Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman who served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. He was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential elections.
Romney was born in Detroit, Michigan. He married Ann Davies in 1969, with whom he has had five children. In that year, he graduated from Brigham Young University and, in 1975, Harvard. Romney then entered the management consulting industry and in 1977 he secured a position at Bain & Company. In 1984, he cofounded and led the spin-off company Bain Capital. His considerable net worth, estimated in 2012 at $190–250 million, helped finance his prior political campaigns.
After stepping down from Bain Capital and his local leadership role in the Mormon church, he ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 Massachusetts election for U.S. Senate. Upon losing to longtime incumbent Ted Kennedy, he resumed his position at Bain Capital. Years later, a successful stint as President and CEO of the 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 enact into law the Massachusetts health care reform legislation. Romney did not seek re-election in 2006, instead focusing on his campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. He won several primaries and caucuses but lost out to the eventual nominee, Senator John McCain. In 2011, he began campaigning for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, eventually winning enough caucuses and primaries to be nominated. In doing so, Romney became the first Mormon to be a major party presidential nominee. He was defeated by incumbent President Barack Obama in the November 2012 general election.
Alternate versions of Mitt Romney have been discovered in the multiverse:
- Mitt Romney, 48th Vice President of the United States (A Better Man)
- Mitt Romney, 44th President of the United States (Al Gore Wins Florida)
- Mitt Romney, 45th President of the United States (American Destiny)
- Mitt Romney, 45th President of the United States (Believe in America)
- Mitt Romney, 47th Vice President of the United States and 70th Governor of Massachusetts (Bush '92)
- Mitt Romney, current United States Senator from Utah and 70th Governor of Massachusetts (Byrd Timeline)
- Mitt Romney, 45th President of the United States (CMC-1962)
- Mitt Romney (obsolete), 45th Vice President of the United States (Carpe Diem)
- Mitt Romney, former President of the United States (Crimson Days)
- Mitt Romney, 42nd President of the United States (FDRs Two Term Presidency)
- Mitt Romney, former President of the United States (Harb al-Naar)
- Mitt Romney, 43rd Prime Minister of the United States (King of America)
- Mitt Romney, former President of the United States (LBJ not JFK)
- Mitt Romney, 45th Governor of Michigan and two-time Nationalist Party candidate for President (Napoleon's World)
- Mitt Romney, 48th Vice President of the United States, 36th Secretary of Commerce, and 70th Governor of Massachusetts (New World Democracy)
- Mitt Romney, 70th Governor of Massachusetts (President McCain)
- Mitt Romney, 45th President of the United States and 70th Governor of Massachusetts (Romney's America)
- Mitt Romney, Businessman undergoing extradition from the UK (Space Race Didn't End)
- Mitt Romney, 45th President of the United States (The Glass Ceiling)
- Mitt Romney, 45th President of the United States (One Last Stand)
He also figures prominently in: