Mitt Romney

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Template:Future election candidate

Mitt Romney
70th Governor of Massachusetts
In office
January 2, 2003 – January 4, 2007
LieutenantKerry Healey
Preceded byJane M. Swift (acting)
Succeeded byDeval Patrick
Personal details
Born (1947-03-12) March 12, 1947 (age 77)
Template:Country data USA-MI Detroit, Michigan
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAnn Romney
Alma materBrigham Young University

Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12 1947, usually known as Mitt), was the 70th Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Elected in 2002, Romney served one term and did not seek re-election in 2006; his term ended January 4, 2007.[1] Romney has started his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, having formally announced his candidacy on February 13, 2007. He made his announcement at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.[2]

Romney is a former CEO of Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, and the co-founder of Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm. Prior to Bain, he worked for The Boston Consulting Group. Romney is credited with reviving the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah from near bankruptcy as the Salt Lake Olympic Committee's CEO and organizer after scandal led to financial disarray.

Biography

Romney was born March 12, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. He is the son of former Michigan Governor, Housing and Urban Development Secretary, American Motors chairman, and presidential candidate George W. Romney and 1970 U.S. Senate candidate Lenore Romney.

Romney married his high school sweetheart, Ann Davies in 1968. They have five sons (Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben, and Craig) and ten grandchildren. Ann Romney was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998.[3] The Romneys are practicing members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Romney has three siblings: Lynn, Jane, and G. Scott. He was named after hotel magnate J. Willard Marriott, his father's best friend,[4] and Milton "Mitt" Romney, a relative who played football for the Chicago Bears.[5]

Early life and education

Mitt Romney graduated from the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills (now Cranbrook Kingswood School). He met his future wife, Ann Davies, when she was at the Kingswood School.

After attending Stanford University for two quarters, Romney served in France for 30 months as an LDS (Mormon) missionary.[6] Upon returning from France he transferred to Brigham Young University, where he was valedictorian, earning his B.A. summa cum laude in 1971. In 1975, Romney graduated from a joint JD/MBA program coordinated between Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. He graduated cum laude from the law school and was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top five percent of his business school class.[7]

Business career

After graduating from Harvard, Romney went to work for the Boston Consulting Group, where he had interned during the summer of 1974.[8] From 1978 to 1984, Romney was a vice president of Bain & Company, Inc., another Boston-based management consulting firm. In 1984, Romney left the company to co-found Bain Capital, which quickly became a highly successful private equity investment firm.[9]

In 1990, Romney was asked to return to Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse. As CEO, Romney managed an effort to restructure the firm's employee stock-ownership plan, real-estate deals and bank loans, while increasing fiscal transparency. Within a year, he had led Bain & Company through a highly successful turnaround and returned the firm to profitability without layoffs or partner defections.[10]

Following his year at Bain & Company, Romney returned to Bain Capital. During the 14 years he headed the company, Bain Capital's average annual internal rate of return on realized investments was 113 percent.[10] During Romney's tenure, the firm founded, acquired or invested in hundreds of companies including Staples, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Brookstone, Domino's, Sealy Corporation and The Sports Authority [2]. Romney now refers to Bain as a venture capital firm, but its main business is conducting leveraged buyouts.[11] It became one of the top five private equity firms in the nation.[11]

Romney left Bain Capital in 1998 to head the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games Organizing Committee. His net worth has been estimated as at least $500 million USD.[12]

CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee

Romney served as president and CEO of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games held in Salt Lake City. In 1999, the event was running $379 million short of its revenue benchmarks. Plans were being made to scale back the games in order to compensate for the fiscal crisis.[13] The Games were also damaged by allegations of bribery involving top officials, including then Salt Lake Olympic Committee (SLOC) President and CEO Frank Joklik. Joklik and SLOC vice president Dave Johnson were forced to resign.[14]

On February 11, 1999, Romney was hired as the new president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.[15] Romney revamped the organization's leadership and policies, reduced budgets and boosted fundraising. He also worked to ensure the safety of the Games following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 by coordinating a $300 million security budget.[16] Despite the initial fiscal shortfall, the Games ended up clearing a profit of $100 million.[17] Following the conclusion of the Games, President George W. Bush praised Romney's management.[18]

Romney contributed $1 million to the Olympics, and donated the $825,000 ($275,000 per annum) salary he earned as President and CEO to charity.[19] He wrote a book about his experience called Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership and the Olympic Games (ISBN 0895260840).

Massachusetts political campaigns

Campaign for United States Senate, 1994 election

In 1994, Romney won the Massachusetts Republican Party's nomination for U.S. Senate after defeating businessman John Lakian in the primary.[20] Romney's mother had run for the Senate in 1970.[21] Some early polls showed Romney only slightly behind Senator Ted Kennedy.[citation needed] One Boston Herald/WCVB-TV poll taken after the September 20, 1994 primary showed Romney ahead 44 percent to 42 percent, within the poll's sampling margin of error.[22]

After Romney touted his business credentials and his record at creating jobs within his company, Kennedy ran campaign ads showing an Indiana company bought out by Romney's firm, Bain Capital, and interviews with its union workers who had been fired and criticized Romney for the loss of their jobs, one saying, "I don’t think Romney is creating jobs because he took every one of them away."[11][23] According to figures in The Almanac of American Politics 1996, which relies on official campaign finance reports, Romney spent over $7 million of his own money, with Kennedy spending more than $10 million, mostly in the last weeks of the campaign. (This was the second-most expensive race of the 1994 election cycle, after the Dianne Feinstein vs. Michael Huffington Senate race in California.)[24] Kennedy won the election with 58 percent of the vote to Romney's 41 percent. The 17-percentage point winning margin was the smallest in Kennedy's nine election contests for the Senate through 2006.[25]

Senator Kennedy tried to make a campaign issue of the Mormon church's views on blacks and women, but after Romney said he was not running to be "spokesman of my church," Kennedy stopped bringing up the Mormon issue.[26]

Campaign for Governor, 2002 election

Main article: Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2002

In 2002, Republican Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift was expected to campaign for the governor's office. Swift had served as acting governor after Republican Governor Paul Cellucci resigned upon being appointed U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Swift was viewed as an unpopular executive, and her administration was plagued by political missteps and personal scandals.[27] Many Republicans viewed her as a liability and considered her unable to win a general election against a Democrat.[28] Prominent GOP activists campaigned to persuade Romney to run for governor.[29] One poll taken at this time showed that Republicans favored Romney over Swift by more than 50 percentage points.[30] With growing speculation that Romney would challenge Swift in a bruising primary battle, Swift decided not to seek her party's nomination.

Massachusetts Democratic Party officials claimed that Romney was ineligible to run for governor, citing residency issues. The Massachusetts Constitution requires seven consecutive years of residency prior to a run for office. Romney claimed residency in Utah from 1999 to 2002, during his time as president of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee. In 1999 he listed himself as a part-time Massachusetts resident.[31] The Massachusetts Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission, which eventually ruled that Romney was eligible to run for office. The ruling was not challenged in court.[32]

During the general election Romney ran on a reform platform; a major issue in the election was the state budget crisis. Supporters of Romney hailed his business record, especially his success with the 2002 Olympics, as that of one who would be able to bring in a new era of efficiency into Massachusetts politics.[33] Romney contributed $6.3 million to his own campaign during the election, at the time a state record.[34] Romney was elected Governor in November 2002 with 50 percent of the vote over Democratic candidate Shannon O'Brien, who received 45 percent.[35]

Governor of Massachusetts, 2003–2007

Main article: Governorship of Mitt Romney


Romney was sworn in as the 70th governor of Massachusetts on January 2, 2003, along with Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey. Romney personally declined to be compensated for his services during his one term as governor, but has been criticized by the group Common Cause for the many out of state trips he has taken, stating that he used state resources to promote his own political career as well as other GOP candidates.

Mary Boyle of Common Cause stated "The people of Massachusetts are essentially funding his presidential campaign, whether they like it or not..." Former Governor Michael Dukakis criticized Romney for using Massachusetts State Troopers as security on his travels, as he never traveled with one during his 1988 presidential run, and stated that Romney's campaign should reimburse the state. [36]

On December 14, 2005, Romney announced that he would not seek re-election for a second term as governor, fueling speculation about a run for the White House in 2008.[37] Romney's term ended January 4, 2007. Romney filed papers to establish a formal exploratory presidential campaign committee the next to last day in office as governor.[38]

Campaign for United States President, 2008 election

File:RomneyTime.JPG
Romney on the May 21 2007 cover of TIME magazine
Main article: Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2008

Since his appearance at the 2004 Republican National Convention, Romney had been discussed as a potential 2008 presidential candidate.[39] On January 3 2007, two days before he stepped down as governor of Massachusetts, Romney filed to form a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission.[40][41] On February 13, 2007 Romney formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008.

On April 2 2007, in a surprise to political watchers the "Romney for President" campaign announced it had raised $23 million during the first 3 months of 2007, ahead of GOP competitors (McCain and Giuliani), and behind Senator Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) $26 million and Senator Barack Obama's (D-IL) $25 million.[42][43]

Romney participated in the first 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate on May 3, 2007 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library along with the other Republican presidential contenders. Romney also participated in the second 2008 Republican Candidates Debate on May 15, 2007 at the University of South Carolina.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Mitt Romney

Romney now holds pro-life views, though in 1994 he supported abortion rights in Massachusetts, which he says was a result of having a sister-in-law die as the result of an illegal abortion. [44][45][46] In the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign, he was endorsed by the Republicans for Choice coalition.[47] In a March 15 2007 interview with Larry King, Romney explained that while governor he adapted his political position on abortion when the idea of cloning human embryos for the purpose of harvesting stem cells became an issue of debate in his state.[48]

He supports the death penalty, charter schools, and sentencing under the three strikes law.[49][50][51]

During his 1994 run for the senate against Kennedy, Romney sent a letter to the Log Cabin Republicans, where he was quoted as saying he would be more supportive of gay rights than Kennedy himself. His letter included the phrase "We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern."[52] However, he opposed both same-sex marriage and civil unions in Massachusetts; when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered such marriages be permitted, he lobbied for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision. He has renounced his past support for domestic partnership benefits.[53][54] He has been criticized by some in the right wing, particularly Paul Weyrich, as being a "flip flopper" on this and other issues.

Electoral history

  • 2002 Race for Governor, Massachusetts
  • 1994 Race for U.S. Senate, Massachusetts
    • Edward Kennedy (D) (incumbent), 58%
    • Mitt Romney (R), 41%
    • Lauraleigh Dozier (L), 0.7%
    • William Ferguson, 0.2%

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Phillips, Frank and Helman, Scott. "It's 1 term for Romney; he says 'future is open'" The Boston Globe, December 15, 2005), retrieved October 28, 2006.
  2. ^ Romney formally announces run for president Boston Globe, February 13, 2007
  3. ^ "The woman behind the man in charge of the Salt Lake Games" Cable News Network Interview transcript of February 11, 2002 08:04; retrieved October 28, 2006.
  4. ^ Wheaton, Sarah. "Romney Appeals to Core Audience." The New York Times, 28 January 2007.
  5. ^ AP. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061124/POLITICS/611240358/1022, November 24, 2006, retrieved December 25, 2006.
  6. ^ Miller, John J. "Matinee Mitt." National Review, June 20 2005.-
  7. ^ AP. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061124/POLITICS/611240358/1022, November 24, 2006, retrieved December 25, 2006.
  8. ^ Lewis, Raphael and Helman, Scott. "Romney Cultivating Jewish Ties" Boston Globe, November 8 2005, retrieved October 28, 2006.
  9. ^ Pappu, Sridhar. "The Holy Cow! Candidate", The Atlantic Monthly, September 2005, retrieved October 28, 2006.
  10. ^ a b Rees, Matthew. "Mister PowerPoint Goes to Washington" The American, December 1, 2006, retrieved December 16, 2006.
  11. ^ a b c "Romney’s Presidential Run Puts Spotlight on Bain Capital", New York Times DealBook, June 4, 2007.
  12. ^ http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov2terminal&L=2&L0=Home&L1=Romney%20Team&sid=Agov2&f=gov_mittromneybio_homepage&csid=Agov2&b=terminalcontent
  13. ^ Carp, Steve (July 22, 2001). "Romney's efforts credited for saving Salt Lake Games". Las Vegas Review Journal. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ "Salt Lake Olympics rocked by resignations, evidence of payments" CNN.com, January 8, 1999, retrieved October 28, 2006.
  15. ^ Call, Jeff "'The Fire Within" BYU Magazine, Winter 2002, retrieved October 28, 2006.
  16. ^ Rice, Lewis. "Games Saver" Harvard Law Bulletin, Spring 2002, retrieved October 28, 2006.
  17. ^ "SLOC plotting how to dole out Olympics profits". Associated Press. September 17, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. ^ Bush, George W. "President Congratulates Olympic and Paralympic Athletes: Remarks by the President to the Olympians and Paralympians" whitehouse.gov, Office of the Press Secretary, April 23, 2002, retrieved October 28, 2006.
  19. ^ Eastland, Terry "In 2008, Will It Be Mormon in America?" The Weekly Standard June 6, 2005, retrieved October 28, 2006.
  20. ^ Gizzi, John "Romney and Rebellion" Human Events Publishing, May 17, 2004; retrieved October 29, 2004
  21. ^ "The Real Romney?". YouTube. October, 1994. Retrieved 2007-06-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Gordon, Al. "Kennedy in Fight Of His Political Life" Newsday (Nassau and Suffoklk edition), pg. A04, October 2, 1994; retrieved October 29, 2006.
  23. ^ Hall, Mike (May 31, 2007). "Romney's 'Business Experience': Firing Workers, Hiring Them Back at Lower Wages". AFL/CIO. AFL/CIO Blog. Retrieved 2007-06-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ Miller, Jerry (April 24, 2000). "Record Fundraising". CNSNews. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  25. ^ Taranto, James. [http:/www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007755 "Latter-day President?: A Mitt Romney candidacy would test the religious right"] The Wall Street Journal Saturday, December 31, 2005; retrieved October 29, 2006.
  26. ^ Allen, Mike (November 26 2006). "A Mormon as President?". Time. Retrieved 2007-06-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ Associated Press. "Massachusetts's first female governor takes office, under heavy statewide scrutiny" The Daily Texan, April 11, 2001; retrieved October 29, 2006.
  28. ^ Frank, Mitch. "Jane Swift Takes One For the Team:The Massachusetts GOP took a risk by choosing Mitt Romney over the more progressive Swift. Will their decision come back to haunt them?" Time Magazine, Mar. 21, 2002; retrieved Octover 29, 2006.
  29. ^ Berwick Jr, Bob and Roch, Lisa Riley. "Boston GOP beseeching Mitt: But hero of S.L. Games is coy about his future" Deseret News, February 22, 2002; retrieved November 1, 2006.
  30. ^ "Swift exits, Romney joins Mass. governor's race" Cable News Network, March 19, 2002; retrieved October 30, 2006.
  31. ^ Mcelhenny, John (Associated Press) "Romney defends right to run for governor" Portsmouth Herald", Tuesday, June 18, 2002, retrieved November 1, 2006.
  32. ^ Belluck, Pam. "Massachusetts Ballot Panel Allows Race By Republican" New York Times (Abstract) (Page A-17, Col. 4), June 26, 2002, retrieved Nombermber 1, 2006.
  33. ^ "Vote 2002: Massachusetts Governor's Race" PBS Online News Hour (No Date); retrieved November 1, 2006.
  34. ^ "Gabrieli surpasses spending record" Brian C. Mooney Boston Globe; August 22, 2006, Retrieved November 20, 2006.
  35. ^ "2002 Election Results, Govornor" 'CNN.com; retrieved November 1, 2006.
  36. ^ Phillips, Frank (June 21, 2006). "Taxpayers face leap in governor's travel costs". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ Phillips, Frank (2005-12-14). "Romney to announce he won't seek re-election". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2006-11-21.
  38. ^ Estes, Andrea; and Helman, Scott. Romney exits with pomp, ambition: Ends term, takes 1st formal step for White House bid Boston Globe. January 4, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
  39. ^ Bradley, Nina "Is Romney ready for the big time?: Mass. Gov. gets plum prime-time speaking spot during convention MSNBC, August 29, 2004; retrieved October 29, 2006
  40. ^ Cite error: The named reference 010307-FiledwithFEC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  41. ^ Romney Takes Step Toward an ’08 Run New York Times, January 4, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2007.
  42. ^ Romney for President Reports $23 Million In Total Receipts For The First Quarter "Romney for President" April 2, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
  43. ^ Giuliani posts $15 million for presidential campaign, McCain raises $12.5 million in first quarter, Edwards campaign raises $14 million, Clinton raises $26 million for presidential bid "CNN News" April 2, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
  44. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17023959/
  45. ^ http://www.ontheissues.org/Mitt_Romney.htm
  46. ^ Tumulty, Karen What Romney believes Time Magazine, May 10, 2007. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
  47. ^ Ebbert, Stephanie. Clarity sought on Romney's abortion stance The Boston Globe, July 3, 2005.
  48. ^ Larry King Live, March 15, 2007[1]
  49. ^ Lewis, Raphael (April 29, 2005). "Romney files death penalty bill". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  50. ^ Sacchetti, Maria (February 1, 2005). "Romney plan would greatly boost charter schools". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  51. ^ "Mitt Romney on crime". OnTheIssues. [[]], 1994. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  52. ^ "Romney's Gay Rights Stance Draws Ire". New York Times. 2006-12-09. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  53. ^ Phillips, Frank (February 23, 2005). "Romney's stance on civil unions draws fire". LifesiteNews. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  54. ^ Klein, Phillip (March 8, 2007). "When Romney Attacks". American Spectator. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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Preceded by Massachusetts Republican Party gubernatorial candidate
2002 (won) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Jane Swift
(as Acting Governor)
 Governor of Massachusetts
January 2, 2003–January 4, 2007 		Succeeded by
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