Have you ever wondered what Mitt Romney was like before he became a presidential hopeful?
Clarkston resident Nancy McGuire knows.
In 1952, she was Romney’s kindergarten music teacher at Vaughn Elementary School in Bloomfield Hills.
‘He came in holding his mother’s hand, and he was as cute as he could be,? she said.
McGuire described 5-year-old Romney as a ‘nice little boy? and recalls his hesitation to leave his mother to join his classmates. During her class, Mitt Romney sang and was well behaved, McGuire said. She also remembers his mother, who she thought of as ‘genuine and charming.?
The good opinion McGuire has of Romney and his family is based on her personal interactions with them, but also on The Real Romney, a biography by Michael Kranish that McGuire keeps on her coffee table.
‘I would like to see him become president because I think they are good, honest people,? she said.
McGuire isn’t the only one from Vaughn Elementary who remembers Romney.
In January 2008, he ran into his first grade teacher, Mrs. Blazo, after an Americans for Prosperity event. Romney told CBS News that he started using his middle name ‘Mitt? in first grade because he didn’t want to be called ‘Billy? (short for Willard) anymore. McGuire, who was 21 when she taught at Bloomfield Hills, doesn’t recall Mrs. Blazo, but she does remember calling young Romney by ‘Mitt.?
Now that Mitt Romney is a candidate for president, Nancy McGuire feels ‘pretty proud of him.?
Around Christmas time, she received a signed family photo of Mitt Romney in the mail that she keeps near her piano.
‘It’s fun to remember,? she says with a smile.