Within the same period, George Romney's presidential campaign went from high-flying to free fall. It was his cloudy and ever-shifting position on Vietnam that caused him the most grief. After visiting Vietnam in 1965 he had given his strong support to military involvement, but he later declared it to be a tragic mistake.

In an interview before Labor Day in 1967, a Detroit broadcaster asked Romney to reconcile his opposing positions on Vietnam. Romney cited the "brainwashing" he'd had by U.S. generals and diplomats during his visit there. Before long, the former Time magazine cover boy became the punch line of a national political joke.

On the eve of the New Hampshire primary in February 1968, Romney dropped out of the race. One fellow Republican governor was quoted as saying, "Watching George Romney run for the presidency was like watching a duck try to make love to a football."

Romney refused to wallow in defeat. Then, just a few months after dropping out of the presidential race, he received devastating news. Mitt, the prince of the family, had been in a horrible car wreck. There was at least one confirmed fatality in the crash along a winding road of Bordeaux, and Mitt was believed to be in critical condition. Initially, the French policeman who found his battered body had marked his passport Il est mort: He is dead.

George reached out to Ann, inviting her to the Romney home as the family waited and prayed for good news. "I remember the call coming in," says Ann's brother Jim. "I remember the shock of it."

During Mitt's years away, a kind of father-daughter bond had developed between George and Ann, the father who was the most important figure in his youngest son's life personally preparing his girlfriend to be able one day to assume that role.

In an instant, all of their hopes for the future were tested.

Hours later, they learned that Mitt would survive his serious injuries. It would take them a lot longer to realize the degree to which he would never be the same.

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Next: A family forms