Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American (United States) businessman, Republican Party (Republican Party (United States)) politician, and was the 70th (List of Governors of Massachusetts) Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. He is the son of the businessman and politician George W. Romney, and Lenore Romney.

Romney was raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and served as a Mormon missionary in France. He attended Stanford University and Brigham Young University as an undergraduate, then earned a joint (JD/MBA) Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. He entered the management consulting business and became CEO of Bain & Company and co-founder of Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm. He ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts (United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1994) but lost to incumbent Edward M. Kennedy. Romney organized and steered the 2002 Winter Olympics as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.

Romney won the election for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 (Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2002). In his one term, he presided over a series of spending cuts and increases in fees while the states finances improved. He signed into law the landmark Massachusetts health care reform legislation, which provided near-universal health insurance access via subsidies and mandates. Romney was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2008 United States presidential election, winning several caucuses and primaries but ultimately losing to John McCain. Since then he has published a book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, and given speeches and raised campaign funds on behalf of fellow Republicans. He is widely seen as a front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2012 presidential election (United States presidential election, 2012).