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My Dinner Date with George Romney (How Republicans Used to Look, Think….and Act)
I n 1966, Look Magazine awarded its annual “All-America City” award to my hometown, Michigan City, Indiana .
The late George Romney (1907–1995) was Governor of Michigan at that time. He was also the father of the current junior senator from Utah, former governor of Massachusetts, and former Republican Party standard bearer for the presidency, Willard “Mitt” Romney.
Governor George Romney was chosen to present Look Magazine’s award to Michigan City. (Don’t ask me why a Michigan governor was asked to present a national award to an Indiana city — maybe because Look did not grasp that Michigan City was actually in Indiana)?
In any event, the city fathers (yes, civic leaders were all men back then, of course) and the local Chamber of Commerce asked the honchos of MC’s only public high school to choose an “outstanding student” to present and introduce Gov. Romney to Michigan City.
Yeah, it was me. Why me?
I had just turned 17, had a GPA of 3.9, had been accepted and offered scholarships by 100 colleges and universities around the country, was a National Merit Scholar Finalist, a two-year member of the National Honor Society, and was a full year ahead of my high school graduating class. These were not athletic…
