Mitt Romney

I was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 12, 1947. After graduating from Cranbrook School, I went to Stanford University. My sophomore year, I transferred to Brigham Young University to pursue my high school sweetheart, Ann … whom I married nearly 38 years ago and with whom I’ve had five boys – Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben and Craig, who in turn married five wonderful women – Jen, Laurie, Jen, Andelyne and Mary – and we now have ten beautiful grandchildren.

After graduating with highest honors from BYU in 1971, I wanted to go to business school, but my dad wanted me to go to law school. We ended up reaching a compromise: I did both … by enrolling in a joint program between Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. I graduated cum laude from law school and in the top 5% of my business school class, and then joined the Boston Consulting Group.

In 1978, I moved to Bain and Company, a Boston-based management consulting firm. And, in 1984, I founded Bain Capital, a venture capital firm that has launched hundreds of companies on a successful course, including Staples, Domino's Pizza, and The Sports Authority. Later, when the 2002 Winter Olympics was facing a financial crisis, I was asked to help turn the Games around in Salt Lake City.

Over the last four years, I’ve had the privilege of serving as the Governor of Massachusetts, where I balanced the budget every year of my administration; strengthened the education system so that young people could compete for good paying jobs in the global economy; and enacted a private, market-based health care reform which ensured that every Massachusetts citizen will have insurance. And, as of February 13, I’m running for the Presidency of the United States.