December 4, 2008
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Mitt Romney
In case you missed it, here is U.S. News and World Report’s list of the ten things you may not know about Governor Romney:
1. Willard Mitt Romney was born in March 1947. (He stopped using Willard, the name of his father’s friend J. Willard Marriott, founder of the hotel chain, in kindergarten. Mitt was the name of his father’s cousin, a football player for the Chicago Bears in the 1920s.) His father, George, was chairman and president of the American Motors Corp. and governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969. His mother, Lenore, began a career in the theater arts before marrying George. She ran for the U.S. Senate in 1970. He has one brother and two sisters.
2. Mitt Romney met his wife, Ann Davies, at a party in 1965; he was 18, she was 15. He began college at Stanford University and took a job as a chauffeur on campus so he could secretly fly home on the weekends to see her.
3. Romney left school in 1966 for a 21/2-year mission in France on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In June 1968, a Citroen he was driving with five passengers was hit head-on by a drunken driver and he was thrown from the vehicle. One passenger died. A policeman believed Romney was dead and wrote “il est mort” on his passport. Only later was he found to be alive by Sargent Shriver, a friend of his father and the U.S. ambassador to France at the time.
4. Mitt and Ann married on March 21, 1969–four months after he returned from his mission. Future President Gerald Ford was a guest at their wedding. Ann was attending college at Brigham Young University and Mitt transferred there, eventually graduating first in his class in 1971 with a degree in English and a 3.97 GPA. Their first son, Taggart, was born on their first anniversary.
5. The young couple moved to Boston so Mitt could attend Harvard Law School. He was also accepted into a joint M.B.A. program at Harvard Business School. Their second son, Matthew, was born and in 1975 he graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and in the top 5 percent of his class at HBS.
6. He first worked at Boston Consulting Group, then as a management consultant at Bain & Co., where he became a vice president in 1978. By then he and Ann had three more sons–Joshua, Benjamin, and Craig. Mitt was asked to head Bain Capital, a venture capital company, in 1984. It was there that he became a millionaire.
7. Romney was a leader in the Mormon church while living in Belmont, Mass. He was bishop of the Cambridge congregation, then bishop of Belmont, and in 1986 became president of the Boston-area “stake,” similar to a diocese.
8. He spent $3 million of his own money in an unsuccessful race to unseat Edward Kennedy from the U.S. Senate in 1994.
9. He became president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee in February 1999 and turned around a scandal-plagued Winter Olympics. Romney donated $1 million to the games and refused to take a salary unless the committee finished in the black. When the Olympics ended successfully in February 2002, people viewed him in a new light as a rising politician.
10. Romney was elected the 70th governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and served until 2007. He decided not to run for re-election and instead pursued an unsuccessful bid for the presidency. One of his favorite presidents is Dwight Eisenhower, and he asked his grandchildren to call him “Ike.”
According to Mitt12, this is the potential list of activities to keep Governor Romney busy over the next 3 years (I would take the last option, as I am still earning my millions):
- Mend fences with the older gentleman who will likely win the nomination, in hopes of a VP nod, and a one-term Presidency.
- Take a cabinet position (e.g. Treasury, Commerce, etc.).
- Take over as Chairman of the RNC (as suggested by Newt on Fox News last night).
- Grow a beard, get fat, lecture at Harvard (aka “the Gore Plan”)
- Play with the grandkids
- Do what he does best – fix broken companies and make a pile of money.
http://race42008.com/2008/12/04/10-things-you-didn%e2%80%99t-know-about-mitt-romney/trackback/
December 4th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
“Mitt Romney met his wife, Ann Davies, at a party in 1965; he was 18, she was 15[!!!!!!]. He began college at Stanford University and took a job as a chauffeur on campus so he could secretly fly home on the weekends to see her.”
“One of his favorite presidents is Dwight Eisenhower, and he asked his grandchildren to call him ‘Ike.’”
Both facts are incredibly creepy.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Hmmm, teenagers dating, I have news for you… it goes on all the time. You’re a little out of touch danny boy.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Are you part of some anti-teenage dating organization? That would be creepy.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
“Mend fences with the older gentleman who will likely win the nomination, in hopes of a VP nod, and a one-term Presidency.”
Seems that this one is a bit out of date…
December 4th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Romney is the type of person who will always be engaged in some type of work. Though, if he were to push for a RNC chair, that would probably be a dead end job. His talents would be much appreciated there, but one doesn’t normally jump from there to president.
Working in private industry could be good for whatever company he joins, but he doesn’t need to prove anything in commercial enterprise, plus that could more easily play into the play book for those who subscribe to class-warfare type tactics (on both sides of the aisle).
I’m thinking he’ll just be a an occasional talking head on the news and focus on his PAC. Lay low until 2010 happens. Then is the time to commit.
If Obama has fouled things up, then he would be a good antidote to his policies. If Obama has managed to screw things up then, it’s likely that whoever Republicans elect will be the sacrificial lamb for 2012.
Unfortunately for Romney, I don’t think he will be as relevant come 2016. That there is Jindal territory!
December 4th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
manage *not* to screw things up…is what I meant to say 4th paragraph.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
BarkTwiggs – I like Jindal, but he is not as ready to be POTUS as Romney. His time will come, but it shouldn’t be 2012 if Romney is still available.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
#1 – Danny – let me guess – you voted for Huckabee.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
It’s hard to see a scenario where anyone beats Romney in the primary. It’s his to lose. Right now, the battle looks to be between Palin and Romney. Anything can happen, of course, but it appears to me that the other possibles just don’t have the organization or recognition to mount a serious challenge to Romney.
As great as many think Palin is, she doesn’t hold a candle to Romney in experience, leadership, pure talent, knowledge, or the ability to articulate the conservative message.
(Now, Kristofer is probably going to start calling me a bigot, a B***, a sexist, or a moderate. Or something new! Who knows. He’d rather call names than make an argument. We’ll see.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Oh, BTW Kristofer, thank you for posting this on Romney.
It’s a really nice break from the parade of DO THE RIGHT THING (even though I don’t) BOOK blogs from Adam Graham, the resident Romney hater.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
#9
Martha, this is a new thread, a new beginning. Give the guy a chance to turn a new leaf. You could at least wait until he calls you a name before slamming him.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
18 going after 15? Robbing the cradle.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
marK, you are right.
I’m sorry Kristofer, I’ll give you a new begining. Disregard the last paragraph of #9.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Oh, and Danny. Might I suggest you reserve the phrase “incredibly creepy” for things that truly are, and not just use it willy-nilly? Now that you have used it to desceribe a loving grandfather being playful with his grandchildren, it sort of loses any real sense of meaning, doesn’t it. What are you going to use when something really is “incredibly creepy”?
December 4th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
In point of fact, there is only a two year, five week difference between their two birthdays. Which means that when Mitt met her, he had just barely turned eighteen and she was one month shy of her sixteenth birthday. Yup, that certainly sounds incredibly creepy to me. Doesn’t it to you?
December 4th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Martha M,
I didn’t say that Jindal territory was 2012, but 2016. Jindal’s star will likely be shining brightest then after supposedly two terms, whereas unless Mitt does something high profile beyond his current extensive resume, his star will be somewhat diminished and he will be less relevant.
I would greatly like a ticket with Romney in 2012 top or bottom. Though much can happen in the meantime…
December 4th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
This thing is entitled 10 Things You Don’t Know About Mitt Romney. I would dearly hope that everybody on this site knew all 10…..they’re pretty basic. Next time, feature some of the truly amazing successes he had in the business, nonprofit, and government sectors of the economy. Those are things that some people here seem like they don’t know and need to know. Also, they’re the most relevant considerations regarding 2012.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
The truth is that the Romney’s have a wonderful marriage and family, and there’s really no honest criticism one can make about his personal life. A lot of people made fun of him for his squeaky clean image, but I’ll take it over the alternative.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Kris,
Thanks for the post.
I would hate to be Romney right now. What do you do with yourself?
Retire? Fat chance. He is a doer.
Rescue failed companies? Been there, done that multiple times. He rescues failed companies like other people do daily crosswords. He’s bored with it.
Run for Senate? Not likely. He is a decision maker, a doer, not a go-along-to-get-along committee member.
Run for Governor? Been there, done that.
About the only thing left to him IS run for President in 2012.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
marK,
He should go kick the GM CEO out of his position somehow. Rescuing GM, sans a bailout, would be leagues beyond any of his previous rescues. I’ll be more then happy to support Romney, again, in the primaries, if he actually does something significant in the intervening years, to both improve his image, and bolster his already impressive resume. But, I don’t have much confidence in the John Edwards “fly around aimlessly speaking about causes” route to the Presidency.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
BarkTwiggs, right, I misread you. I agree.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Matthew, I believe Romney said he would focus on helping elect real conservatives, and help rebuild the party at the grassroots level. It may not be high-profile, but it’s important.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
#20 Agreed. Imagine if Romney took over GM with an 18 month – 2 year contract and successfully set it up to come out of bankruptcy and be profitable. If the economy was still dragging in 2 years, who could deny?
December 4th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
For those who are making a big deal out of a 18 year old meeting a 15 year old for the first time. Hello, it didn’t say they were dating.
I have to guess each and ever one of you who say that it was creepy for a 15 year old to meet and 18 year old have surely meet a 15 year old no matter how old you are. It happens every day.
Now, if he had Married her at that age, it would be a different story, but obviously, there were many years between when they meet and when they married (4 years) including 2 1/2 years that he was on a lds mission and therefore didn’t even see her during that time.
So, before you throw bombs, you might actually want to engage your brains.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
#20 – “if he actually does something significant in the intervening years, to both improve his image, and bolster his already impressive resume. But, I don’t have much confidence in the John Edwards “fly around aimlessly speaking about causes” route to the Presidency.” As if he has to do something more to prove his qualifications? He’s already demostrated he’s more than qualified – he has nothing left to prove to you or anyone else. Comparing Romney to Edwards is like comparing Ronald Reagan to Mike Huckabee – yeah, there’s no comparison. Romney’s been raising money and helping other republicans get elected – he conducted himself with dignity during the campaign and with even more dignity after he conceded to John McCain.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I didn’t know about that accident on his mission – I wonder if he has kept up with his French skills since then.
This man really does have an impressive intellect and temperament, two compliments often given to Obama. I would be overjoyed to see him employ them to the fullest in 2012. He ought to strongly resist any temptation to downplay his strengths.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I have been reading all night about Romney turning around the Olympics. I was really impressed and he has strong business ethics…..btw Martha, I would never call you a b****.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Yes, MPC, he speaks it very fluently.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Kristofer, the other day you hypothetically did.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I want to see him speak it then. Liberals would be rather aghast at the idea of a French-speaking conservative
December 4th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
The opposite of hypothetically, is ‘really’. And I REALLY did not call you that.
btw, has anyone seen this? http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16215.html
December 4th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
#30, do you know any French speaking conservatives?
December 4th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
By the way, Mitt rose to the top calling while on his mission also, that of an assistant to the Mission President.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
“Play with the grandkids”
…including a New Mitt Jr., I believe.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Kristofer,
Well, had I kept up with my French better from high school I would call myself one, but other than that, no – my French class was generally of a broadly liberal tilt. My more recently acquired Spanish has definitely supplanted the French in absence of studies.
Illinoisguy,
Ha, I should have known! That definitely explains Mitt Romney’s 2008 campaign style.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Don’t count on the Al Frankin recount being over really soon.
http://www.anncoulter.com/
December 5th, 2008 at 12:46 am
What drives Mitt is the atonement of his father, George Wilcken Romney, in 1967. Should Romney decide to forgo the Presidency in 2012 he may opt for a vicarious atonement through his son Tagg.
December 5th, 2008 at 1:18 am
The 2012 dream ticket: Romney/Jindal.
December 5th, 2008 at 3:00 am
#37,
Taggart needs to think about getting into any position of governance before even dreaming about the presidency. You’re talking decades out here.
Just like George Romney’s auto exec experience is not directly transmuted to his son, likewise Mitt’s impressive resume will not get Tagg the necessary qualifications.
December 5th, 2008 at 4:46 am
32 – Sarkozy? Well, by French standards. If anyone is interested in seeing Mitt speaking French, I believe there’s a YouTube video of Mitt giving an address in French at the Olympics.
December 5th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Also, being fluent in French might have made for a nice moment after Obama’s dopey “Merci Beaucoup” comment.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:22 am
Here’s the link to Mitt’s Olympic speech in French.
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=xyP2M0DTch8
December 5th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Maybe he’ll forgo politics and business and use his talents in a leadership or service position in the LDS church. If people don’t want to vote for an intelligent, qualified candidate because of his religion, whatever. He’s got plenty of important things he can do.
http://www.lds.org/csm/0,17022,4431-1,00.html
December 5th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Now, if he sneaked home at age 18 to visit a crusty old guy named Ike and asked his grandkids to call him Ann, THAT might be creepy. But the other way around sounds just fine to most regular people. Our government should be full of guys and ladies of Romney’s character and achievement. It definitely says something about our struggling culture when a guy like this gets passed over for the two fellows we ended up with. For now all we can do is buckle up and hold on for a wild, uncomfortable, economic ride down. And that is probably euphemistically speaking. I’ve wondered what a guy like Romney does for a challenge now, full of ability, his capacities still sharp, family fully grown and lots of time and resources on his hands. He fixes things….now what to do…
December 5th, 2008 at 10:57 am
BTW- That picture of the twin babies on the cover is from my event in Lakeland, FL. It was the third event of the day and over 300 people waited outside the indoor rally for over 2 hours just to hear Mitt for 5 minutes. What a great campaign. This is a great site. I read it throughout the campaign, and still do. Keep up the great work.–Nick Hansen: Tampa Bay Field Director
December 5th, 2008 at 11:07 am
#24
I was 1/2 joking about robbing the cradle because I married a 19 yr old my self and she would have been 14 when I was 18.
But if an 18 year old was flying home to see my (imaginary) 15 year old daughter I would tell him to stick with his age group, at least till she was 17.
December 5th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Oh come on guys, this was how many years ago? Look back at your grandparents and their day, this was like, really common. He didn’t bed her, and he didn’t marry her at 15. He fell in love with her at 15, and had a long-distance relationship with her, and carried on with his life in a really responsible way. They got married at respectable ages. And no one can argue it was a great match and a successful story.
I have a daughter who looked and acted 24 when she was 16 and guys started asking her out when she was 12. I didn’t allow her to group date until she was 16 and single date until she was 18. Boy was I glad. She is at a university now, sophomore on full-ride scholarship. I have a second daughter who is now 16 and she is nothing like my oldest in maturity level and development. So I can see from my own life experiences, the greatly differing maturity levels at those teenage and young adult years.
December 5th, 2008 at 11:42 am
“It’s hard to see a scenario where anyone beats Romney in the primary.”
Quite a claim. I have to regard that statement as naive. Romeny is the man, but poiltically he has some large obstacles he must still overcome. Don’t underestimate Palin. While she has serious issues as well, it is undeniable that she has a rabid following probably larger than Romneys. She has the abilityt to go around organization and money, etc.
I agree with 20 wholeheartedly. Romney need to go turn the car business around and prove that conservative principles and markets and common sense are the way to fix problems. Prove that government is not the answer.
Or maybe he should take over some third world country and turn it around.
Please don’t just go around making speeches. Thats lame. Although with the races starting so early, ther is not really any time left to do anythign before the race starts up again. I still think Romney is on the edge of whether he wants to run again or not. It is not easy on the family. Once is enough, especially when your wife has MS. He may just want to enjoy his time with family.
Either way, Romney is no shoe in. I wish.
December 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Why would someone post an article titled “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Mitt Romney” here at Race42008? Many readers here supported Romney in the 2008 primaries, and many others opposed him, but few of us were unfamiliar with him and his life story in general.
When I saw this post, I expected the first comment to be something like, “Why are you insulting us by implying that we don’t know anything about Mitt?”
December 5th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
#8- Wrong. And I have never been so insulted in my life.
December 5th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Well, Joshua, perhaps it is the start of a series…”10 thing you didn’t know about Mitt Romney”, “10 things you didn’t know about Sarah Palin”, “10 things you didn’t know about Rudy Giuliani”, etc.
Even it if is not, I welcome Kristofer’s deeper exploration into one of the GOP top national figures. It proves he isn’t just a Palin Pusher. He actually does look closely at other candidates. It also helps in defending himself against those who try to label him as a knee-jerk Romney-hater if he dares criticize him.
Good for him!
December 5th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
John Galt, I guess you are right. I think it’s more like Romney is the man to beat. You’re right about Palin, though. If the stupid attack continues, she is going to be a force.
December 5th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
#49- Did you even read the post? It’s the title to the cited USNWR story. Overly sensitive much?