Farewell To The Last Old-school Republican 

Telling the truth, looking back on complicated legacies and how we will remember Mitt Romney’s first and final term as U.S. Senator for Utah

On the northbound side of Interstate-15, in Salt Lake County, a large sign declares to drivers, “Mitt Romney is our hero; he tells the truth.” With a political career as long as Mitt Romney’s, retaining hero status is a feat. When it comes to his political legacy, Senator Romney hopes most to invoke his father. “My dad, George W. Romney, is my life hero,” Romney told Salt Lake magazine in an email correspondence. “He knew what he believed was right and he said it forthrightly—and in some respects, that got him in trouble politically.”

Not everyone agrees with the billboard’s sentiment. Rick Perlstein, a respected historian who has chronicled the modern conservative movement, has often criticized Romney for inauthenticity, calling him “robotic.” 

“Mitt learned at an impressionable age that in politics, authenticity kills,” Perlstein wrote in Rolling Stone. “Heeding the lesson of his father’s fall, he became a virtual parody of an inauthentic politician,” Perlstein wrote that in 2012, the year Mitt Romney secured the Republican nomination and ran against President Barack Obama—a lifetime ago by cultural and political standards. That was an eon before the paradigm-shifting election of Donald Trump, which some would compare to the 1964 presidential election, when, as a Republican governor, his father George Romney stood against his party’s extremist nominee Barry Goldwater. Others have compared Trump’s run to the 1968 presidential election, in which George Romney’s authenticity and honesty about the Vietnam War cost him the Republican nomination in favor of Richard Nixon, whose name is now synonymous with “liar.” 

Romney would seemingly shift his positioning with or against Trump in the days following the 2016 election, but his view was cemented in 2020 when, as U.S. Senator for Utah, he became the only Republican to vote “guilty” on Article I impeachment to convict Trump. Romney would vote to impeach Trump again in 2021, following the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

“I’m more comfortable with being out on a ledge by myself than perhaps the average politician because of my dad’s example,” said Sen. Romney. 

While individual politicians get called out for shifting positions, the largest political shift seems to be happening around politicians like Romney. In an era when the far-right of his party is now the mainstream and high-profile Republicans have received the unshakable label of “weird,” guys like Romney are a reminder of a more civil time.

“There is no question we are facing increasing polarization in our country and in Congress,” said Sen. Romney. With far fewer competitive congressional races than there were 25 years  ago, Romney contends, “most of the House is only concerned about their. That tends to draw candidates closer to the extremes of  their party. And it’s a lot harder to come together in a bipartisan way when one’s main concern is appealing to the base of one’s party. This has led to more people coming to Washington whose objective is to make noise, not to make law—not to change things in a way that might be better for the country, but just to show that they’re angry and fighting.”

Still, Romney is proud of the bipartisan work they’ve been able to accomplish as in the Senate, even amidst the climate of division. “The bipartisan infrastructure bill brought historic federal funding to Utah for critical water, transportation, and broadband projects throughout our state; fully funded the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement; and established a wildfire mitigation and management commission to update our country’s wildfire policies,” he said. “I was also able to help secure funding for Hill Air Force Base, its program to modernize our nuclear deterrent, and legislation to help save the Great Salt Lake. The State Department has announced that it will soon be opening a passport agency in Salt Lake City—which is a direct result of my team’s years-long effort to improve consular services for Utahns.”

And there is still more yet to do. “There has been a reluctance on the part of both parties to tackle the biggest issues we face as a country,” he said, referring to national debt, China’s influence as a world power, climate change and AI. “And the longer we wait to address these challenges, the harder it will be to overcome them.” Problems, perhaps, to be taken up by the person who will assume Romney’s soon-to-be vacant Senate seat. 

As his term comes to an end, the Senator’s mind is not solely on his political achievements or regrets. Sen. Romney told us that when he asked his father about the most rewarding thing he had done in his life, the octogenarian George Romney answered with the raising of his children. “My dad’s life was not defined by winning or losing elections. His life was as big as his faith, his passion for the country, and his family—that’s what he lived for.” 

As for what comes next for the 77-year-old Mitt Romney, he likewise mentioned more time with his wife Ann and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but, he said beyond that he is not 100 percent certain. “But I know I’ll want to work to see if there is a way to get candidates for office who actually tell the truth about the big issues we face and to act on real solutions.”

Bipartisan work

Romney says, “I am most proud of the bipartisan legislation I was able to help shape.” The “bipartisan group of ten” was able to pass: the Bipartisan COVID-19 Relief Act of 2020, infrastructure modernization legislation, Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Respect for Marriage Act with protections for religion, Electoral Count Act and funding for Ukraine, Israel and the Chips Act. But he regrets not accomplishing more in regards to China.