Romney, George W., 1907-1995

Romney Associates was the unit established by George Romney and his campaign staff in his quest of the Republican nomination for President in 1968. This unit was responsible for research, speech writing, press and public relations, scheduling and travel arrangements, and responding to the governor's out-of-state correspondence.

From the description of George W. Romney/Romney Associates subgroup, 1963-1968 (bulk 1967-1968). (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 79295968

Post-gubernatorial subgroup of the George Romney collection documenting Romney's service as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and his involvement with the National Center for Voluntary Action and the Concerned Citizens Movement.

From the description of George W. Romney post-gubernatorial subgroup, 1969-1973. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 81277783

George Wilcken Romney (b. July 8, 1907, Colonia Dublan, Mexico–d. July 26, 1995, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973. He was the father of former Governor of Massachusetts and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and the husband of former Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Lenore Romney.

From the description of Romney, George W., 1907-1995 (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 10583147

George Romney was Republican governor of Michigan, 1963-1968.

From the description of George W. Romney gubernatorial subgroup, 1963-1969. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 85778475

From the description of George Romney gubernatorial subgroup, 1963-1969. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 81804138

President of American Motors, governor of Michigan.

From the description of George W. Romney pre-gubernatorial subgroup, 1939-1962. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 78262462

President of American Motors Corporation, governor of Michigan, 1963-1969, candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 1968, and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 1969-1972.

From the description of George W. Romney papers, 1939-1973. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34421988

Post-gubernatorial series of the George Romney collection documenting Romney's service as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and his involvement with the National Center for Voluntary Action and the Concerned Citizens Movement.

From the description of George W. Romney post-gubernatorial series, 1969-1973. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34421873

George W. Romney was born in a Mormon community in Mex. and grew up in Idaho and Utah. He attended Latter-day Saints Junior College in Salt Lake City, the University of Utah, and George Washington University (GWU). While at GWU, Romney worked in the office of a U.S. senator. During the 1930s, Romney worked as a salesman for Aluminum Co. of America (ALCOA) and, later, as the company's representative in Washington (D.C.). At that time, Romney also served as president of the Washington Trade Assn. Executives. During World War II, he served as managing director of the Automotive Council for War Production and general manager of the Aubomobile Manufacturers Assn. In 1948, Romney joined Nash-Kelvinator Corp. as the president's assistant, becoming executive vice president in 1954. In 1954 the company merged with Hudson Motor Car Co. to form American Motor Corp. (AMC). Romney then served as chairman and president of AMC, 1954-1962. In this capacity, he decided to drop the Nash and Hudson brands, a brilliant decision for the company's success at that time. Romney also played a key role in promoting the use of compact economy cars to save fuel in the U.S. He served as governor of Michigan, 1963-1969, and secretary of the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, 1969-1973. In 1974 he founded the National Volunteer Center which merged in 1991 with the Points of Light Foundation of Pres. George Bush. On July 26, 1995, Romney died of a heart attack at his home in Bloomfield Hills (Mich.). He was survived by his wife, four children, 23 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren. (Information from AMX website, 2004.) Jack Robert Lousma was born on Feb. 29, 1936 in Grand Rapids (Mich.). Lousma graduated from Ann Arbor High School (An Arbor, Mich.), the University of Michigan (1959), and earned a M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (1965). He has also received several honorary doctorates and numerous other awards and honors. Lousma served as a reconnaissance pilot before being assigned to Houston and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. In 1959, he became a Marine Corps officer and later served in Japan. Lousma was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA to serve a s a member of the astronaut support crews for the Apollo 9, 10, and 13 missions in 1966 . He was the pilot for Skylab-3 (1973) and spacecraft commander on STS-3 (1982). Lousma left NASA in 1983. He married Gratia Kay in 1956, with whom he had four children. His 1984 political campaign was unsuccessful. (Information from NASA website, 2004.).

From the description of Speech, 1984. (Clarke Historical Library). WorldCat record id: 54900835

George W. Romney (1907-1995) was a prominent Mormon politician and businessman.

George Wilcken Romney was born July 8, 1907 to Gaskell Romney and Anna Amelia Pratt in Mexico. In 1913, the family moved to Idaho. Romney served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the British Isles in 1926. Romney married LeNore LaFount on July 2, 1931. They had 4 children: Margo Lynn, Jane LaFount, George Scott, and Willard Mitt.

Romney was the president and chairman of the American Motors Corporation. He ran for Governor of Michigan in 1962 and for United States President in 1968, but dropped out of the race. He served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Richard Nixon. He died July 26, 1995 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

From the guide to the George W. Romney personal papers, circa 1943-2007, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)

George Romney was born on July 8, 1907 in Chihuahua, Mexico where his parents had gone to help establish a Mormon colony. Following missionary service in Scotland and England (1927-1928), Romney attended the University of Utah (1929) and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. (1929-1930). He served on the staff of U.S. Senator David I. Walsh in 1929-1930 as a tariff specialist, and afterward as an apprentice with the Aluminum Company of America and the Aluminum Wares Association. In 1931 he married Lenore LaFount.

From 1939 to 1948 Romney was employed by the Automobile Manufacturer's Association, serving as general manager from 1942 to 1948. In 1948 he joined the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, and in 1954 became chairman and president of the newly formed American Motors Corporation.

In 1961, he was elected a Republican delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention, and served as its vice-president. In 1962, Romney decided to seek public office, announcing his candidacy for governor. He easily defeated Democratic incumbent John Swainson. A popular figure with the electorate, Romney was twice reelected. During the later part of his administration, he made a conscious bid for the Republican nomination for president. From about 1966 to 1968, George Romney, governor of Michigan, was an active candidate for the 1968 Republican nomination for president of the United States. Through most of 1967, Romney was in fact front-runner, but his candidacy rapidly faltered and Richard Nixon went on to become President.

Although there have been many reasons advanced for the failure of George Romney's campaign, at least part of the problem can be ascribed to the organizational machinery set up on his behalf, first, to assess his chances, and then, second, to seek delegate support. The fault, according to some national commentators, was the bifurcation of the campaign into two separate, and often, competing organizational arms: Romney Associates, headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, and Romney for President, headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Just when George Romney started thinking about the presidency is not clear. Perhaps the idea formed as a result of the national recognition he received from his leadership of American Motors in the 1950s. To this should be added his demonstrated voter appeal as evidenced by his overwhelming gubernatorial victories in 1962 and again in 1964. Party leaders were beginning to take Romney seriously. No wonder that sometime in 1965, Romney established a small office for himself in the Prudden Building in Lansing to answer the increasing correspondence he was receiving about national political issues, many of which urged him to run for president. After another resounding victory in 1966, Romney decided to have "a hard look" at his chances, and accordingly, he established Romney Associates, moving the files from the Prudden Building into an East Michigan Avenue office and shifting into leadership roles some of his most trusted political and administrative advisors, notably Robert J. McIntosh and Walter DeVries.

As established, Romney Associates was responsible for research, speech writing, press and public relations, scheduling and travel arrangements, and responding to the governor's out-of-state correspondence. At about the same time, believing that he needed a national presence, Romney selected Leonard Hall, former Republican National Chairman, to organize in Washington, D.C. a Romney-for-President Committee. The functions assigned to the Hall group included overall campaign strategy, searching out delegates, bringing together the various state Romney for President groups, preparing mailing lists, maintaining cordial relations with influential members of Congress, and planning for the nominating convention. Perhaps in the two organizations lay the seed of Romney's collapse as a candidate. Because of their geographic separateness and the frequent overlapping of functions, the Romney campaign was marked by internal conflicts and inefficiency. The candidate himself received much of the criticism and his stand on various issues was not as clear-cut as should be expected. Added to this was the resurgence of Richard Nixon as a viable candidate. Unfairly, some might argue, Romney's campaign was dead soon after his official announcement in November 1967; and that following the New Hampshire primary, in February 1968, Romney merely went through the motions, hoping for a political miracle that was not to be.

Following the election of Richard Nixon, Romney resigned as governor and went into the new president's cabinet as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He resigned in 1972 to retire to private life. In his later years, Romney was active in the promotion of citizen involvement in government affairs. George Romney died in 1995.

From the guide to the George Romney Papers, 1939-1973, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)