George W. Romney

Romney's grandparents were polygamous Latter-day Saints, married in 1897 (polygamy having been abolished by the 1890 Manifesto, although it persisted in places, especially Mexico), His maternal grandfather was Helaman Pratt, who presided over a mission in Mexico City before moving to the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Romney's parents, Gaskell Romney and Anna Amelia Pratt, were monogamous, George had three older brothers, two younger brothers, and a younger sister. Gaskell Romney was a successful carpenter, house builder, and farmer who headed the most prosperous family in the colony, which was situated in an agricultural valley below the Sierra Madre Occidental. The Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910 and the church's colonies were endangered in 1911–1912 by raids from marauders, including "Red Flaggers" Pascual Orozco and José Inés Salazar. Young George heard the sound of distant gunfire and saw rebels walking through the village streets. The Romney family fled and returned to the United States in July 1912, leaving their home and almost all of their property behind. Romney later said, "We were the first displaced persons of the 20th century." In the United States, Romney grew up in humble circumstances. The family subsisted with other Latter-day Saint refugees on government relief in El Paso, Texas, After a few months they moved to Los Angeles, California, where Gaskell Romney worked as a carpenter. In kindergarten, other children mocked Romney's national origin by calling him "Mex". hit in 1929 and ruined them. Seeing their struggles influenced his life and business career. There he played halfback on the football team, guard on the basketball team, and right field on the baseball team, all with more persistence than talent, but in an effort to uphold the family tradition of athleticism, he earned varsity letters in all three sports. In his senior year, he and junior Lenore LaFount became high school sweethearts; she was from a more well-assimilated Latter-day Saint family. Academically, Romney was steady but undistinguished. He graduated from high school in 1925; his yearbook picture caption was "Serious, high minded, of noble nature – a real fellow". He was also president of the booster club and played on the basketball team that won the Utah–Idaho Junior College Tournament. ==Missionary work==

After becoming an elder, Romney earned enough money working to fund himself as a missionary. The abject poverty and hopelessness he saw there affected him greatly, In February 1927, he was shifted to Edinburgh and in February 1928 to London, where he kept track of mission finances. He worked under renowned Quorum of the Twelve Apostles intellectuals James E. Talmage and John A. Widtsoe; the latter's admonitions to "Live mightily today, the greatest day of all time is today" made a lasting impression on him. In August 1928, Romney became president of the Scottish missionary district. Operating in a whisky-centric region was difficult, and he developed a new "task force" approach of sending more missionaries to a single location at a time; this successfully drew local press attention and several hundred new recruits. Romney's frequent public proselytizing – from Edinburgh's Mound and in London from soap boxes at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park and from a platform at Trafalgar Square – developed his gifts for debate and sales, which he would use the rest of his career. Three decades later, Romney said that his missionary time had meant more to him in developing his career than any other experience. ==Early career, marriage and children==

Romney returned to the U.S. in late 1928 and studied briefly at the University of Utah and Ensign College. He followed LaFount to Washington, D.C., in fall 1929, after her father, Harold A. Lafount, had accepted an appointment by President Calvin Coolidge to serve on the Federal Radio Commission. He also attended George Washington University at night. Based upon a connection he made working for Walsh, Romney was hired as an apprentice for Alcoa in Pittsburgh in June 1930. Romney did not attend for long, or graduate from, any of the colleges in which he was enrolled, accumulating only 2½ years of credits; instead he has been described as an autodidact. as he was assigned a position there with Alcoa as a lobbyist. Romney would later consider wooing her his greatest sales achievement. They would have four children: Margo Lynn (born 1935), Jane LaFount (born 1938), George Scott (born 1941), and Willard Mitt (born 1947). The couple's marriage reflected aspects of their personalities and courtship. George was devoted to Lenore, and tried to bring her a flower every day, often a single rose with a love note. George was also a strong, blunt personality used to winning arguments by force of will, but the more self-controlled Lenore was unintimidated and willing to push back against him. The couple quarreled so much as a result that their grandchildren would later nickname them "the Bickersons" (after the radio comedy sketches), but in the end, their closeness would allow them to settle arguments amicably. Romney joined the National Press Club and the Burning Tree and Congressional Country Clubs; one reporter watching Romney hurriedly play golf at the last said, "There is a young man who knows where he is going." Lenore's cultural refinement and hosting skills, along with her father's social and political connections, helped George in business, and the couple met the Hoovers, the Roosevelts, and other prominent Washington figures. He was chosen by Pyke Johnson, a Denver newspaperman and automotive industry trade representative he met at the Press Club, to join the newly formed Trade Association Advisory Committee to the National Recovery Administration. The committee's work continued even after the agency was declared unconstitutional in 1935. During 1937 and 1938, Romney was also president of the Washington Trade Association Executives. ==Automotive industry representative==

After nine years with Alcoa, Romney's career had stagnated; there were many layers of executives to climb through and a key promotion he had wanted was given to someone with more seniority. Romney got the job and moved there with his wife and two daughters in 1939. **Romney, born in 1907, was 33 years old; the draft included those up to 45 years old. Hiding until this is clarified** --> helped start the Automotive Committee for Air Defense, which coordinated planning between the automobile and aircraft industries. Immediately following the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor that drew the U.S. into the war, Romney helped turn that committee into, and became managing director of, the Automotive Council for War Production. With labor leader Victor Reuther, Romney led the Detroit Victory Council, which sought to improve conditions for Detroit workers under wartime stress and deal with the causes of the Detroit race riot of 1943. Romney successfully appealed to the Federal Housing Administration to make housing available to black workers near the Ford Willow Run plant. He also served on the labor-management committee of the Detroit section of the War Manpower Commission. By war's end, 654 manufacturing companies had joined the Automotive Council for War Production, and produced nearly $29 billion in output for the Allied military forces. Between a fifth and a quarter of all U.S. wartime production was accounted for by the automotive industry. As peacetime production began, Romney persuaded government officials to forgo complex contract-termination procedures, thus freeing auto plants to quickly produce cars for domestic consumption and avoid large layoffs. By 1950, Romney was a member of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, and criticized racial segregation in Detroit's housing program when speaking before the Detroit City Council. Romney's personality was blunt and intense, giving the impression of a "man in a hurry", and he was considered a rising star in the industry. ==American Motors Corporation chief executive==

As managing director of the Automobile Manufacturers Association, Romney became good friends with then-president George W. Mason. When Mason became chairman of the manufacturing firm Nash-Kelvinator in 1948, he invited Romney along "to learn the business from the ground up" as his roving assistant, and the new executive spent a year working in different parts of the company. At a Detroit refrigerator plant of the Kelvinator appliance division, Romney battled the Mechanics Educational Society of America union to institute a new industrial–labor relations program that forestalled the whole facility being shut down. He appealed to the workers by saying, "I am no college man. I've laid floors, I've done lathing. I've thinned beets and shocked wheat." Mason had long sought a merger of Nash-Kelvinator with one or more other companies, and on May 1, 1954, it merged with Hudson Motor Car to become the American Motors Corporation (AMC). It was the largest merger in the history of the industry, and Romney became an executive vice president of the new firm. Romney was named AMC's president and chairman of the board the same month. When Romney took over, he canceled Mason's plan to merge AMC with Studebaker-Packard Corporation (or any other automaker). He reorganized upper management, brought in younger executives, and pruned and rebuilt AMC's dealer network. Together with chief engineer Meade Moore, by the end of 1957 Romney had completely phased out the Nash and Hudson brands, whose sales had been lagging. as AMC pursued an innovative strategy: manufacturing only compact cars. The company struggled badly at first, losing money in 1956, more in 1957, and experiencing defections from its dealer network. Romney instituted company-wide savings and efficiency measures, and he and other executives reduced their salaries by up to 35 percent. In sticking with his decision to focus on smaller cars, Romney exhibited a stubbornness that was common across several generations of Romneys. Though AMC was on the verge of being taken over by corporate raider Louis Wolfson in 1957, Romney was able to fend him off. the Ramblers were frequent winners in the coast-to-coast Mobil Economy Run, an annual event on U.S. highways. Sales remained strong during 1960 and 1961; the Rambler was America's third most popular car both years. A believer in "competitive cooperative consumerism", Romney was effective in his frequent appearances before Congress. and one of the first high-profile media-savvy business executives. His focus on small cars as a challenge to AMC's domestic competitors, as well as the foreign-car invasion, was documented in the April 6, 1959, cover story of Time magazine, which concluded that "Romney has brought off singlehanded one of the most remarkable selling jobs in U.S. industry." A full biography of him was published in 1960; the company's resurgence made Romney a household name. The company's stock rose from $7 per share to $90 per share, However, whenever he felt his salary and bonus was excessively high for a year, he gave the excess back to the company. After initial wariness, he developed a good relationship with United Automobile Workers leader Walter Reuther, and AMC workers also benefited from a then-novel profit-sharing plan. Romney was one of only a few Michigan corporate chiefs to support passage and implementation of the state Fair Employment Practices Act. ==Local church and civic leadership==

Religion was a paramount force in Romney's life. In a 1959 essay for the Detroit Free Press he said, "My religion is my most precious possession. ... Except for my religion, I easily could have become excessively occupied with industry, social and recreational activities. Sharing personal responsibility for church work with my fellow members has been a vital counterbalance in my life." Following Church practices, he did not drink alcohol or caffeinated beverages, smoke, or swear. Romney and his wife paid tithing, By the time he was AMC chief, he presided over the Detroit stake, In this role, Romney oversaw the religious work of some 2,700 church members, occasionally preached sermons, and supervised the construction of the first stake tabernacle east of the Mississippi River in 100 years. Romney's rise to a leadership role in the church reflected the church's journey from a fringe pioneer religion to one that was closely associated with mainstream American business and values. He became deeply active in Michigan civic affairs. He was on the board of directors of the Children's Hospital of Michigan and the United Foundation of Detroit, and was chairman of the executive committee of the Detroit Round Table of Catholics, Jews, and Protestants. Starting in 1956, Romney headed a citizen-based committee for improved educational programs in Detroit's public schools. Romney helped a $90-million education-related bond issue and tax increase win an upset victory in an April 1959 statewide referendum. Citizens for Michigan built on Romney's belief that assorted interest groups held too much influence in government, and that only the cooperation of informed citizens acting for the benefit of all could counter them. Previously unaffiliated politically, Romney declared himself a member of the Republican Party and gained election to the convention. Romney briefly considered a run in the 1960 Senate election, ==Governor of Michigan==

in December 1967 After a period of pained indecision and a 24-hour prayer fast, Romney stepped down from AMC in February 1962 to enter electoral politics Romney's position as the leader of the moderate Republicans at the constitutional convention helped gain him the Republican nomination for governor of Michigan. Romney won by some 80,000 votes and ended a fourteen-year stretch of Democratic rule in the state executive spot. His win was attributed to his appeal to independent voters and to those from the increasingly influential suburbs of Detroit, who by 1962 were more likely to vote Republican than the heavily Democratic residents of the city itself. Additionally, Romney had found a level of support among labor union members that was unusual for a Republican. Romney's success caused immediate mention of him as a presidential possibility for 1964, His initial concern was the implementation of the overhaul of the state's financial and revenue structure that had been authorized by the constitutional convention. In 1963, he proposed a comprehensive tax revision package that included a flat-rate state income tax, but general economic prosperity alleviated pressure on the state budget and the Michigan Legislature rejected the measure. One Michigan Democrat said of Romney, "He has not yet learned that things in government are not necessarily done the moment the man at the top gives an order. He is eager and sometimes impatient." He opened his office in the Michigan State Capitol to visitors, spending five minutes with every citizen who wanted to speak with him on Thursday mornings, His blunt and unequivocal manner sometimes caused friction, Although he belonged to a church that did not allow black people in its lay clergy, Romney's hardscrabble background and subsequent life experiences led him to support the movement. Romney helped create the state's first civil rights commission. march, 600-strong, in protest of housing discrimination, June 1963 When Martin Luther King Jr. came to Detroit in June 1963 and led the 120,000-strong Great March on Detroit, Romney designated the occasion Freedom March Day in Michigan, and sent state senator Stanley Thayer to march with King as his emissary, but did not attend himself because it was on Sunday. Romney did participate in a much smaller march protesting housing discrimination the following Saturday in Grosse Pointe, after King had left. Romney refused to change his position and increased his efforts towards civil rights. but Romney did not believe in publicly criticizing the church, subsequently saying that fellow Latter-day Saint Stewart Udall's 1967 published denunciation of the policy "cannot serve any useful religious purpose". at the 1964 Republican National Convention In the 1964 U.S. presidential election, Senator Barry Goldwater quickly became the likely Republican Party nominee. Goldwater represented a new wave of American conservatism, of which the moderate Romney was not a part. During the June 1964 National Governors' Conference, 13 of 16 Republican governors present were opposed to Goldwater; their leaders were Jim Rhodes of Ohio, Nelson Rockefeller of New York (whose own campaign had just stalled out with a loss to Goldwater in the California primary), William Scranton of Pennsylvania, and Romney. In an unusual appearance at a Sunday press conference, and that "If [Goldwater's] views deviate as indicated from the heritage of our party, I will do everything within my power to keep him from becoming the party's presidential nominee." Detroit newspapers indicated they would not support him in any such bid, and Romney quickly decided to honor his pledge to stay out of the contest. (who had not wanted to choose between candidates during the primary campaign) and he received the votes of 41 delegates in the roll call (40 of Michigan's 48 and one from Kansas). At the convention, Romney fought for a strengthened civil rights plank in the party platform that would pledge action to eliminate discrimination at the state, local, and private levels, but it was defeated on a voice vote. He also failed to win support for a statement that condemned both left- and right-wing extremism without naming any organizations, which lost a standing vote by a two-to-one margin. who had an approach to civic responsibilities similar to Romney's. As the convention concluded, Romney neither endorsed nor repudiated Goldwater and vice presidential nominee William E. Miller, saying he had reservations about Goldwater's lack of support for civil rights and the political extremism that Goldwater embodied. and continuing to feud with Goldwater privately. He campaigned for governor in mostly Democratic areas, and when pressed at campaign appearances about whether he supported Goldwater, he replied, "You know darn well I'm not!" Romney was re-elected in 1964 by a margin of over 380,000 votes over Democratic Congressman Neil Staebler, despite Goldwater's landslide defeat to President Lyndon B. Johnson that swept away many other Republican candidates. Romney won 15 percent of Michigan's black vote, compared to Goldwater's two percent. During 1966, while son Mitt was away in France on missionary work, George Romney guided Mitt's fiancée Ann Davies as a convert to the Church. (this time to a four-year term, after a change in Michigan law). His share of the black vote rose to over 30 percent, a virtually unprecedented accomplishment for a Republican. The massive 12th Street riot in Detroit began during the predawn hours of July 23, 1967, precipitated by a police raid of a speakeasy in a predominantly black neighborhood. As the day wore on and looting and fires got worse, Romney called in the Michigan State Police and the Michigan National Guard. Clark indicated that to do so, Romney would have to declare a state of civil insurrection, which the governor was loath to do from fear that insurance companies would seize upon it as a reason to not cover losses owing to the riot. As the situation in Detroit worsened, Romney told Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance, "We gotta move, man, we gotta move." Near midnight on July 24, President Johnson authorized thousands of paratroopers to enter Detroit. Thousands of arrests took place and the rioting continued until July 27. forty-three dead, over a thousand injured, 2,500 stores looted, hundreds of homes burned, and some $50 million overall in property damage. The riot notwithstanding, by the end of Romney's governorship the state had made strong gains in civil rights related to public employment, government contracting, and access to public accommodations. Lesser improvements were made in combating discrimination in private employment, housing, education, and law enforcement. The King assassination riots affected many cities across the United States over the next few days. Romney and his wife Lenore attended the funeral of King on April 9. Romney greatly expanded the size of state government while governor. His first state budget, for fiscal year 1963, was $550 million, a $20 million increase over that of his predecessor Swainson. Romney had also inherited an $85 million budget deficit, but left office with a surplus. Romney led the way for a large increase in state spending on education, and Michigan began to develop one of the nation's most comprehensive systems of higher education. During his time as governor, Romney also signed the Public Employment Relations Act, which granted collective bargaining rights for public sector employees, reduced strike-related penalties to public employees, and prevented agencies from engaging in unfair practices against unions. It was one of the first state laws in the country that obligated governmental entities to negotiate with public employee unions. The bipartisan coalitions that Romney worked with in the state legislature enabled him to reach most of his legislative goals. His record as governor continued his reputation for having, as White said, "a knack for getting things done". Noted University of Michigan historian Sidney Fine assessed him as "a highly successful governor". ==1968 presidential campaign==

Romney's wide margin of re-election as governor in November 1966 thrust him to the forefront of national Republicans. In addition to his political record, the tall, square-jawed, handsome, graying Romney matched what the public thought a president should look like. His voice, with its reverbating cadences and Midwestern accent, was also an asset. Republican governors were determined not to let a Goldwater-sized loss recur, and neither Rockefeller nor Scranton wanted to run again; the governors quickly settled on Romney as their favorite for the Republican presidential nomination in the 1968 U.S. presidential election. Former Congressman and Republican National Committee chair Leonard W. Hall became Romney's informal campaign manager. a Harris Poll showed Romney besting President Johnson among all voters by 54 percent to 46 percent. Nixon considered Romney his chief opponent. Romney's greatest weakness was a lack of foreign policy expertise and a need for a clear position on the Vietnam War. Reporter Jack Germond joked that he was going to add a single key on his typewriter that would print, "Romney later explained ..." Romney had the image of a do-gooder and reporters began to refer to him as "Saint George". The perception grew that Romney was gaffe-prone. The campaign, beset by internal rivalries, soon went through the first of several reorganizations. The techniques that had brought Romney victories in Michigan, such as operating outside established partisan formulas and keeping a distance from Republican Party organizational elements, proved ineffective in a party nominating contest. Romney's national poll ratings continued to erode, and by May he had lost his edge over Johnson. Romney would depart the race before the matter could be more definitively resolved, Romney was also the first Latter-day Saint to stage a credible run for the presidency. By this time, he was well known as a Latter-day Saint, especially through profiles in national magazines dating back to his years in business. Making him perhaps the most nationally visible Latter-day Saint since Brigham Young. However, his membership as a member of the Church was not heavily mentioned during the campaign. What indirect discussion there was helped bring to national attention the church's policy regarding blacks, but the contrast of Romney's pro-civil rights stance deflected any criticism of him and indirectly benefited the image of the church. Some historians and Latter-day Saints suspected then and later that had Romney's campaign lasted longer and been more successful, his religion might have become a more prominent issue. Romney's campaign did often focus on his core beliefs; a Romney billboard in New Hampshire read "The Way To Stop Crime Is To Stop Moral Decay". A spate of books were published about Romney, more than for any other candidate, and included a friendly campaign biography, an attack from a former staffer, and a collection of Romney's speeches. On August 31, 1967, in a taped interview with locally influential (and nationally syndicated) talk show host Lou Gordon of WKBD-TV in Detroit, Thus Romney disavowed the war and reversed himself from his earlier stated belief that the war was "morally right and necessary". By September 7, it found its way into prominence at The New York Times. especially as it reinforced the negative image of Romney's abilities that had already developed. as well as television talk show fodder, and Romney bore the brunt of the topical humor. Senator Eugene McCarthy, running against Johnson for the Democratic nomination, said that in Romney's case, "a light rinse would have been sufficient." Romney formally announced on November 18, 1967, at Detroit's Veterans Memorial Building, that he had "decided to fight for and win the Republican nomination and election to the Presidency of the United States". His subsequent release of his federal tax returns – twelve years' worth going back to his time as AMC head – was groundbreaking and established a precedent that many future presidential candidates would have to contend with. He spent the following months campaigning tirelessly, focusing on the New Hampshire primary, the first of the season, and doing all the on-the-ground activities known to that state: greeting workers at factory gates before dawn, having neighborhood meetings in private homes, and stopping at bowling alleys. Two weeks before the March 12 primary, an internal poll showed Romney losing to Nixon by a six-to-one margin in New Hampshire. Romney wrote his son Mitt, still away on missionary work: "Your mother and I are not personally distressed. As a matter of fact, we are relieved. ... I aspired, and though I achieved not, I am satisfied." Nixon went on to gain the nomination. At the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Romney refused to release his delegates to Nixon, something Nixon did not forget. Romney finished a weak fifth, with only 50 votes on the roll call (44 of Michigan's 48, plus six of Utah's eight). When party liberals and moderates and others expressed dismay at Nixon's choice of Spiro Agnew as his running mate, Romney's name was placed into nomination for vice president by Mayor of New York John Lindsay and pushed by several delegations. Romney said he did not initiate the move, Romney, however, worked for Nixon's eventually successful campaign in the fall, which did earn him Nixon's gratitude. ==Secretary of Housing and Urban Development==

on January 22, 1969, with President Richard Nixon and wife Lenore Romney at his side. After the election, Nixon named Romney to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The president-elect made the announcement as part of a nationally televised presentation of his new cabinet on December 11, 1968. Nixon praised Romney for his "missionary zeal" and said that he would also be tasked with mobilizing volunteer organizations to fight poverty and disease within the United States. and was sworn into office on January 22, with Nixon at his side. Romney resigned as governor that same day, and was succeeded by his lieutenant governor, William G. Milliken. Milliken continued Romney's model of downplaying party label and ideology, and Republicans held onto the governorship for three more terms until 1983, though Michigan was one of the nation's most blue-collar states. As secretary, Romney conducted the first reorganization of the department since its 1966 creation. The changes were intended to make the department more business-like with fewer independent bureaucracies. In particular, the Federal Housing Administration underwent wholesale changes to make it less autonomous. During his tenure, Romney believed his reorganization made the department more efficient and able to withstand some, but not all, of the budget cuts that Nixon imposed on it. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 mandated a federal commitment towards housing desegregation, and required HUD to orient its programs in this direction. Romney, filled with moral passion, wanted to address the widening economic and geographic gulf between whites and blacks by moving blacks out of inner-city ghettos into suburbs. Romney proposed an open housing scheme to facilitate desegregation, dubbed "Open Communities"; HUD planned it for many months without keeping Nixon informed. When the open housing proposal became public, local reaction was often hostile. By this time, Detroit was 40–50 percent black. HUD made Warren a prime target for Open Communities enforcement and threatened to halt all federal assistance to the town unless it took a series of actions to end racial discrimination there; town officials said progress was being made and that their citizens resented forced integration. Nixon saw what happened in Warren Romney was forced to back down on Warren and release federal monies to them unconditionally. It was intended to increase the amount of housing available to the poor and it initially had Nixon's support. HUD officials believed that the introduction of this technique could help bring about desegregation; Romney said, "We've got to put an end to the idea of moving to suburban areas and living only among people of the same economic and social class". This aspect of the program brought about strong opposition at the local suburban level and lost support in the White House as well. Over half of HUD's research funds during this time were spent on Operation Breakthrough, and it was modestly successful in its building goals. It did not revolutionize home construction, and was phased out once Romney left HUD. In any case, using conventional construction methods, HUD set records for the amount of construction of assisted housing for low- and moderate-income families. Romney was largely outside the president's inner circle and had minimal influence within the Nixon administration. Desegregation efforts in employment and education had more success than in housing during the Nixon administration, but HUD's many missions and unwieldy structure, which sometimes worked at cross-purposes, made it institutionally vulnerable to political attack. Romney also failed to understand or circumvent Nixon's use of counsel Ehrlichman and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman as policy gatekeepers, resulting in de facto downgrading of the power of cabinet officers. he annoyed Nixon by casually interrupting him at meetings. A statement by Romney that he would voluntarily reduce his salary to aid the federal budget was viewed by Nixon as an "ineffective grandstand play". instead hatched a plot to get Romney to run in the 1970 U.S. Senate race in Michigan. Instead, Romney proposed that his wife Lenore run, and she received the backing of some state Republicans. There was also resistance to her candidacy and an initial suspicion that it was just a stalking horse for keeping his options open. She barely survived a primary against a conservative opponent, then lost badly in the general election to incumbent Democrat Philip A. Hart. an assessment shared by others both inside and outside the administration. For his work as Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development, in March 1972 Romney was awarded the Republican of the Year Award by the centrist Republican organization Ripon Society. In spring 1972, the FHA was struck by scandal. A number of FHA employees, along with a number of real estate firms and lawyers, were indicted for a scheme in which the value of cheap inner-city homes was inflated and they were sold to black buyers who could not really afford them, based on using those government-backed mortgages. Assessments of the overall cost of the scandal were as high as $2 billion. Romney conceded that HUD had been unprepared to deal with speculators and had not been alert to earlier signs of illegal activity at the FHA. by January 1973, all federal housing funds had been frozen. Romney denounced Shapp's proposal that the federal government pay off the mortgages of victims as "unrealistic and demagogic", and the representative angrily said to Romney, "You don't give a damn whether we live or die." Romney agreed, although he indicated to the press that he would leave eventually. Romney finally turned in his resignation on November 9, 1972, following Nixon's re-election. Romney said he was unhappy with presidential candidates who declined to address "the real issues" facing the nation for fear they would lose votes, and said he would form a new national citizens' organization that would attempt to enlighten the public on the most vital topics. Upon his departure, Romney said he looked forward "with great enthusiasm" to his return to private life. The Boston Globe later termed Romney's conflicts with Nixon a matter that "played out with Shakespearean drama". Lehman College sociology professor Christopher Bonastia assesses the Romney-era HUD as having come "surprisingly close to implementing unpopular antidiscrimination policies" but finally being unable to produce meaningful alterations in American residential segregation patterns, with no equivalent effort having happened since then or likely to in the foreseeable future. ==Public service, volunteerism, and final years==

Romney was known as an advocate of public service, and volunteerism was a passion of his. and at the beginning of the Nixon administration chaired the Cabinet Committee on Voluntary Action. Out of this the National Center for Voluntary Action was created: an independent, private, non-profit organization intended to encourage volunteerism on the part of American citizens and organizations, to assist in program development for voluntary efforts, and to make voluntary action an important force in American society. In 1973, after he left the cabinet, Romney became chair and CEO of the National Center for Voluntary Action. In 1979, this organization merged with the Colorado-based National Information Center on Volunteerism and became known as VOLUNTEER: The National Center for Citizen Involvement; Romney headed the new organization. The organization simplified its name to VOLUNTEER: The National Center in 1984 and to the National Volunteer Center in 1990. Romney remained as chair of these organizations throughout this time. and former Cabinet secretary David Mathews during a conference at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library in 1986 Within the Church, Romney remained active and prominent, serving as a patriarch of the Bloomfield Hills stake and holding the office of regional representative of the Twelve, covering Michigan and northern Ohio. He joined the Church in opposing the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, claiming in 1979 that it was intended to support "perverted and improper sexual conduct." During the early part of the Reagan administration, Romney served on the President's Task Force for Private Sector Initiatives, along with a member of the first presidency of the church, Thomas S. Monson. As part of a longtime habit of playing golf daily, Looking back on his and some other failed presidential bids, he once concluded, "You can't be right too soon and win elections." The Bush administration wanted to tap Romney to chair the new foundation, but he reportedly refused to head two organizations doing the same thing and suggested they merge. In the early 1990s, Romney was also involved in helping to set up the Commission on National and Community Service, one of the predecessors to the later Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). He gave speeches emphasizing the vital role of people helping people, Romney had urged Mitt to enter the race and moved into his son's house for its duration, serving as an unofficial advisor. Romney was a vigorous surrogate for his son in public appearances and at fundraising events, which on the whole benefited the campaign. When Kennedy's campaign sought to bring up the Church's past policy on blacks, Romney interrupted Mitt's press conference and said loudly, "I think it is absolutely wrong to keep hammering on the religious issues. And what Ted is trying to do is bring it into the picture." While Mitt and G. Scott endorsed Ronna Romney, George Romney had endorsed her opponent and the eventual winner, Spencer Abraham, during the previous year when Ronna was considering a run but had not yet announced. A family spokesperson said that George Romney had endorsed Abraham before knowing Ronna Romney would run and could not go back on his word, and the night before his death he drove to a meeting of another volunteer organization. He was buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Brighton, Michigan. In addition to his wife and children, Romney was survived by 23 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren. ==Legacy==

Marriott School of Management named its Institute of Public Management in Romney's honor. The Presidents' Summit For America's Future took place in Philadelphia in 1997, manifesting Romney's last volunteerism proposal, The Points of Light Foundation and the CNCS also give out a George W. Romney Volunteer Center Excellence Award (later the George W. Romney Excellence Award) at the annual National Conference on Community Volunteering and National Service (later the National Conference on Volunteering and Service). The George W. Romney Volunteer Center itself is sponsored by the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and began during Romney's lifetime. The Automotive Hall of Fame of Dearborn, Michigan honored Romney with its Distinguished Service Citation award in 1956. Founded in 1998 with a grant from Romney's immediate family, the George W. Romney Institute of Public Management in the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University (BYU) honors the legacy left by Romney. Its mission is to develop people of high character who are committed to service, management, and leadership in the public sector and in non-profit organizations throughout the world. The Governor George Romney Lifetime Achievement Award is given annually by the State of Michigan, to recognize citizens who have demonstrated a commitment to community involvement and volunteer service throughout their lifetimes. In 2010, Adrian College in Michigan announced the opening of its George Romney Institute for Law and Public Policy. Romney was a recipient of the Gold Good Citizenship Medal awarded by the Michigan Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. On January 4, 2025, president Joe Biden posthumously honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which his son, Mitt Romney, accepted on his behalf. ==Authored books==

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