Romney: A Reckoning

Romney: A Reckoning was released in October 2023. Currently a staff writer for The Atlantic, McKay Coppins was working as a reporter for Buzzfeed in 2012, when he covered Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. Like Romney, Coppins is Mormon, and their shared faith enabled a close relationship. The text has received largely positive reception and reviews and was named a New Yorker Best Book of 2023 and an NPR Best Book of 2023.

This biography focuses on the last few decades of Romney’s political career. Much emphasis is placed on the current civil war within the Republican party, examining the events that transformed Romney from an established Republican to a maverick even as his own political views remained relatively static. Key moments of Romney’s political career are explored in detail, including the 2002 Winter Olympics, 2012 election, 2016 election, and 2021 insurrection. Other notable topics include Romney’s relationships with Barack Obama and Donald Trump. The differences between Romney’s personal and professional life are explored, and much of the text reflects on how his political career has been influenced by his family (particular his father) and his faith.

Themes explored here include The Tension Between Individual Conscience and Party Loyalty, The Responsibility of Privilege, and Reconciling the Public and Private Selves.

The edition of the text referred to here is the 2023 Kindle e-book.

Summary

The prologue begins on January 2, 2021. Mitt and Ann Romney both feel uneasy about the growing chatter of rebellion in response to election results. Ann wants Romney to stay in Utah; Romney feels he needs to be in DC for the verification. As the insurrectionists overtake the Capitol, Romney feels genuine anger at Trump and Ted Cruz for enabling this.

The author shares that he and Romney started meeting to discuss the evolution of the Republican party and Romney’s place in it. As he nears retirement, Romney feels more confident speaking openly about a party he no longer recognizes.

Mitt Romney idolizes his father, George Romney, who embodied the Romney tendency towards stubbornness. George climbed the corporate ladder at American Motors and used his knowledge of the auto industry to pivot into politics. George was elected Governor of Michigan in 1963 and became a rare Republican proponent of civil rights. His presidential run came to an end when he made an off-the-cuff remark about having been “brainwashed” to think that American soldiers belonged in Vietnam. Romney, a teenager at the time, closely analyzed his father’s campaign and learned from his mistakes.

A child of privilege, Romney spent most of his early life in a bubble of wealth. He fell in love with Ann Davies, who converted to Mormonism for him. He served his mission—a period in which young Mormons serve the Church, often traveling abroad to convert others to the Mormon faith—in a port city of Normandy. After surviving a traumatic car accident that killed one of his passengers, he vowed to live more seriously. Upon returning to the US, he married Ann, transferred from Stanford to Brigham Young University, and started a family. The Romneys moved to Massachusetts, where Mitt earned his JD/ MBA from Harvard and was hired at a blue-chip consulting firm.

Romney divided his time between his competitive firm, his five sons, and volunteering with the Church. As his personal wealth grew and he climbed the corporate ladder, he considered his first political run. Ted Kennedy was seen as unbeatable, but Mitt wanted to run against him for Senate in 1994. He decided to run as a pro-choice Republican, justifying this position by citing the Church’s stance on respecting American law. Romney lost the race. His political aspirations attracted the attention of Donald Trump, then a New York real-estate developer, whom Romney considered entertaining and authentic. Ann’s multiple sclerosis, first diagnosed in 1988, was increasingly a concern.

Romney was asked to serve as the CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and rescued a Games plagued by corruption and bribery. That Olympics became even more important after 9/11, and Romney worked tirelessly to ensure that they were safe. The Games were a success, but his critics argued that he orchestrated the initial turmoil so that he could emerge as a hero.

Buoyed by this success, he ran for Governor of Massachusetts and won. As Governor, he signed a ban on assault weapons and passed universal health care. He gained traction with Democrats but was seen as too moderate or even liberal by Republicans. As he began his presidential run, he realized that this perception could be beneficial as well as harmful. He vowed not to repeat the mistakes of his father’s presidential campaign and prided himself on sticking to data. This was often his downfall, since his strongest platforms often relied on numbers rather than rhetoric, robbing him of the charismatic appeal of some opponents. He struggled to win over evangelicals, who were skeptical of his Mormon faith and decried his more moderate policy stances. Romney realized that he would have to sound more conservative to win over a substantial portion of his party. He lost the primary to John McCain.

In 2011, he began plotting another presidential run. This round, he was even less palatable to right-wing evangelicals and Tea Party members who questioned his religious faith and his political moderation. He repeated the mistakes of his first attempt at running for president, and was he hamstrung by gaffes that circulated on social media and made him appear privileged and out of touch. As Donald Trump gained prominence within the GOP, Romney questioned the party’s evolution and wondered where he belonged.

After losing his second presidential campaign in 2012, he enjoyed a few months of retirement before deciding that Trump’s increasingly incendiary rhetoric was a good reason to rejoin the fight. When Trump became president in 2016, Romney regretted not taking him more seriously as a viable threat earlier, and he watched in horror as the GOP splintered and gave way to extremist factions. He continued to speak out against Trump, causing many in his party to turn against him. Trump offered him the position of Secretary of State with the stipulation that Romney would have to offer a public announcement of support of Trump. After Romney’s hesitation, Trump realized that he could not bring him into his camp.

After becoming a US Senator representing Utah, Romney continued to butt heads with members of his party. The insurrection revealed how far Republicans were willing to go. Determined to engender actual change in the Senate, Romney joined a bipartisan “gang of ten” who devoted themselves to accomplishing action items. Now that he is getting older, he dreams of running as an independent or launching a third party to take down what he sees as a radically altered Republican Party.