Tagg Romney and his mother Ann are seen in this undated photo from the Romney for President campaign, received by Reuters Feb. 3, 2012
Tagg Romney and his mother Ann are seen in this undated handout photo from the Romney for President campaign, which was received by Reuters Feb. 3. Reuters

Tagg Romney told the Boston Globe in a recent interview that his father Mitt Romney did not really want to be U.S. president.

The eldest Romney son, who was an instrumental behind-the-scenes figure in his father’s presidential campaign, told the newspaper that his father is a very private man who does not enjoy being in the national spotlight.

"He wanted to be president less than anyone I've met in my life. He had no desire to ... run," Tagg Romney told the Globe. "If he could have found someone else to take his place ... he would have been ecstatic to step aside. He is a very private person who loves his family deeply and wants to be with them, but he has deep faith in God and he loves his country, but he doesn't love the attention."

According to Tagg Romney, one of the biggest reasons that Mitt Romney was hesitant to run for president was his failed 2008 bid for the office. In 2008, the former Massachusetts governor lost the Republican nomination to U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who went on to lose the general election to then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

While Tagg Romney played a big role in convincing his father to run for president, he has said several times that he will not run for office himself.

"I’d be really surprised if I did [run for office]. It’s a really horrible process, and honestly I just don’t want to go through it,” Tagg Romney told the New York Times in October.

Tagg Romney was graduated from Brigham Young University and later earned a master of business administration degree from the Harvard Business School, as did his father.

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