has made that something I would
consider," Mitt Romney said of his beloved father, who died in 1995. "Otherwise
it probably wouldn't have entered my thinking."