Romney says he's filing paperwork to explore presidential run

Not only does Romney diverge from conservatives on some social issues, but many evangelicals don't consider Mormons a true branch of Christianity.

Willard Mitt Romney, 59, is the son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, who ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1968.

Mitt Romney received his B.A. in 1971 from Brigham Young University, and then went on to simultaneously earn degrees from Harvard Business and Law schools, graduating cum laude from law school and in the top 5 percent of his business school class.

Romney remained in Boston, where he helped found a multibillion-dollar venture capital firm and amassed a multimillion-dollar fortune. He rose to national prominence when he successfully resurrected the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, which were mired in a bribery scandal.

His only major failure was the unsuccessful campaign against Kennedy in 1994, although he performed better than many pundits had expected.

Romney was reared in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., an exclusive suburb outside Detroit. His father was chairman of American Motors Corp., and has been credited with coining the phrases "compact car" and "gas-guzzling dinosaur."

Romney sought and won the chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association, allowing him to spend the 2006 midterm election traveling the country and dispensing cash to his party's gubernatorial candidates.

He raised a record $20 million and was especially generous with RGA money in early presidential states like Iowa, Florida and his native Michigan.