Friday, September 07, 2012

Unlike Father, Unlike Son


            George Wilcken Romney was born in Mexico in 1907.  When he was five years old, his family fled the revolution and moved to the United States.  They lived in Utah during the Great Depression and, like millions of Americans, struggled to make ends meet.  George Romney’s career in the auto industry began in 1939, when he moved to Detroit.  In World War II, he lead efforts to share production improvements.  In 1948, he joined Nash-Kelvinator, which became the American Motors Corporation six years later, with Romney as CEO.
            In 1962, he ran for governor in Michigan.  Naturally, during the campaign, his wife was interviewed.
             Interviewer:   You mentioned the people — why do some think he’s a man of considerable means who really doesn’t care about people?
Lenore Romney:   You know, we’ve only owned our home for the last four years.  He was a refugee from Mexico who was on relief, welfare relief for the first years of his life.  But this great country gave him opportunities.  His family were poor; he was poor; he said they lived for a year on nothing but potatoes.  He’s known what it is to have to work for every dime he’s had since he was twelve.

            Today, Lenore’s youngest son is running for the presidency of the United States.
            George Romney served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in President Richard Milhous Nixon’s first term.  Facing resistance from the President, Romney nevertheless wanted to increase housing production for the poor; he pursued open housing and desegregation.
            Today, George Romney’s youngest son is running for the presidency of the United States. 

            Well, you know what they say:  “Unlike father, unlike son.”

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