"This is a global effort we're going to have to lead to overcome this jihadist effort. It's more than Osama bin Laden. But he is going to pay, and he will die."

The $40 Million Loser!

Willard Mitt Romney is a businessman and politician, and a member of the Mormon church. He was 70th Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2002-2007). He sought the Republican nomination in the 2008 United States presidential election, but lost to Senator John McCain. Romney is a former CEO of Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, and the co-founder of Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm. He was the CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Romney is the son of former Michigan Governor and 1968 presidential candidate George W. Romney, and 1970 U.S. Senate candidate Lenore Romney. He was named "Willard" after hotel magnate J. Willard Marriott, his father's best friend. Mitt, his middle name, comes from his father's cousin Milton Romney, who played quarterback for the Chicago Bears (1925-1929). Romney has been involved in politics from an early age, having joined his father in pro-civil rights marches.

Romney was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), also known as the Mormons. His great-great-grandfather, Parley P. Pratt, was one of the first leaders of the Mormon church. Romney's wife Ann converted to Mormonism before they were married in 1969. Her family could not attend their wedding ceremony that was held at a temple, due to a rule preventing non-Mormons from entering LDS temples, but they attended another ceremony held for non-Mormons.

Romney graduated from the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1965. He went to Stanford University for two quarters, then served in France for 30 months as a Mormon missionary. While driving fellow missionaries in southern France in June 1968, Romney was involved in a serious car accident. Another car hit Romney's car head on; the accident left one person dead, and fault was attributed to the driver of the other vehicle.

In addition to his missionary work in France, Romney has served as a part-time lay minister, called a bishop, in the Mormon church. As part of his religious upbringing, Romney abstains from alcohol and smoking.

Romney has avoided speaking publicly about specific Mormon church doctrines, and has pointed out that the U.S. Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office. Declining to discuss details about his religion also reduces the risk that doctrinal differences will alienate evangelical Christian voters. Romney has instead addressed religion in general, saying that as president he would "need the prayers of the people of all faiths," and that he would "serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States."

After his mission service, Romney attended Brigham Young University, where he graduated in 1971 as valedictorian, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude. In 1975, Romney graduated from a joint Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration program coordinated between Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School.

After graduating from Harvard, Romney went to work for the Boston Consulting Group, where he had interned during the summer of 1974. From 1978 to 1984, Romney was a vice president of Bain & Company, Inc., another management consulting firm based in Boston. In 1984, Romney left Bain & Company to co-found a spin-off private equity investment firm, Bain Capital. During the 14 years he headed the company, Bain Capital's average annual internal rate of return on realized investments was 113 percent, making money primarily through leveraged buyouts.

In 1990, Romney was asked to return to Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse. As CEO, Romney managed an effort to restructure the firm's employee stock-ownership plan, real-estate deals and bank loans, while increasing fiscal transparency. Within a year, he had led Bain & Company through a highly successful turnaround and returned the firm to profitability without layoffs or partner defections.

In 1994, Romney won the Massachusetts Republican Party nomination for U.S. Senate, to run against Senator Edward Kennedy. Kennedy won the general election with 58 percent of the vote.

Romney left Bain Capital in 1999 to head the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games Organizing Committee. The games were facing a fiscal crisis, and there were allegations of bribery involving top officials, including then Salt Lake Olympic Committee (SLOC) President and CEO Frank Joklik. Joklik and SLOC vice president Dave Johnson were forced to resign. Romney revamped the organization's leadership and policies, reduced budgets and boosted fundraising. He contributed $1 million to the Olympics, and donated the $825,000 salary he earned as President and CEO to charity. He wrote a book about his experience titled Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games.

In 2002, Romney was the Republican party candidate in the race for governor of Massachusetts. He contributed $6.3 million to his own campaign during the election. He was elected Governor in November 2002 with 50 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic candidate Shannon O'Brien.

As governor, Romney presided over a period of sustained economic expansion and improved fortunes for the state of Massachusetts. Without raising taxes or increasing debt, Governor Romney balanced the budget every year of his administration, closing a nearly $3 billion budget gap inherited when he took office.

In 2004, Romney established the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program to reward the top 25 percent of Massachusetts high school students with a four-year, tuition-free scholarship to any Massachusetts public university or college. He also championed education reforms including merit pay, an emphasis on math and science instruction, intervention programs for failing schools and English immersion for foreign-speaking students.

After leaving office as the governor of Massachusetts, Romney campaigned for the 2008 Republican party presidential nomination. On February 7, 2008, he conceded the race to Senator John McCain. Romney had spent more than $40 million of his own money on the race, but never gained great support except in states where he had lived.

Romney and his wife have a net worth of between $190 and $250 million.