- It's working.
Ouch.
- [Narrator] That's Mitt Romney,
what a country club would look like as a person.
He's a senator from Utah.
And, the proud owner of some binders.
Willard Mitt Romney was born in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan.
To George Romney, the self-made millionaire,
successful auto executive,
and three time governor of Michigan.
The family moved from Detroit to the affluent suburb
of Bloomfield Hills by the time Mitt was in kindergarten.
The Romney's come from a long line of Mormons.
Mitt is a sixth-generation member
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He's the great-great-grandson of Miles Romney.
Who converted when the religion was just a few years old.
Today Mitt, his wife Ann, and their five boys,
Tagg with two G's, Matt, Josh, Ben, and Craig,
are deeply subscribed to Mormonism.
- Some believe that such a confession of my faith
will sink my candidacy.
If they're right, so be it.
- [Narrator] In seventh grade Mitt enrolled
at Cranbrook school, an elite boys school
in Bloomfield Hills.
Where the students wore ties and carried briefcases.
♪ But I know something about you ♪
♪ You went to Cranbrook ♪
♪ That's a private school ♪
In Mitt's six years at the school
he was focused on pulling off epic pranks.
He once staged an elaborate fancy dinner
on a busy road, which seems like more of a prank on him,
as roads are possibly the worst place to have dinner.
There was also one reported prank that went too far.
According to the Washington Post,
a new student, one year behind Romney,
was bullied for his presumed homosexuality.
The student had bleached blond hair that fell over one eye,
and Romney just couldn't handle that.
He told a friend, he can't look like that.
That's wrong, just look at him.
Romney reportedly pinned the boy down
and cut his hair as he cried.
Decades later, Romney apologized.
I participated in a lot of high jinks and pranks
during high school, and some might have gone too far.
And, for that, I apologize.
Stick to fancy street dinners, Mitt.
A few days before graduation, Mitt informally asked
his high school sweetheart, Ann Davies, to marry him.
Ann said yes, but she still had two years
left of high school, and Mitt was off to California
to attend classes at Stanford.
Straight-laced Mitt stood out in the 1960s
San Francisco Bay Area like a Vampire Weekend fan
at a Metallica concert.
The LDS student, donning a blazer and tie,
showed up to a city thriving off LSD parties
hosted by the Merry Pranksters.
As protests against the United States
involvement in the Vietnam war grew around campus,
Romney stood on the other side.
He was in favor of the war,
possibly because he received several student deferments.
In 1966, Romney left Stanford for France
where he went door to door as a missionary
in an effort to spread the word about Jesus Christ,
the guy who everyone already knows about.
While Mitt was away, his father ran for President
unsuccessfully, before going to work
in the Nixon administration,
as US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Upon his return from France, Mitt transferred to BYU,
where his high school sweetheart, and recently converted
Mormon, Ann, was taking classes.
They married in an LDS temple,
but Ann's parents weren't allowed inside
because they were not Mormon.
In 1971, Mitt went to graduate school at Harvard,
where he obtained a joint JD/MBA degree.
Graduating in the top 5% of his law class.
From Harvard, Romney entered the world
of financial consulting.
He began at Boston Consulting Group in 1975.
In 1977, he started working at a firm
called Bain and Company.
He spent six years there, before helping found
a new investment firm with Bain and Company,
called Bain Capital.
Romney's time with Bain Capital showed that
he borrowed giant sums of money to take over
failing companies before leaving them with debt.
- There's nothing wrong with profit, by the way.
- [Narrator] In 1994, after making millions and millions
of dollars through questionable business dealings with Bain,
Romney decided to follow in his father's footsteps
and run for Senate.
Romney spent a couple of million dollars
of his own on the campaign, but it wasn't enough.
He told his brother afterwards,
I never want to run for something again unless I can win.
(cheering)
- I have just called President Obama
to congratulate him on his victory.
- [Narrator] In 2002, he ran for Governor of Massachusetts
on a new message of being a normal, run-of-the-mill guy.
TV ads painted an image of Romney
as a cool, shirtless, blue collar dad.
- [Woman] Yeah, he's dad.
But, he's a fabulous grandfather.
- After being the kind of normal dad
who spends $6 million of his own money on a campaign,
Romney won the race and became Governor of Massachusetts.
As Governor, Romney worked hard for the state,
while at the same time positioning himself
for a presidential run.
The Atlantic notes, by his third year in office,
it was apparent Romney's priorities lay elsewhere.
He turned against abortion rights,
and took stands against stem-cell research and gay marriage.
And, began turning up in states like Iowa.
His approval rating dropped to 39%, which is bad.
By 2007, people's suspicions about
Romney's next move were confirmed.
He threw his hat in the presidential race of 2008.
Despite flip-flopping on issues, he won 11 primaries
and caucuses, receiving about 4.7 million votes.
Before falling short to American patriot
and Wedding Crashers actor, John McCain.
But, Romney soon came crawling back,
he jumped into the 2012 presidential race.
And, things were looking good.
He was even endorsed by a former steak salesman.
- So, Governor Romney, go out and get 'em.
- [Narrator] But, according to the former steak salesman,
Romney begged him for the endorsement.
- He was begging for my endorsement.
I coulda said, Mitt, drop to your knees.
He would of dropped to his knees.
- [Narrator] This time Romney secured
the Republican nomination and became the first Mormon
presidential nominee of a major political party.
But, shortly after naming amateur weightlifter
Paul Ryan as his running mate,
a damaging video of Romney surfaced.
- [Mitt] There are 47% of the people who will vote
for the President no matter what.
All right, there are 47% who are with him,
who are dependent upon government,
who believe that they are victims.
Who believe the government has a responsibility
to care for them, who believe that they are entitled
to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.
That that's an entitlement.
And, the government should give it to them.
And, they will vote for this President no matter what.
- [Narrator] After severe backlash,
Romney said, his words were inelegantly stated.
Then, a short time later added,
I said something that's just completely wrong.
He continued his wrong streak in the debates.
- President just said something, which is that,
on the day after the attack, he went in the Rose Garden
and said, that this was an act of terror.
- That's what I said.
- You said, in the Rose Garden, the day after the attack,
it was an act of terror.
- Get the transcript.
- He did in fact, sir.
So, let me call it an act of terrorism.
- Can you say that a little louder Candy?
- [Narrator] Obama won reelection handily.
One thing that certainly didn't help Romney
along the way was the harrowing story
involving his adorable dog.
During a 1983 family vacation, Mitt drove 12 hours
with his Irish setter Seamus, on top of the car.
- My guess is, he liked it a lot better in his kennel
than he would've like it inside.
- [Narrator] During the 650 mile road trip,
Seamus had diarrhea that trickled down
the windows of their station wagon.
Romney pulled over and hosed down the car, and the dog.
It's unclear if he took Seamus out of the kennel,
or just left him up there when he watered him down.
Either way, that seems bad.
When 2016 came, Romney didn't run for President.
But, he was actively launching attacks
on a steak salesman who was.
- Here's what I know, Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud.
His promises are as worthless
as a degree from Trump University.
- [Narrator] When Trump won the 2016 presidential election,
Romney came crawling back to the man he just roasted.
Reportedly in hopes of being Trump's Secretary of State.
- I've had a wonderful evening with President Elect Trump.
- [Narrator] But, Trump went instead with Rex Tillerson.
Who would go on to reportedly call the President a moron.
Knowing he'd need a Republican in the Senate,
Trump put his love/hate relationship with Romney
on hold, and endorsed his 2018 run.
But to win, Romney would have to
shake off his unnerving demeanor.
To many, Romney came across as out of touch.
With an almost animatronic vibe about him.
A former aid chalked it up
to being born into a wealthy family.
He has lived a charmed life, it is a big challenge
that he has, connecting to folks who haven't swum
in the same rarefied waters that he has.
His attempt to connect was ever so apparent
during the 2018 campaign for Senate,
when Romney spoke to supporters the same way
an AI who just found out about meats would.
My favorite meat is hot dog, by the way.
That is my favorite meat.
My second favorite meat is hamburger.
And, everyone says, oh, don't you prefer steak?
It's like, I know steaks are great,
but I like hot dog best, and I like hamburger next best.
His speech on meat, human or not,
may have helped him secure that Senate seat.
Romney easily won with Trump's endorsement.
And then, once again, turned his back on him.
Romney wrote a fiery piece in the Washington Post
berating Trump's character.
The title of the piece, The President Shapes
the Public Character of the Nation.
Trump's Character Falls Short.
The President fired back with a tweet
accusing Romney of being a loser flake.
Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast.
Question will be, is he a flake?
I hope not.
It's unclear with so much back and forth
whether Romney will be leading the Republican resistance
against Trump, or whether he flips back
to the Romney who fights with Trump.
Either way, this guy who just found out about hot dog,
is gearing up for something.