Mitt Romney is notoriously tight-lipped about his personal life, but that must change if he wishes to win the election, as John Avlon writes at the Daily Best.
We expect our presidential candidates to come with a character narrative, however big or small, a hero’s journey of suffering and redemption that informs their judgment, arming them with empathy and wisdom once they reach the Oval Office.
Mitt Romney’s blessing is his curse in this regard. He has lived a life of privilege and discipline animated by ambition. He was the son of a CEO and governor. He famously protested in favor of the Vietnam War but never served. He got a JD/MBA from Harvard and soon found extraordinary success in private equity, which would snowball into a quarter-billion dollar fortune, made meaningful by a lifelong love and five healthy children.
He has lived a life of great success but little suffering, at least on the surface. He has been tested, but in the boardroom rather than the battlefield.