mitt was the fourth and last child for george and lenore romney. some recall him as the favorite. orge wrote to the family in september 1956. mitt is growing like a weed. is full of ideas and energy as ever. tom mccaffrey grew up with romney. >> mitt as a child was extremely energetic. the kind of kid that could never sit down. his mind was going 100 miles an hour. >> george was much the same way. you know, he's got that energy. >> phillip maxwell lived down the street from the romneys in a wealthy detroit suburb. >> george would go out on the golf course. he had fluorescent golf balls, and he would hit the ball and he would run after the ball jogging, hit the ball again, and that was his exercise. >> young mitt not only had his father's energy -- >> there seems to be a special bond between george and mitt. >> michael kranish and scott helman co-wrote the book "the real romney." >> mitt absolutely idolized his father in a way you can see drawn out in the way he's run his life. following the same foot steps of the career. >> george romney was the ceo who saved american motors by bet

lenore romney ended up getting killed in that senate race. take away lessons from victories and from defeat. >> from both parents. george thrives on candor. >> there's a growing aimlessness and flabbiness in our american society. >> lenore more cautious. their son looked for a path somewhere in between. but george romney steered his son away from politics and toward business first and two graduate degrees, in both business and law, at harvard. >> by now, george romney had seen what it took to succeed and what kind of skills you needed and what kind of credentials you needed. and so he was encouraging his son to go beyond where he had been. >> so in 1972, mitt, ann and their two baby boys moved to massachusetts. but their move from utah would not be easy. >> it was destroyed by fire in august of 1984. and the fire department indicated that it was most likely set. they categorized it as of suspicious origin. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday

lenore romney ended up getting killed in that senate race.victories and from defeat. >> from both parents, george thrives on candor. >> there's a growing aimlessness and flabbiness in our american society. >> lenore, more cautious. their son looked for a path somewhere in between. but george romney steered his son away from politics and toward business first. and two graduate degrees in both business and law at harvard. >> by now, george romney had seen what it took to succeed and what kind of skills you needed and what kind of credentials you needed. he was encouraging his son to go beyond where he had been. >> so in 1972, mitt, ann and their two baby boys moved to massachusetts. but their move from utah would not be easy. >> it was destroyed by fire in august of 1984. the fire department indicated it was most likely set. they categorized it as of suspicious origin. now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passions... bec

and lenore romney ended up getting killed in that senate race. take away lessons from victories and from defeats. >> from both parents, george thrives on candor -- >> there's a growing aimlessness and flabbiness in our american society. >> lenore, more cautious. their son looked for a path somewhere in between. t george romney steered his son away from politics and toward business first. and two graduate degrees in both business and law at harvard. >> by now, george romney had seen what it took to succeed an what kind of skills you needed and what kind of credentials you needed. so he was encouraging his son to kind of go beyond where he had been. >> so in 1972, mitt, ann and their two baby boys, moved to massachusetts. but their move from utah would not be easy. >> destroyed by fire in august of 1984. and the fire department indicated that it was most likely set. that they categorized it as of suspicious origin. sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering so, i'm walking down the street, sfx: s

and lenore romney ended up getting killed in that senate race. look, you take away lessons from victories and from defeats. >> from both parents, george thrives on candor -- >> there's a growing aimlessness and flabbiness in our american society. >> lenore, more cautious. their son looked for a path somewhere in between. but george romney steered his son away from politics and toward business first. and two graduate degrees in both business and law at harvard. >> by now, george romney had seen what it took to succeed an what kind of skills you needed and what kind of credentials you needed. so he was encouraging his son to kind of go beyond where he had been. >> so in 1972, mitt, ann and their two baby boys, moved to massachusetts. but their move from utah would not be easy. >> destroyed by fire in august of 1984. and the fire department indicated that it was most likely set. that they categorized it as of suspicious origin. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac.

the candidate had to address a 40-year-old video showing his mother, lenore romney, talking about her husband who was once on welfare. here's how mitt romney responded to the video at a campaign event in florida. >> my dad was born in mexico, of american parents living there. at age 5 or 6, there was revolution and they came back to the united states. and my dad had to get help, financial help, the government helped his family to be able to get on their feet again. by the way, that's the way america works. we have big hearts. we care for people who have needs. we help get them back. we help lift them up. then we don't make that a permanent lifestyle. we don't have them become government dependents. we help people. they get them on their feet. and then they build a brighter future. >> where was this belief system when romney was talking to the big money crowd back in may? romney sounds a heck of a lot different than the guy in boca raton who made a character judgment about half country. >> these are people who pay no income tax. 47% of americans pay no income kax. our message of low ta

. ♪ mitt was the fourth and last child for george and lenore romney, born march 12th, 1947, some recally in september 1956. mitt is growing like a weed, is full of ideas and energy as ever. tom mccaffrey grew up with romney. >> mitt as a child was extremely energetic. the kind of kid that could never sit down. his mind was going 100 miles an hour. >> george was much the same way. you know, he's just -- he's got that energy. >> phillip maxwell lived down the street from the romneys in a wealthy detroit suburb. >> george would go go out on the golf course and he had fluore e fluorescent golf balls and he would hit the ball and he would run after the ball jogging. hit the ball again. and that was his exercise. >> young mitt not only had his father's energy. >> there seems to be a special bond between george and mitt. >> michael kranish and scott helman co-wrote the book "the real romney." >> mitt absolutely idolized his father in a way that you can see drawn out in the way he's run his life following the same footsteps of the career. >> george romney was a ceo who saved american motors by

this is mitt romney's mother, lenore, back in 1962. >> you know, we've only owned our home for the last four years. he was a refugee from mexico. he was on relief, welfare relief for the first years of his life, but this great country gave him opportunities. >> mitt romney's mom talking about how her husband's family was on government relief when he was a child. so will disclosures like that, governor romney's own father benefited from a program that the son has characterized as populated by quote, victims, help the romney campaign reboot, or will it further knock him off message? mark mckinnen is a conservative who has been sharply critical of mitt romney on this issue and also is a former top campaign advisor to george w. bush and john mccain, currently writes for the daily beast. also with us, chief political analyst gloria borger and alice stewart former spokesman for the santorum and bachman 2012 presidential campaigns. mark, let's start with you. right after the romney fund-raising tape came out, you said you weren't too happy with what the campaign was revealing about mitt romney

. >> mitt romney's own road to this presidential nomination begins in 1947. that's when he was born to george and his wife lenoread signed a contract with mgm but gave up her fledgling movie career to be a full-time mom to four children. before his political career, george was a success it will businessman. he turned around american motors in the 1950s by launching a small fuel efficient car called the rambler. the rambler still brings a smile to mitt's face whenever he runs into it on the campaign trail. .mitt comes of age during the wonder years of the '50s, time of elvis and eisenhower. >> mitt romney's childhood was not typical. he grew up in one of the wealthiest communities in the country, bloomfield hills, michigan, he grew up as a son of privilege, a family of great prominence and significant wealth and a lot was expected of him. >> and as the '50s meld into the '60s, mitt gets his first taste of politics, campaigning with his dad during his first successful run for governor of michigan in 1962. >> i actually went on the minivan that went from county fair to county fair, set up booths and would speak to

. >> mitt romney's own road to this presidential nomination begins in 1947. that's when he was born to george and his wife lenore with mgm but gave up her fledgling movie career to be a full-time mom to four children. before his political career, george was a successful businessman. he turned around american motors in the 1950s by launching a small fuel efficient car called the rambler. the rambler still brings a smile to mitt's face whenever he runs into it on the campaign trail. .mitt comes of age during the wonder years of the '50s, time of elvis and eisenhower. >> mitt romney's childhood was not typical. he grew up in one of the wealthiest communities in the country, bloomfield hills, michigan, he grew up as a son of privilege, a family of great prominence and significant wealth and a lot was expected of him. >> and as the '50s meld into the '60s, mitt gets his first taste of politics, campaigning with his dad during his first successful run for governor of michigan in 1962. >> i actually went on the minivan that went from county fair to county fair, set up booths and would speak to people, explain why they

. >> mitt romney's own road to this presidential nomination begins in 1947. that's when he was born to george and his wife lenorere had signed a contract with mgm but gave up her fledgling movie career to be a full-time mom to four children. before his political career, george was a success it will businessman. he turned around american motors in the 1950s by launching a small fuel efficient car called the rambler. the rambler still brings a smile to mitt's face whenever he runs into it on the campaign trail. .mitt comes of age during the wonder years of the 50s, time of elvis and eisenhower. >> mitt romney's childhood was not typical. he grew up in one of the wealthiest communities in the country, bloomfield hills, michigan, he grew up as a son of privilege, a family of great prominence and significant wealth and a lot was expected of him. >> and as the '50s meld into the '60s, mitt gets his first taste of politics, campaigning with his dad during his first successful run for governor of michigan in 1962. >> i actually went on the minivan that went from county fair to county fair, set up booths and would speak