George W. Romney

George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and politician who served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, where he is credited with reviving the company's fortunes through a focus on smaller, fuel efficient Rambler automobiles at a time when Detroit's larger manufacturers favored bigger cars. He later became the 43rd governor of Michigan, serving from 1963 to 1969, and afterward served as United States secretary of housing and urban development from 1969 to 1973. Romney was born in 1907 in a Mormon colony in Chihuahua, Mexico, and his family returned to the United States during the Mexican Revolution. He was the father of Mitt Romney, who later became a United States senator and Massachusetts governor. Romney died in 1995 at age 88.