• When Sarah Palin was just two months old, her family
moved to the 'Last Frontier' state of Alaska where she was
raised. 

• Alaska is definitely not a place for the faint-hearted
and Palin's school days often began with a moose hunt in the
Alaskan wilds. On most of the cold winter days, she used to go
ice-fishing and hiking with her father and siblings. Summers were
spent going on early morning runs and marathons with the whole
family.

• The family lived frugally with Palin's father working
over-time as a hunting and fishing guide as well as a bartender
to help make ends meet.

• Palin attended Wasilla High School where she was the
leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

• She was the captain and point guard of the school's
girls' basketball team. When the school won the Alaska state
championship in 1982, Palin was nick-named 'Barracuda' for her
competitive streak.

• Her father Chuck remembers, "Sarah got a lot of stern
discipline from me and a lot of love, devotion and faith from her
mom. I'd push her a lot in sport and outdoor activities. I taught
her to believe she could do anything in the world she wanted to
do, if she put her mind to it."

• While her classmates graduated to take up teaching,
accountancy and police work, Palin had set her sights on public
recognition. She had strong ambitions to become a sport
commentator and television presenter.

• Palin had been an avid reader of loved books such as
'Old Yeller' and 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.
		

• Romney grew up in Bloomfield Hills, studied in Cranbrook
High School and enjoyed a breezy, privileged childhood.

• His parents' cottage on the Canadian shores of Lake
Huron, Ontario is one place that holds his most cherished
childhood memories.

• He always idolized his father, George Romney and whiled
away his childhood days sitting on his father's lap, watching him
read the paper.

• Romney characterizes his mother as someone who lived by
adages often quoting her favorite ones, "If not me, who? If not
now, when? If not here, where?"

• Romney's elite classmates wanted to grow up to be
professional athletes or the president of America, he aspired to
run a car company like his father.

• Romney's classmate Jim Bailey says of him, "He was in
many ways the antithesis of what he's portrayed as today." Romney
once competed in a 2.5 mile race, finally crossing the finish
line around ten minutes after the last runner. Bailey remembers,
"It had to be one of those moments that made you feel inadequate
but those kinds of things didn't bother him."

• During the six years that he studied at Cranbrook
school, Romney never showed himself to be a leader. Nevertheless,
he was a kinetic kid who loved to pull off pranks.


• Mitt Romney shared his father's front-row seat on
government, first as a campaign aide and then as an intern in the
governor's office.

• Both of Romney's parents dabbled in politics, so it
comes as no surprise that Romney ended up doing the same.