The Real Romney

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The Real Romney Page 41

by Kranish, Michael


  108 The destination of this journey: Interviews with family and friends, 2007.

  109 “He’s very engaging”: Interview with former aide, 2011.

  109 “He wasn’t overly interested”: Interview with former aide, 2011.

  110 “He has that invisible wall”: Interview with Republican, 2011.

  110 “A lot of it is”: Interview with former aide, 2011.

  110 they had moved: Registry of Deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, http://masslandrecords.com/malr/controller.

  111 “How can you afford”: Interview with Tagg Romney.

  111 The family’s modest getaway: Real estate records, news clips, visit by author.

  111 Romney acknowledged: Bradlee, “Romney Seeks New Chapter in Success.”

  111 And he was frugal to the core: Romney family videos, provided to The Boston Globe in 2007.

  111 “I sometimes thought”: Interview with Joseph O’Donnell, 2011.

  111 “His strategy”: Interview with John Wright.

  112 “Mitt,” said Kem Gardner: Interview with Kem Gardner, 2007.

  112 “Compared to my dad”: Interview with Tagg Romney.

  112 “Mitt was always working”: Interview with Helen Claire Sievers, 2011.

  112 “He opened it”: Interview with Grant Bennett.

  112 John Wright remembered: Interview with John Wright.

  112 There were stretches: Interview with Mitt Romney.

  113 “To us, he was just Dad”: Interview with Tagg Romney.

  113 Mormon lineages: Interviews with Helen Claire Sievers and Grant Bennett.

  113 Mormon congregations: Interviews with Helen Claire Sievers and Ken Hutchins, 2011.

  113 In another departure: Peggy Fletcher Stack, “Mitt and His Faith: Remembering When Candidate Romney Was Bishop Romney,” The Salt Lake Tribune, January 11, 2008.

  113 Their selection is carefully vetted: Interview with Ken Hutchins.

  114 “It really is quite a tremendous”: Interview with Tony Kimball, 2011.

  114 Mitt Romney first took on: Interview with Grant Bennett.

  114 close to four thousand members: Interviews with Grant Bennett and Ken Hutchins.

  114 His leadership in the church: Interview with Philip Barlow, 2011.

  114 Up to then, church practice reflected: Peggy Fletcher Stack, “ ‘Black Curse’ Is Problematic LDS Legacy,” The Salt Lake Tribune, June 6, 1998.

  114 “one of the most emotional”: Scot Lehigh and Frank Phillips, “Romney Hits Kennedy on Faith Issue,” The Boston Globe, September 28, 1994.

  114 “I heard it”: Meet the Press, NBC, December 16, 2007.

  114 But though the church: Peggy Fletcher Stack, “Exiles in Zion,” The Salt Lake Tribune, August 16, 2003.

  115 But a dichotomy exists: Lisa Wangsness, “GOP Rivals Have Different Takes on Mormon Faith,” The Boston Globe, August 15, 2011.

  115 The Boston area: Interview with Tony Kimball.

  116 In the early-morning darkness: Janet Peterson, “Belmont’s Blessing in Disguise,” Ensign, April 1987.

  116 And the blaze: Interview with Philip Barlow.

  116 “I don’t know when”: Peterson, “Belmont’s Blessing in Disguise.”

  116 Some locals objected: Mark Miller, “Nearly Built Mormon Church Hit by a Suspicious Blaze in Belmont,” The Boston Globe, August 2, 1984; Peterson, “Belmont’s Blessing in Disguise.”

  116 The church urgently needed: Peterson, “Belmont’s Blessing in Disguise.”

  116 Others had started a small consulting firm: Carol Pearson, “Two Celebrations: A Beginning—and an Ending,” The Boston Globe, June 6, 1986.

  117 A few years earlier: Peterson: “Belmont’s Blessing in Disguise”; Frank Phillips and Don Aucoin, “Romney Quiet on Religious Beliefs,” The Boston Globe, May 22, 1994.

  117 “Some people in Belmont”: Peterson, “Belmont’s Blessing in Disguise.”

  117 Then something unexpected happened: Interview with Grant Bennett; Peterson, “Belmont’s Blessing in Disguise.”

  117 “One of the things”: Interview with Connie Eddington, 2011.

  118 “There are still”: Interview with Grant Bennett.

  118 nearly three thousand: Peterson, “Belmont’s Blessing in Disguise.”

  118 cartoon characters: David D. Kirkpatrick, “Romney, Searching and Earnest, Set His Path in ’60s,” The New York Times, November 15, 2007.

  118 “I was a little surprised”: Interview with Philip Barlow.

  119 like a duty: Interview with Ken Hutchins.

  119 Romney’s church colleagues said: Stack, “Mitt and His Faith: Remembering When Candidate Romney was Bishop Romney.”

  119 “He was reasonable”: Interview with Philip Barlow.

  119 “His leadership has been”: Interview with Douglas Anderson.

  119 “He let the people”: Interview with Ken Hutchins.

  119 He put it: Interview with Philip Barlow.

  119 “Next thing I know”: Interview with David Gillette, 2011.

  119 One Saturday: Interview with Grant Bennett.

  120 weren’t getting paid back: Interview with Helen Claire Sievers.

  120 Romney has also upheld his obligation: E-mail from Eric Fehrnstrom, September 22, 2011.

  120 On Super Bowl Sunday 1989: Interview with Douglas Anderson.

  121 “Search diligently”: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Doctrine and Covenants, Section 90, Verse 24.

  121 Outside on the steps: Interview with Douglas Anderson.

  121 Romney helped lead: Interview with Joseph O’Donnell.

  122 On one occasion: Interview with Grant Bennett.

  122 In the spring of 1993: Interview with Helen Claire Sievers.

  122 In the end: Stack, “Mitt and His Faith: Remembering When Candidate Romney was Bishop Romney”; interview with Helen Claire Sievers.

  123 Tony Kimball said: Interview with Tony Kimball.

  123 She felt it was about time: Interview with Helen Claire Sievers.

  123 Ann Romney was not considered: Interview with member, 2011.

  123 Mitt Romney showed flexibility: Interview with Tony Kimball.

  123 “They feel needed”: Julie A. Dockstader, “Enriching Theirs and Others’ Lives,” February 8, 1992, http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/22302/Enriching-theirs-and-others-lives.html.

  124 Peggie Hayes had joined: Interview with Peggie Hayes, 2011.

  125 the church encourages adoption: “Adoption,” http://lds.org/study/topics/adoption?lang=eng.

  125 Romney would later deny: Frank Phillips and Scot Lehigh, “Single Mother Tells of the Advice Romney Gave as Mormon Counselor,” The Boston Globe, August 26, 1994.

  126 In the fall of 1990: Anonymous, “Unheard,” Exponent II 15, no. 4 (1990): 5.

  126 Church leaders have said: “Abortion,” http://lds.org/study/topics/abortion?lang=eng.

  126 One day in the hospital: Jacquelynn Boyle, “A Positive Spirit Wins,” Detroit Free Press, October 26, 1995.

  126 Romney would later contend: Scot Lehigh and Frank Phillips, “Romney Admits Advice Against Abortion,” The Boston Globe, October 20, 1994.

  127 One woman: Interview with Judy Dushku, 2011.

  128 The world map: Don L. Brugger, “Climate for Change,” Ensign, September 1993.

  128 living in the suburbs: Ibid.

  128 “It has been a great challenge”: Sheridan R. Sheffield, “Boston: Gospel Rolls Forward in One of Nation’s Oldest Cities,” September 28, 1991, www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/20681/Boston-Gospel-rolls-forward-in-one-of-nations-oldest-cities.html.

  128 Romney and other Mormon officials: Brugger, “Climate for Change.”

  128 Missionaries worked: Sheffield, “Boston: Gospel Rolls Forward in One of Nation’s Oldest Cities.”

  128 “Love those people”: Interview with Keith Knighton, 2011.

  128 David Gillette: Interview with David Gillette.

  129 he was also able: Interview with Tony Kimball.

>   129 regaling missionaries: Interview with David Gillette.

  129 “You feel humbled”: Sheffield, “Boston: Gospel Rolls Forward in One of Nation’s Oldest Cities.”

  129 “To understand my faith”: Hewitt, A Mormon in the White House?, 96.

  Chapter 6: The Moneymaker

  130 “I remember him”: Interview with Bill Bain, 2007.

  131 “This guy is going to be”: Ibid.

  133 “light or flippant manner”: Interview with Mitt Romney, 2007.

  133 “So,” Bain explained: Interview with Bill Bain.

  133 “I left a steady job”: Romney announcement speech in Stratham, N.H., June 2, 2011.

  134 If he took a briefcase home: Interview with Mitt Romney.

  134 “wallow in the data”: Mitt Romney, appearance at National Review Institute conference, Washington, D.C., January 27, 2007.

  134 a decade younger: Interviews with Bain Capital partners, 2011.

  135 “no sense”: Robert Gay, speech, “Within and Beyond Ourselves: The Role of Conscience in Modern Business,” delivered at Brigham Young University, April 26, 2002.

  135 The most thorough analysis: Alex Brown, “Special Opportunities Fund: Investing in Funds Managed by Bain Capital,” Deutsche Bank, 2000.

  136 “expressed to me”: Interview with Harry Strachan, 2011.

  136 “We investigated”: Mitchell Zuckoff and Ben Bradlee, Jr., “Romney’s Business Record Gives Larger Picture,” The Boston Globe, August 8, 1994.

  137 “He was troubled”: Interview with Coleman Andrews, 2007.

  137 “punch him in the nose”: Robert Gavin and Sacha Pfeiffer, “Study, Sweat, and Profit; Performance at Bain Capital Burnished Image, Fueled Critics,” The Boston Globe, June 26, 2007; interview with Robert White, 2007.

  137 “I always wondered”: Interview with Bain partner, 2011.

  138 “Mitt was struggling”: Gavin and Pfeiffer, “Study, Sweat, and Profit; Performance at Bain Capital Burnished Image, Fueled Critics.”

  138 Key ran shuttle routes: Interview with Geoffrey Rehnert, 2011.

  138 Another early deal: Interview with Robert White, 2011.

  138 Holson Burnes: Interview with Geoffrey Rehnert, 2011.

  139 “Look,” Stemberg told Romney: Interviews with Thomas Stemberg, 2007 and 2011.

  139 But after that, Romney took the lead: Ibid.

  139 In all, it invested about $2.5 million: Gavin and Pfeiffer, “Study, Sweat, and Profit; Performance at Bain Capital Burnished Image, Fueled Critics.”

  140 At the initial public offering: Staples IPO prospectus, April 1989.

  140 “a classic ‘category killer’ ”: Steven Flax, “Perils of the Paper Clip Trade,” The New York Times, June 11, 1989.

  140 “helped to create tens of thousands”: Interview with Mitt Romney, On the Record, CNN, September 6, 2011.

  140 “That’s why I’m always”: Zuckoff and Bradlee, “Romney’s Business Record Gives Larger Picture.”

  140 “What you really cannot do”: Interview with Howard Anderson, 2011.

  140 “Why not give him credit”: Interview with Thomas Stemberg.

  141 “the success of the enterprise”: Interview with Mitt Romney.

  142 Bain told management and unions: Frederick F. Reichheld and Thomas Teal, The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996), 172–173.

  142 “loyalty effect”: Ibid., 174.

  142 $121 million: Ibid.

  143 “I throw mine”: Interview with Geoffrey Rehnert.

  143 “led me to become”: Romney announcement speech in Stratham, N.H., June 2, 2011.

  143 “I never actually ran”: Mitt Romney, Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2007), 16.

  144 “Ivan the Terrible”: “Investor ‘Ivan the Terrible’ Boesky,” Time, December 1, 1986. Boesky struck a plea-bargain deal and was banned from securities trading for life.

  144 “I am not a destroyer”: Oliver Stone, director, Wall Street, 1987.

  144–145 “incessantly destroying”: Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, e-book, Taylor and Francis, 2003, 83.

  145 “the problem with creative destruction”: Alan Greenspan, testimony before Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, July 21, 2005.

  145 “for governments to stand aside”: Mitt Romney, No Apology: Believe in America (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010), 110.

  145 Indeed, he wrote: Mitt Romney, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” The New York Times, November 18, 2008.

  146 “We were pretty happy”: Interview with Josh Bekenstein, 2011.

  146 $105 million: Interviews with Bain Capital partners, 2011.

  147 “to Mitt’s credit”: Interview with Marc Wolpow, 2011.

  147 Prosecutors who worked: Interviews with prosecutors of the Drexel case.

  147 “We did not say”: Zuckoff and Bradlee, “Romney’s Business Record Gives Larger Picture.”

  148 Palais Royal: “Bain Acquires Apparel Chains,” The New York Times, December 30, 1988.

  148 “to make sure”: Connie Bruck, The Predators’ Ball: The Inside Story of Drexel Burnham and the Rise of the Junk Bond Raiders (New York: Penguin Books, 1989), 366–369. Bruck cited an affidavit by Joseph that mentioned Romney’s phone call.

  148 “By doing the deal”: Interview with James T. Coffman, 2011.

  148 Drexel pleaded guilty: “The Collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert; Key Events for Drexel Burnham Lambert,” The New York Times, February 14, 1990.

  148 Milken eventually pleaded guilty: Stuart Pfeifer and Tom Petruno, “Michael Milken Is Still Seeking Redemption,” Los Angeles Times, February 3, 2009.

  148 By the following year: Monica Perin, “Clothing Retailer Slapped with Shareholder Suit,” Houston Business Journal, April 11, 1999.

  149 The department store company filed: Bain Capital partners said they weren’t responsible for financial problems later encountered by the company. After reemerging from bankruptcy, the company said it had become profitable. Greg Hassell, “Bankruptcy Leaves Stage Feeling Fine; Retailer Has Strong Sales After Its Reorganization,” Houston Chronicle, August 25, 2001.

  149 “It was a terrible situation”: Charles Stein, “ ‘Their Mission Is to Make Money’; but in Doing So, Romney Did More Building Than Slashing,” The Boston Globe, October 9, 1994.

  149 GST Steel: Robert Gavin, “As Bain Slashed Jobs, Romney Stayed to Side,” The Boston Globe, January 27, 2008.

  150 accumulating $1.6 billion in debt: Daniel G. Jacobs, “Coming off Life Support,” Smart Business, May 2005.

  150 When it merged with Behring Diagnostics: Gavin, “As Bain Slashed Jobs, Romney Stayed to Side.”

  150 At the same time: Josh Kosman, The Buyout of America (New York: Penguin, 2010), 107.

  150 “It is one thing”: David D. Kirkpatrick, “Romney’s Fortunes Tied to Business Riches,” The New York Times, June 4, 2007. Bain Capital partners said later that the Dade bankruptcy had occurred because the dollar had fallen against the euro and pushed the company’s debt over a certain limit that the banks did not allow. They argue that it was debt investors who had pressured the company and that Bain had helped the company get back onto its feet.

  150 In that time of immense success: Mitchell Zuckoff, “Romney Rescue of Bain & Co. a Study in Profit and Loss,” The Boston Globe, October 25, 1994.

  151 “going over a cliff”: Hugh Hewitt, A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know About Mitt Romney (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2007), 53.

  151 “We have bad news”: Ibid., 54–55.

  151 The Massachusetts legal code: Massachusetts law has a maximum one-year punishment for the first violation of its wage law, which requires payment within a week of the end of a pay period; see www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXI/Chapter149/Section27C.

  151 “It’s a crime”: Hewitt, A Mormon
in the White House? 55–56.

  152 At one point: Stephanie Strom, “A Fund for Distressed Companies Goes Awry,” The New York Times, September 25, 1996.

 

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