How Harvard shaped Romney

Those years also help illuminate who Mr. Romney is now: a Republican candidate for president accused of having no core convictions, a once-moderate governor suspected of tailoring his views for political expediency. Nearly four decades ago at Harvard, Mr. Romney embraced an analytical, nonideological way of thinking, say former classmates and professors, one that both matched his own instincts and helped him succeed. On a campus ripe with political and social ferment, he willfully distanced himself not only from politics, but also from larger ideological frameworks and heated debates…

“Mitt never struck me as an ideologue outside matters involving church and family,” said Howard Brownstein, a classmate. “He is a relativist, a pragmatist and a problem solver.”…

Mr. Romney was in his element. His class performances were outstanding; his peers described him as precise, convincing and charismatic. He won the high grades he craved, becoming a George F. Baker Scholar, a distinction awarded to the top students in every business class, and would graduate from the law school with honors as well.

The education “played to his natural instincts to be a problem solver, to be a person who thrived on facts and data,” Mr. Clark said. But he also had an advantage over some other students: the many hours he had spent discussing work with his father had given him insight into the life of a top executive, said Steven C. Wheelwright, a friend from back then who became a Harvard Business School professor.