Willard Mitt Romney, who accepted his nomination as the Republican candidate for President of the United States at the 2012 Republican National Convention, presented himself and his intents for our country with remarkable poise. Mitt Romney took the stand with confidence to present the United States with uplifting, spirited, optimistic goals for the future of America to achieve.

Romney’s role in Bain Capital, his involvement in Staples, his dedication to the continuation of the Olympics, and his role as governor of Massachusetts have often cast him as an overconfident person who is out of touch with the issues of ordinary Americans. Everything that was displayed at the Republican National Convention refuted this distorted perception.

Romney began by working for the Boston Consulting Group where he later was employed at Bain & Company in Boston, Massachusetts. There, he was able to support the dreams and ambitions of young entrepreneurs by leading the company out of a major financial deficit with his desire to see others capture the American dream. With his entrepreneurial zeal, he even co-founded Bain Capital that yielded substantial profit. But it wasn’t the profit he was concerned about; it was the thousands of jobs he created and the willingness for others to succeed beyond the imaginations of their ancestors. Romney was not ravenous for the money and the fame that he is accused of, but rather the desire to see others succeed.

In addition, Romney founded Staples 25 years ago. Starting with a young entrepreneur trying to sell a few office supplies, Romney immediately defended and supported this particular dream by financially making the business reasonable. Romney refused to overprice items and an article from FoxNews.com claims that “for Mitt, cutting costs and running things well has been a consistent animating idea.” Romney believes in the success of entrepreneurs, and therefore supports cutting the taxes that burden the progression of new businesses. Moreover, Romney inspires and encourages new business owners to take risks and stimulate new ideas. Evidently, Romney’s leadership has fostered achievement since he used his ideas to found Staples into becoming the thriving and popular business that it is today with over 2,000 stores worldwide and 90,000 employees.

Furthermore, it was Romney’s leadership that helped sustain the continuation of the Olympic games. The 2002 Olympics that was supposed to be held in Salt Lake City entered a major crisis when members of the International Olympic Committee lost credibility in their responses to the bidding process that supports the games. An article from the Tampa Bay Times on PolitiFact.com states that because major organizers of the Olympics were sent straight into question after a bribery scandal, many corporate sponsors discontinued their advertisements and financial aid to the Olympic games. Fixed in this unpredictable predicament, the continuation of the Olympic games was debatable. With only two years to restore the Olympics, Romney left his executive job at Bain Capital to organize the Olympics and to restore the confidence and credibility previously lost. Because of Romney’s sole desire to save the prestigious Olympic games in a time of crisis, the games are still in motion.

At the Republican National Convention, a dozen Olympians took center stage and credited Romney’s presidential campaign for leading them to victory. Kim Rhode, a gold medalist in women’s skeet shooting at the 2012 Summer Olympics, claims: “We need the leadership of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to turn our country around so that millions of Americans who have taken aim at their own dreams, whatever they may be, have the opportunity for those dreams to come true, just like our Olympic dreams did”. (Wall Street Journal; Market Watch) Romney did not save the Olympics for the fame, but rather for the dreams of the talented athletes to participate in such a notable competition. Romney’s leadership thrives from the foundation of achieving the American dream and genuinely putting forth all of his efforts to help the generation succeed.

Not only did Romney lead the National Convention by remembering the several advantageous moves that he made for our country, but he was also recognized for his sincere and wholehearted character. One couple, the Oparowskys, shared a touching story about Romney and their 14-year old son, David, who was dying of cancer. Romney visited their son at the hospital and even helped him write a will to divide up all of his toys. This was just one of many tales given by those who got to see Romney first hand as an admirable man with an exceptional heart.

The Republican National Convention not only provided the stage for Romney to accept his candidacy, but also offered an opportunity for the Republicans to showcase the depth of Romney’s humanity. As former state Lt. Governor Kerry Healey noted, “First and foremost, Mitt is a good and honorable man committed to public service and his country.”

Romney himself gave a glimpse of his genuine concern for all people when he said, “My mom and dad gave their kids the greatest gift of all- the gift of unconditional love…unconditional love is a gift Ann and I have tried to pass on to our sons and now to our grandchildren. All the laws and legislation in the world will never heal the world like the loving hearts and arms of mothers and fathers.”

By this, Romney illustrated that he is not just an extraordinary leader, but more importantly, that he is an extraordinary man. Romney is for real.

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The Opinions in this section do not necessarily reflect those of The DePaulia staff.