Mitt Romney (b. 1947)

Talk to Mitt Romney

Have a conversation with this historical figure through AI

Biography

Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and retired politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.

In Their Own Words (5)

And I hear from time to time people say, hey, wait a second, we have civil liberties we have to worry about. But don't forget the most important civil liberty I expect from my government is my right to be kept alive, and that's what we're going to have to do.

Fox News, Republican Presidential Candidate Debate, Durham, NH, 2007-09-05 , 2007

Let ISIS take out Assad, he said, and then we can pick up the remnants. Think about that: Let the most dangerous terror organization the world has ever known take over a country? This is recklessness in the extreme.

About Donald Trump's statements about Syria and ISIS on ''''. , 2016

Rick Perry: But, you know, I'm just saying, you were for individual mandates, my friend.Mitt Romney: You know what, you've raised that before, Rick, uh, and you're still wrong.Rick Penny: It was true then. And it's true now.Mitt Romney: Rick, I'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet?

ABC News Republican Debate, , quoted in cite web , 2011

America needs a president who can fix the economy because he understands the economy, and I do and I will.

cite web , 2012

"A very large portion of my party,” he told me one day, “really doesn’t believe in the Constitution."

Interviewed by McKay Coppins for his biography Romney: A Reckoning, as cited in an extract published as "What Mitt Romney Saw in the Senate", The Atlantic (September 13, 2023) , 2023

Timeline

The story of Mitt Romney, told in moments.

1984 Event

Co-founds Bain Capital, a private equity firm. Over the next 15 years, it invests in Staples, Sports Authority, and Domino's Pizza. Returns average over 100% annually. He becomes very, very rich. The methods become campaign liabilities later.

Was Bain Capital's 100% annual returns worth the later political liability? Did investing in Staples and Domino's feel like building or strip-mining? Was becoming very rich the goal or a side effect?

2002 Life

Takes over the Salt Lake City Olympic organizing committee after a bribery scandal threatens the 2002 Winter Games. He cuts the budget, secures sponsors, and delivers a successful Olympics. The rescue makes him a national figure.

Was rescuing the Salt Lake City Olympics your finest achievement? Did cutting the budget and delivering a successful Games prove your management? Was that the moment you became a national figure?

2012 Event

Loses the presidential election to Barack Obama. A leaked video of him dismissing "47 percent" of voters as dependent on government becomes the defining moment of the campaign. He carries 24 states. Not enough.

Did the '47 percent' video define your candidacy unfairly? Was losing to Obama inevitable or preventable? Were 24 states enough to feel you competed?

2020 Life

Votes to convict Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial. The only Republican senator to do so. He cites his faith. His party turns on him. He doesn't run for re-election in 2024. The Republican who ran for president in 2012 is unrecognizable to the party of 2024.

Was voting to convict Trump the loneliest moment of your career? Did your party turning on you confirm or challenge your faith? Is the Republican of 2012 unrecognizable to the party of 2024?