The Real Romney (44 page)

Notes

The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

Prologue

6 “There is no leader”: A. F. Mahan, “Busy George Romney Can’t Resist Challenge,” Associated Press, February 8, 1962.

7 “Politics is like washing diapers”: Niraj Warikoo, “Wife of Former Governor Had Opinions of Her Own,”
Detroit Free Press
, July 8, 1998.

Chapter 1: Praying for a Miracle

11 Now, in 1946: Neil Swidey, “Lessons of the Father,”
The Boston Globe Magazine
, August 13, 2006.

11 She needed a major operation: George Romney, letter to his family, March 13, 1947. Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, call number 852178 Aa 2.

12 “I remember my father’s face”: Interview with Jane Romney, 2006.

12 “long and heated arguments”: Clark Raymond Mollenhoff,
George Romney
,
Mormon in Politics
(New York: Meredith Press, 1968), 44.

12 “never marry him”: Ibid., 45.

13 “Miss Lenore LaFount”: “Inspiring Lives: George Romney,” http://byutv.org/watch/31c61253-ffe4-42ad-808d-e3b3486c1c7e#!page=2&season=All-Seasons.

13 “the biggest sale”: George W. Romney,
The Concerns of a Citizen
(New York: Putnam, 1968), 259.

13 “never had any regrets”: “Fate Changed Mrs. Romney’s Plan to Become a Film Star,”
The Holland (Michigan)
Evening Sentinel
, February 24, 1962, p. 4.

13 “This was the legend”: Interview with Jane Romney.

13 He left his lobbyist job: Mollenhoff,
George Romney
, 44–48.

14 “We consider it a blessing”: George Romney, letter to his family, March 13, 1947, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, call number 852178 Aa 2.

15 In 1953: “Republicans: The Citizen’s Candidate,”
Time
, November 16, 1962, www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829375,00.html.

15 “We’re going to make”: Mitt Romney,
Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games
(Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2007), 11.

15 One of the keys: Mollenhoff,
George Romney
, 118–119.

16 “If Ramblers are such great cars”: Interview with Scott Romney, 2007.

16 thirty miles per gallon: Mollenhoff,
George Romney
, 103; “Autos: Gamble on the Rambler,”
Time
, December 19, 1955; U.S. Department of Transportation, “Summary of Fuel Economy Performance,” April 28, 2011, www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/rulemaking/pdf/cafe/2011_Summary_Report.pdf.

16 30-cents-per-gallon gas: The price of gas was about 30 cents a gallon in 1955. The inflation calculation comes from www.westegg.com/inflation/.

17 “It was more like”: Romney,
Turnaround
, 11–12.

17 When Mitt was fourteen years old: Arthur O’Shea and Bert Emanuele, “Mormons: Each a Teacher, Each Taught,”
Detroit Free Press
, April 16, 1961.

17 “Dream and dream big”: Romney,
The Concerns of a Citizen
, 263–267.

17–18 “I grew up idolizing him”: Romney,
Turnaround
, 11.

18 “Dad was more settled”: Interview with Jane Romney. George Romney appeared on the cover of
Time
on November 16, 1962.

18 “a real breakthrough”: “Back at the Mansion,”
Time
, January 11, 1963.

18 “the Bickersons”: Interview with Tagg Romney, 2007.

18 “a loner”: Brock Brower, “Puzzling Front Runner,”
Life
, May 5, 1967.

19 Mitt wanted no repeat: Jack Thomas, “Ann Romney’s Sweetheart Deal,”
The Boston Globe
, October 20, 1994.

19 “Mitt’s more like”: Interview with Jane Romney.

19 When George held: Neil Swidey and Michael Paulson, “Touched by Tragedy, a Leader Emerges from a Life of Privilege,”
The Boston Globe
, June 24, 2007.

20 “one of the most enchanted”: www.cranbrookart.edu/Pages/History.html.

20 “He was tall”: Swidey and Paulson, “Touched by Tragedy, a Leader Emerges from a Life of Privilege.”

20 “Mitt is doing well”: Mitt Romney 1961 report card, Cranbrook School, www.boston.com/news/daily/24/romney_reportcard.pdf.

21 “He came up to the car”: Interview with Graham McDonald, 2011.

21 “was genuinely distressed”: Interview with Gregg Dearth, 2011.

22 “It was definitely looked upon”: Interview with Sidney Barthwell, 2011. Barthwell, the lone black in Romney’s class, went on to become a magistrate judge in Michigan as well as a successful runner.

22 had cramped up: Interview with Graham McDonald.

22 “It is something”: Interview with Gregg Dearth.

22 running through the New Hampshire woods: “Ad Watch: Romney’s ‘Leadership’ and Lakeside Jog,”
The Washington Post
, August 8, 2007, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/channel–08/2007/08/ad_watch_romneys_leadership_an.html.

22 George agreed to work with: Mollenhoff,
George Romney
, 163–167, 173; recession information at http://recession.org/history/early-1960s-recession.

23 “You know, I think”: “Cover Story,” New England Cable News, October 31, 2002.

23 George decided: Mollenhoff,
George Romney
, 167.

23 “I would introduce myself”: Romney,
Turnaround
, 12.

23 “You can’t find”: Tom Wicker, “Kennedy Assails G.O.P. over Trade; in Detroit Speech, He Says Republicans Impeded Bill,”
The New York Times
, October 7, 1962.

23 But even President Kennedy: Romney would have many interactions later in life with the Kennedy family. He would lose a Senate race to President Kennedy’s brother Edward but then, as governor, work with him on health care legislation.

24 a pamphlet: “Who Is the Real George Romney?” (Detroit: Michigan AFL-CIO, 1966).

24 “too much as a business party”: “The Citizen’s Candidate,”
Time
, November 16, 1962.

24 “Romney Son”: Swidey and Paulson, “Touched by Tragedy, a Leader Emerges from a Life of Privilege.”

24 “It was lots more fun”: “Mitt Romney Keeps Vigil as Clock Is Running Out; Hears Dad Argue, Win Point with Solons,”
The Benton Harbor (Michigan) News-Palladium
, December 19, 1963.

25 “They would hug”: Interview with Dick Milliman, 2007.

25 “like living in a drama”: Interview with Jane Romney.

25 “The rights of some”: Mollenhoff,
George Romney
, 235.

25 “Dogmatic ideological parties”: Ibid., 230.

26 “A liberal in his treatment”: “BYUtv—Inspiring Lives: George Romney,” http://byutv.org/watch/31c61253-ffe4-42ad-808d-e3b3486c1c7e#!page=2&season=All-Seasons.

26 When Mitt was asked: Mitt Romney, appearance on
Meet the Press
, December 16, 2007. During the same appearance, Romney incorrectly said that his father had marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.

27 “It was primarily”: Interview with Sidney Barthwell, Jr.

27 During one of his father’s: Interview with Scott Romney.

28 Mitt had first met Ann: “Mitt Talks About Ann,” http://web.archive.org/web/20080215013646/http://www.mittromney.com/Learn-About-Mitt/Photo-Album/The-Romney-Family/Mittxs_Tribute_to_Ann.

28 “I caught his eye”: Thomas, “Ann Romney’s Sweetheart Deal.”

28 “I fell in love”: Mitt Romney campaign ad, 2002.

28 Mitt learned to keep up: Thomas, “Ann Romney’s Sweetheart Deal.”

28 “no matter where he was”: Ibid.

29 Her father: “Mitt Romney Marries Ann Davies,”
The New York Times
, March 22, 1969.

29 “creative genius”: Thomas, “Ann Romney’s Sweetheart Deal.”

29 “Dad,” said Ann’s older brother: Interview with Roderick Davies, 2007.

30 “What,” she asked: Interview with Mitt Romney, 2007.

Chapter 2: Following the Call

31 “I believe”: Mitt Romney, speech on faith, Houston, Texas, December 6, 2007.

33 as many as five children: There are differing accounts on how many children came with the Romneys. The report of five children comes from the Mormon church’s ancestry web site, www.familysearch.org, which names five children who were born in England and died in the United States, although it is possible that some arrived separately from their parents. The five were George, Elizabeth, Sarah, Joseph, and Ellen. See Miles Romney family tree at https://www.familysearch.org/search/treeDetails/show?uri=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch.org%2Fpal%3A%2FMM9.2.1%2FMB23-ZR3.

33 “master mechanic”: Thomas Cottam Romney,
Life Story of Miles P. Romney
(Independence, Missouri: Zion, 1948), 7.

33 “a pillar of light”: “Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,104-1-3-4,00.html.

33 “divine pronouncement”: “Truth Restored,” www.lds.org/manual/truth-restored/chapter-13-years-of-endurance?lang=eng.

34 several dozen wives: Fawn McKay Brodie,
No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet
(New York: Vintage, 1995), 457–488.

34 “despotism”: Ibid., 381.

34 “We are earnestly seeking”:
Nauvoo (Illinois)
Expositor
, June 7, 1844, www.solomonspalding.com/docs/exposit1.htm.

34 The Nauvoo City Council: The order to destroy the Nauvoo
Expositor
is at http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/carthage/expositororder.html.

34 “point of a bayonet”: “William Farrington Cahoon, 1813–1897,” www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/WFCahoon.html. Just as the Romneys fled, Miles’s sister, five-year-old Ellen, died of an illness on February 24, 1846; see www.familysearch.org/search/treeDetails/show?uri=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch.org%2Fpal%3A%2FMM9.2.1%2FMB23-ZR3.

34 twenty thousand: “Nauvoo, Illinois: 1839–1846,” http://lds.org/gospellibrary/pioneer/02_Nauvoo.html.

35 Instead, the Romneys fled: Romney,
Life Story of Miles P. Romney
, 18–19. Ellen Romney died May 12, 1846, according to http://awt.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=flakey&id=I555148915&ti=5542.

35 And the elder Romney: Romney,
Life Story of Miles P. Romney
, 8.

35 “twin relics of barbarism”: www.ushistory.org/gop/convention_1856republicanplatform.htm.

35 desertion: One of those who deserted was a Prussian émigré, Carl Heinrich Wilcken. After he converted to Mormonism, his daughter married the son of a Mormon leader. That couple, Dora and Helaman Pratt, would be one set of Mitt Romney’s great-grandparents.