Biography: Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney grew up in politics. His father was the governor of Michigan, a cabinet secretary in the Nixon Administration, and ran an unsuccessful race for president himself. His mother ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate herself in 1970. Romney attended Harvard and settled in Massachusetts where he became a multi-millionaire running an investment firm. He ran for U.S. Senate in 1994 against Sen. Ted Kennedy, staking out liberal positions on social issues like gay rights and abortion. He sunk more than $3 million of his own money into the race, but ended up losing by 17 points.

He headed the 2002 Olympic Committee, then after some speculation about whether he would run for office in Michigan or Utah, returned to Massachusetts to run against fellow Republican and Acting Governor Jane Swift. He again ran to the left, promising not to upset Massachusetts laws dealing with abortion. He spent $6.3 million on this campaign and won a narrow victory. He almost immediately began planning his presidential race and took 14 trips to early primary states in the last year of his gubernatorial term. He decided against running for reelection. His campaign has been marked by uncertainty and changing views on any number of issues to appeal to the right wing base. Among other things, he has changed his mind on abortion twice, changed his mind on gay marriage and civil unions, and waffled on gay adoption.