Behind the Cover: The Unseen Photos of Lenore and Mitt Romney

May 24, 2012 10:00 AM EDT

When Douglas Gilbert photographed Lenore Romney’s U.S. Senate campaign for Look Magazine in August of 1970, little did he know that one of his unused images would end up on the cover of TIME 42 years later. “At the time I was hoping for LOOK magazine,” he says. “Certainly not TIME! It is a nice surprise.”

Gilbert spent some three days trailing Lenore and Mitt through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula the summer Lenore tried to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Phil Hart, for whom the Hart Senate Office building is now named. Many people know that Mitt’s father, three-term Michigan governor George Romney, ran for President and lost in 1968, but few know the story of his mother’s own campaign for high office and how it shaped her son’s presidential run in 2012. Fewer still have ever seen Gilbert’s photos of mother and son—those collected here did not run, except for one (slide #4), in LOOK’s story, and the negatives ended up buried in the Library of Congress archives until TIME discovered them in May. In an ironic turn of history, Gilbert’s portrait of newlywed 23-year-old Mitt and his mother strategizing in her campaign hotel room exactly captures a central theme of Mitt’s current cautious campaign style, the subject of TIME’s cover story this week, “Dreams of His Mother.”

Lenore’s losing run deeply shaped her son, perhaps even more than her husband’s failed presidential bid. Lenore initially called her campaign “a love affair between me and the people of Michigan.” But a month after Gilbert shot these images, her tune had turned. “It’s the most humiliating thing I know of to run for office,” she said. And Mitt, who was at her elbow at every turn that summer, felt the effects.

Nevertheless, Gilbert saw the charismatic Lenore that Mitt championed. “I found her to be very personable and friendly. I never really felt any pushback from her at all,” he remembers. “She attracted people.” On the mama’s boy, Gilbert’s memories are more vague. “I remember mostly Lenore. Mitt was, as far as I knew, the college-aged son who was helping out,” he recalls. “I knew it was a funny name, Mitt, but I didn’t know him beyond that.”

Mitt however was making a name for himself on the campaign trail even then. He traveled to each of Michigan’s 83 counties on his mom’s behalf, and talked openly with reporters about her platform every step of the way. Mitt Romney finds himself in a similar position, more than 40 years later: traveling the country, and this time, convincing voters of his own credentials to become President of the United States. That outcome hinges on voters this November; Lenore’s influence on that journey, though, is indisputable.

More photos: The rich history of Mitt Romney

Elizabeth Dias is a reporter in TIME’s Washington bureau. Follow her on Twitter @elizabethjdias.

raising.romney.indd — The June 4, 2012 cover of TIME Magazine. An unpublished photograph of Lenore and Mitt Romney reviewing campaign notes in a hotel room in Michigan's Upper Peninsula while on the campaign trail, August 1970. ©TIME, Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Lenore and Mitt Romney reviewing campaign notes in a hotel room in Michigan's Upper Peninsula while on the campaign trail, August 1970. Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Lenore and Mitt Romney looking at local newspapers in a hotel room in Michigan's Upper Peninsula while on the campaign trail, August 1970. Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Mitt and Lenore Romney walk with young supporters decorated in Lenore headbands and sashes in a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, August 1970. *(Note to reader: This is one of the few images taken of Mitt and Lenore in the original series that was published.)*Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Lenore Romney is greeted by local children in a town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula while on the campaign trail, August 1970.Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Lenore and Mitt Romney greet a supporter in a barber shop in a town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, August 1970. Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

A parked car is pasted with a Lenore Romney campaign poster in a town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, August 1970.Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Lenore and Mitt Romney greet supporters wearing headbands and carrying balloons decorated with Lenore's name in a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, August 1970.Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Lenore and Mitt Romney with a supporter while on the campaign trail in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, August 1970.Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Lenore Romney is seen while being interviewed for a local T.V. station in a town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, August 1970.Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Mitt and Lenore Romney speak with two unidentified men about campaign notes in a hotel room in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, August 1970.Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Mitt and Lenore Romney review campaign notes in a hotel room in Michigan's Upper Peninsula while on the campaign trail, August 1970.Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Lenore Romney is seen in a campaign car while visiting Michigan's Upper Peninsula, August 1970.Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

Lenore Romney poses in front of her campaign billboard on a road in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, August 1970.Douglas R. Gilbert—LOOK Magazine/Courtesy Library of Congress

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