Overview

"The miracle baby of the former Governor of Michigan, Mitt Romney catapulted to national prominence a decade ago, first as head of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics Organizing Committee, and then as the Republican Governor of the solidly-blue Massachusetts. In this engrossing and eye-opening biography, seasoned ""Boston Globe"" investigative reporters Michael Kranish and Scott Helman - journalists who have covered the candidate for a decade-go beyond the all-American looks and dazzling smile, stump speeches and glossy campaign brochures to reveal the core of the highly successful figure that is so well recognized yet so little known. Based on the ""Globe"" journalists' years of reporting and hundreds of interviews and filled with eight pages of photos, ""The Real Romney"" is a fresh, probing, and fair portrait of this multifaceted man - CEO, politician, dedicated family man, devout Mormon - who made his name and huge fortune as a private equity dealmaker. Kranish and Helman trace Romney's roots from his privileged upbringing and his close, yet complicated relationship with his father. They explore the role of religion in his life, including his missionary service in France and the fatal car crash that profoundly impacted his path. They reveal his close relationships with his children and his wife, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. They analyze Romney's controversial tenure at Bain Capital, one of the world's leading private investment firms. And they provide a thorough examination of his race against Senator Ted Kennedy, his role in the 2002 Olympics, his Massachusetts governorship, and why his 2008 run for president failed. ""The Real Romney"" delves deep into the world of a complex individual now at his most critical juncture, revealing a driven man and the sacrifices and extraordinary lengths he will go to in the name of success, in politics and business. Hard-hitting and illuminating, it offers a solid understanding of the kind of campaign Romney will run in 2012-and the kind of leader he may be if wins."

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9780062123275

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Reviews

The great service of this new biography is that it humanizes Romney. The authors sniff over their subject with bloodhound thoroughness, dredging up old report cards, housing deeds, and family records and videos. They interview seemingly everyone who had contact with Romney in every phase of his life. -- The New York Times Book Review

"""The Real Romney pulls together lots of details into a narrative that's absorbing and fair-minded."" -- Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times ""Balanced and rigorous reporting on Romney's life and career. . . . The authors are especially good on his close relationship with his father, a three-term Michigan governor who unsuccessfully ran for president in 1968."" -- USA Today ""The Real Romney lays out Romney's story in full and clear detail, including fascinating in-depth stuff about his family's history, showing us a Romney for whom family and faith remain unshakable pillars and who knows that his 'power-ally is money.'"" -- The Los Angeles Times ""A timely, balanced new biography. . . . An impressively researched and thought-provoking portrait of a man many Americans may want to know more about in the coming weeks and months."" -- The Boston Globe ""Kranish and Helman are veteran and well-regarded reporters. . . . They give a comprehensive account of the Bain years -- the greatest contribution of their book."" -- Michael Tomasky, The New York Review of Books ""The writers have thoroughly trawled through the would-be-president's history. The book charts the various stages of Romney's polymorphic life in impressive detail. . . . All this is well done. The analysis of Romney's time at Bain is balanced and fair."" -- The Economist ""Kranish and Helman have assembled a genuinely compelling story and a more thorough record of Romney's life than has yet appeared."" -- The Washington Post ""A fascinating story [that] sheds new light on an elusive subject. . . . It illustrates well how in his private life and in business, he has relied on a tight, protective circle all his life."" -- The Financial Times ""A comprehensive and eminently fair-minded biography of the GOP's fitful frontrunner."" -- The New Republic ""An excellent biography."" -- David Frum, The Daily Beast ""Balanced and informative. . . A well-written and useful resource for Romneyana great and small."" -- Louis Menand, The New Yorker ""The great service of this new biography is that it humanizes Romney. The authors sniff over their subject with bloodhound thoroughness, dredging up old report cards, housing deeds, and family records and videos. They interview seemingly everyone who had contact with Romney in every phase of his life."" -- The New York Times Book Review ""Who is the real Mitt Romney? This well-researched biography by two Boston Globe reporters offers useful clues."" -- Katha Pollitt, The Guardian"

Author Information

Michael Kranish, deputy chief of the Boston Globe's Washington Bureau, has been a congressional reporter, White House correspondent and national political reporter. He has produced major articles about the history of the Bush family and Senator John F. Kerry. Kranish co-authored, with other Globe reporters, John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography, which was a New York Times and Washington Post bestseller. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War. Scott Helman is the former political editor of the Boston Globe, where he has worked as a reporter and editor for ten years. Previously he was a national political reporter, serving as the paper's lead writer on the 2008 presidential campaign. He chronicled the meteoric rise of Mitt Romney and wrote extensively about Barack Obama. He has been a frequent guest analyst on CNN, MSNBC, and NPR.

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