Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician who 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 2½ years in France as a Mormon missionary, starting in 1966. He married Ann Davies in 1969, and they have five sons. By 1971, he had participated in the political campaigns of both parents. He earned a BA 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. 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, he served as the bishop of his ward and then as stake president near Boston.
After stepping down from Bain Capital and his local leadership role in the LDS Church, Romney ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 Massachusetts election for U.S. Senate. After losing to longtime incumbent 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 relaunch of his political career. Elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, Romney helped develop and then signed into law the Massachusetts health care reform legislation, the first of its kind in the nation. It provided near-universal health insurance access through state-level subsidies and individual 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 corporate tax loopholes. 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, the eventual nominee was Senator John McCain. Romney's considerable net worth, estimated in 2012 at $190–250 million, helped finance his political campaigns prior to 2012.
Romney was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election. He won the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, becoming the first Mormon to be the presidential nominee of a major party. He was defeated by incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 general election, losing the electoral college by 332–206. The popular vote between the two major-party nominees was 51%–47% in Obama's favor. Romney kept a low profile for a while after the election, but later became more visible politically. In February 2018, Romney announced his candidacy for the 2018 Senate election in Utah.
“I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life.”
, quoted in [2007-04-04, Romney's Hunting Experience Limited to Two Trips, Despite Claims, Fox News, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264026,00.html]
2007 campaign for Republican nomination for United States President
Faith in America speech, 2007
2016, Remarks on Donald Trump and the 2016 race
The, uh, the streets are just right. I like the fact that most of the cars I see are Detroit-made automobiles. I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually.
[2012-02-24, Mitt, Michigan and a Couple of Cadillacs, Charles M., Blow, The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/opinion/blow-mitt-romney-michigan-and-a-couple-of-cadillacs.html, 2012-07-03]
2012
Senate remarks on the Trump impeachment trial (2020)
I am a profoundly religious person. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the President, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong.
Senate remarks on the Trump impeachment trial (2020)
