Romney follows in his father’s footsteps

The GOP presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts governor’s family has deep political roots. Romney’s father, George, was the former governor of Michigan and served in President Richard Nixon’s Cabinet as secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

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1947

Mitt Romney’s father, George Romney, holds Mitt, who was born earlier that year.

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1953

Six-year-old Mitt Romney swings a baseball bat in Detroit.

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Feb. 10, 1962

Mitt Romney, 14, gives his father, George Romney, a hug at a Detroit news conference after the industrialist announced he would be a candidate for the GOP nomination for governor of Michigan. Mitt accompanied George Romney to the conference.

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June 29, 1963

Michigan Gov. George Romney, left, walks at the head of an anti-discrimination march through Grosse Pointe, Mich., a Detroit suburb.

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May 18, 1964

Michigan Gov. George Romney, his wife Lenore, with daughter Lynn and son Mitt, walk along a street at the World’s Fair in New York en route to the General Motors pavilion. They were there for Michigan Day at the fair.

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May 18, 1964

Michigan Gov. George Romney and his son, Mitt, look out over the New York World's Fair grounds from the heliport after attending a Michigan breakfast at the Top of the Fair restaurant.

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July 8, 1964

From left to right, Lenore Romney, Mitt Romney and Scott Romney listen to Michigan Gov. George Romney as he addresses the platform committee at the Republican National Convention in San Francisco.

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July 24, 1967

Michigan Gov. George Romney, left, is guarded by an unidentified police officer holding a rifle as he tours the scene of a Detroit riot.

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Oct. 16, 1967

Then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan, left, and then-Michigan Gov. George Romney and wife, Lenore, stand on the windblown deck of a ship as it sails down New York Harbor. The Statue of Liberty is barely visible in the background.

Eddie Adams / AP

Feb. 28, 1968

Michigan Gov. George Romney announces he has quit the race for the Republican presidential nomination at a news conference in Washington. Romney said it was clear to him that his candidacy had not won wide acceptance.

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Jan. 19, 1969

Michigan Gov. George Romney, left, and his wife Lenore wait outside their Washington hotel for a ride to the Governor's Reception. With them are their son Mitt and his fiancee, Ann Davies.

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Jan. 22, 1969

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development George Romney takes his oath of office in a White House East Room ceremony. Administering the oath of office is Chief Justice Earl Warren. Romney’s wife holds the Bible with President Richard Nixon watching.

/ AP

Nov. 19, 1971

Alf Landon, left, former Kansas governor, and George Romney, former governor of Michigan, greet each other as Romney arrived to dedicate the new pedestrian mall in downtown Parsons, Kan. Romney, a member of President Nixon’s Cabinet, was the secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

William P. Straeter / AP

Feb. 2, 1994

Mitt Romney, right, chairman of the Boston-based management consulting firm Bain & Co., acknowledges the crowd after announcing his candidacy as a Republican for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) in Boston. With Romney on stage are, from left to right, his mother, Lenore Romney, his father, George Romney and Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann.

Jon Chase / AP

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