Mitt Romney

Romney married Ann Lois Davies in March 1969, and the couple has five sons: Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben, and Craig. Both Mitt and Ann Romney are longtime members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and their prominent public life brought increased national attention to their faith.

Born in Detroit and raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Romney is the son of George Romney, who served as governor of Michigan in the 1960s and sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1968. Romney attended the Cranbrook School and served for two years as a Mormon missionary in France. He completed his undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University in 1971 before graduating from a joint degree program at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School in 1975.

Romney began his career in management consulting at Bain & Company, eventually rising to become the firm's chairman. In 1984, he co-founded the private equity investment firm Bain Capital, directing investments and expanding the business into a major financial enterprise. He entered elective politics in 1994, challenging longtime incumbent Ted Kennedy for a United States Senate seat in Massachusetts, though he was defeated in the general election.

In 1999, Romney took over leadership of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee after preparations for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games were plagued by ethical scandals and budget shortfalls. He overhauled the management, stabilized financing, and oversaw the delivery of the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. He later documented his management strategy and restructuring efforts in his 2004 book, Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games.

Romney leveraged the success of the Salt Lake City Games into a run for public office, winning election as governor of Massachusetts in 2002. Taking office in 2003, he governed alongside a heavily Democratic state legislature and eliminated a projected $3 billion state budget deficit.

His signature legislative achievement in office came in 2006, when he signed a comprehensive healthcare reform bill into law. The statute established near-universal health coverage for state residents through an individual mandate, health insurance exchanges, and state subsidies for lower-income individuals. He chose not to seek a second term as governor in 2006.

Romney launched his first campaign for the presidency during the 2008 Republican primary cycle. He won multiple state contests, including primaries in Massachusetts, Utah, and Minnesota, before withdrawing from the race after John McCain secured the delegate lead. In 2010, Romney published No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, which reached The New York Times bestseller list.

Romney ran again for president in 2012, securing the Republican nomination after winning key early primaries and amassing 2,061 delegates by the national convention in Tampa, Florida. He selected Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential running mate. In the general election campaign against incumbent President Barack Obama, Romney won praise for his performance in the first debate in Denver, but lost the general election in November after Obama carried the majority of the electoral and popular votes.

Following the retirement announcement of Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, Romney entered the 2018 Senate race in Utah. He won the Republican primary in June and the general election that November against Democrat Jenny Wilson, taking office in January 2019.

During his Senate term, Romney frequently clashed with President Donald Trump. In February 2020, at the conclusion of Trump's first impeachment trial, Romney voted to convict the president on the charge of abuse of power, making him the first senator in United States history to vote to remove a president from his own political party. In September 2023, Romney announced that he would not seek reelection, stating a desire to make way for a new generation of leaders when his term concludes in 2025.