52 pages • 1 hour read
McKay CoppinsRomney: A Reckoning
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Index of Terms
Conservative
Romney distinguishes between “Conservative” and “conservative”—the latter denoting traditional conservative values of limited government and fiscal responsibility, the former denoting loyalty to the Republican Party in its current form. As the Republican Party gives way to extremism, the difference between these labels becomes more pronounced. Romney’s primary political role model is his father, who ran as an economically conservative Republican who was committed to civil rights and social advocacy. Newt Gingrich noted that Romney was more of an Eisenhower than a Reagan, as he was more determined to ensure economic stability without massively idealistic visions of change. As Coppins notes, “Romney was not an ideologue. He prided himself on this fact. Though he was a Republican, he had no patience for Rush Limbaugh and never read the National Review. If he adhered to any kind of conservatism at all, it was of the small-c variety” (68). Coppins depicts Romney’s struggle to find a foothold within his rapidly changing party. The Republicans of his father’s era, those that Romney admired and aspired to follow, were replaced by extremists who viewed Trump as a messiah. However, Trump’s presidency and the insurrection forced Romney to consider how the “conservatives” had enabled the “Conservatives.” He wondered what role he and the other Republicans who prided themselves on rationality and pragmatism had played in downplaying the extremist threat, and he feared that it was an indication of his increasing sensation of being out of touch that he had not been able to locate and neutralize the threat before it multiplied.
Faith
Faith is of course inextricably linked to his legacy, as the Mormon dedication to genealogical record-keeping enabled Romney to trace his family roots back to the first ancestor who left England for Utah after converting. Romney was determined to be a responsible practitioner of his faith. He notes that the LDS Church is often considered an odd or untrustworthy outlier by evangelicals. As his political career gained traction, he was often discouraged from making his faith a central pillar of his personality. However, he refused to cave in to these demands. His Mormonism was seen as unpalatable to the evangelicals who gained traction during the 2008 primaries, and this faction became more extreme by 2012.
Faith became an integral component of his coming-of-age experience. Serving his mission in an underserved part of Normandy was an eye-opening experience for him, and after returning to the US, he saw himself as a more serious adult rather than a prankster. As the Romneys moved from Michigan to Utah to Massachusetts, continuing to serve the community through the church really became the only time that he worked alongside regular people instead of privileged businesspeople or politicians.
The politics within the Mormon spheres are depicted as intriguing and challenging to maneuver, and just as Romney struggled to convince Americans that his faith would not negatively impact his politics, he also struggled to convince fellow Mormons that his politics would not have a negative impact on his faith. As he brainstormed marketing ideas for the 2002 Olympics, he planned to have images of ice skaters on Mormon buildings and had to assure his community that they would be appropriately clothed.
Legacy
The prologue acts as a sort of disclaimer, emphasizing that the author is determined to delineate Romney’s unique political growth amid a rapidly evolving GOP. Coppins engages in blunt contemplations of the perception of Romney as privileged, unrelatable, overly pragmatic, and a pariah within his own party, and Romney invites discussion of these perceptions.
As a disciple of his father’s politics, Romney was determined to make a name for himself and forge his own political identity. His family history could be traced back centuries, and Romney men were noted for being stubborn idealists who got things done. He both welcomed and feared the Romney curse of stubbornness. As a patriarch of a massive, ever-expanding family, he was very conscious of how his political and professional aspirations impacted his wife and children.
Trump’s refusal to admit that Biden won the 2020 election presented a curious opportunity for Romney, who could have toed the party line and been rewarded. Instead, he was the only Republican who voted to convict Trump during his impeachment trial, resulting in ostracism by his party and death threats from Trump supporters. Now nearing retirement, Romney is more concerned with being remembered as a voice of reason rather than winning reelection.
Nepotism
Romney wrangles with the differences between nepotism and following a family legacy. While he seems to have no qualms about gaining access to spaces and job opportunities because of the privilege afforded by his father’s position as governor, he does seem concerned that people will assume that he was granted these opportunities solely because of his father’s standing rather than because of his own work ethic or abilities. He is also concerned with ensuring that his children are capable and can work hard to earn their positions.
Romney fears the effects of nepotism as a scourge on the government. As he enters the Senate, he realizes how many senators are content to coast on the comfort of incumbency without any real pressure to achieve anything. He recognizes that this privileged laziness is often the result of nepotism and works hard to ensure that he does not fall victim to the same thing. As he watches Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner ascend to positions for which they are totally unqualified, he contemplates the long-term damage such nepotism can cause.
