Mitt Romney on Beating Back the Gingrich

Mitt Romney, described by some as too stiff and passionless to win the presidency, opened up a bit Sunday, recounting how he and his wife, Ann, learned years ago that she had multiple sclerosis.


In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, the Republican presidential candidate recalled entering the doctor’s office and seeing a pamphlet on various illnesses, including Lou Gehrig’s disease, a fatal disease that he feared she had.


“We could see that she had real balance problems and she didn’t have feeling in places she should have feeling,” Mr. Romney said. “And he (the doctor) stepped out of the room, and we stood up and hugged each other, and I said to her, as long as it’s not something fatal, I’m just fine. Look, I’m happy in life as long as I’ve got my soul mate with me.”


The former Massachusetts governor called the experience “probably the toughest time in my life.”


Ann Romney, who has battled the disease for 13 years, has been able to recover most of her health, Mr. Romney said. But he said the illness has required “dramatic change” in their lives. The Romneys, for example, are preparing to install an elevator in the house, he said.


“Life is all about the people you love,” Mr. Romney said. “We can handle disease. Death, that’s a different matter. Death– I don’t know that I can handle death. Disease and hardship, we can handle as long as we have the people we love around us.


With the 2011 debates now in the books, we'll ask our Sunday panel to handicap the fast-changing Republican race as we enter the homestretch in Iowa.
All right now on "Fox News Sunday."
And hello again from Fox News in Washington.
The Iowa caucuses are now just over two weeks away. But despite months of campaigning and 13 debates, the Republican race for president is still wide open.
We've conducted a series of 2012 one-on-one interviews to help you get to know the candidates better. And today, we round out the field with Mitt Romney, who sits down for his first Sunday show interview in almost two years.
Yesterday, we caught up with him on the campaign trail in South Carolina where he had just won the endorsement of that state's popular, Governor Nikki Haley.
In a wide-ranging interview, we talked about the challenges he faces winning the GOP nomination and possibly running against President Obama.