"Mother didn't think she was going to have any other children," recalls G. Scott Romney, the candidate's older brother. "He was somewhat of a miracle baby."

Until he started Kindergarten, Romney went by the name "Billy," recalls the candidate's brother.

"But one day, he didn't want to be called 'Billy' for some reason," Scott Romney says. "He decided he was going to call himself 'Mitt."

Romney soon moved with his family from Detroit to Bloomfield Hills, a wealthy suburb northwest of the city.

Although George Romney worked long hours, Scott Romney says he and his brothers grew up in a very close-knit family.

"Dad was very busy when he was President of American Motors," he says. "But every summer Dad took me and Mitt on a fishing trip."

While Romney attended public elementary schools, after sixth grade he transferred to the prestigious Cranbrook preparatory school for his education.

"It would be safe to call it a typical prep school, like any other prep school in the East," says James N. Bailey '69, another of Romney's classmates.

Although many of his friends remember Romney for his decision-making, creativity and sense of humor, some say he did not excel in any one thing.

"He was more of an all-round kind of person then," Bailey says. "He was a good student; he was a decent athlete; he was a good leader, but there were other people that had higher offices."

On weekends Romney and his friends enjoyed cruising along Wood-ward Avenue, a major thoroughfare connecting Detroit and its suburbs.

Although he was raised in the Mormon Church--which preaches eschewing alcohol and caffeine--Romney enjoyed partying, say his friends.

And he never criticized any of his friends for taking a drink, they add.

"He said the Mormon church generally frowns upon [drinking]," John says. "But he wasn't publicly judgmental about it.

John says he never saw Romney drink, but he doubts his friend stayed completely dry throughout high school.

"I'm not saying he ever has [taken a drink]," he says. "I'd be a little surprised if he hadn't at some point in his life just to say he did it."