“This wasn’t just to have some photo op with Mitt Romney,” the transition source said. “We don’t have time for that. This was — Governor Romney is a real serious guy, he’s got real gravitas. He ran for president twice, and a lot of what he had to say was important.”…

“He is our president. He’s your president, he’s my president, he’s Mitt’s president,” said a longtime Romney confidant, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “When the president-elect asks to talk to you, you say, ‘Yes. Yes, sir.’ That was a very simple decision for Mitt.”

“Mitt is very sanguine and comfortable about going through this process,” the person added.

Romney has long had a sense of noblesse oblige, a feeling that he is duty-bound to offer his services for the greater good. Like many things about Romney, it’s a trait he inherits from his father, who agreed to serve in Richard Nixon’s Cabinet after a bitter primary.