when did romney first run for president?
Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2008
contradiction
 Romney formally announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination for president on February 13 , 2007 , in Dearborn , Michigan . Again casting himself as a political outsider , his speech frequently invoked his father and his family , and stressed experiences in the private , public , and voluntary sectors that had brought him to this point . 

contradiction
 For much of his business career , Romney did not take public , political stances . He had kept abreast of national politics since college , though , and the circumstances of his father 's presidential campaign loss had irked him for decades . He registered as an Independent and voted in the 1992 presidential primaries for the Democratic former senator from Massachusetts , Paul Tsongas . 

entailment
 Romney formally announced on November 18 , 1967 , at Detroit 's Veterans Memorial Building , that he had " decided to fight for and win the Republican nomination and election to the Presidency of the United States . " His subsequent release of his federal tax returns – twelve years ' worth going back to his time as AMC head – was groundbreaking and established a precedent that many future presidential candidates would have to contend with . He spent the following months campaigning tirelessly , focusing on the New Hampshire primary , the first of the season , and doing all the on @-@ the @-@ ground activities known to that state : greeting workers at factory gates before dawn , having neighborhood meetings in private homes , and stopping at bowling alleys . He returned to Vietnam in December 1967 and made speeches and proposals on the subject , one of which presaged Nixon 's eventual policy of Vietnamization . For a while , he got an improved response from voters . 

entailment
 On April 11 , 2011 , Romney announced , via a video taped outdoors at the University of New Hampshire , that he had formed an exploratory committee for a run for the Republican presidential nomination . Quinnipiac University political science professor Scott McLean stated , " We all knew that he was going to run . He 's really been running for president ever since the day after the 2008 election . " 

contradiction
 Former Congressman and Republican National Committee chair Leonard W. Hall became Romney 's informal campaign manager . A Gallup Poll after the November elections showed Romney as favored among Republicans over former Vice President Richard Nixon for the Republican nomination , 39 percent to 31 percent ; a Harris Poll showed Romney besting President Johnson among all voters by 54 percent to 46 percent . Nixon considered Romney his chief opponent . Romney announced an exploratory phase for a possible campaign in February 1967 , beginning with a visit to Alaska and the Rocky Mountain states . 
