Parallel Lives

At Cranbrook School for Boys, Mitt Romney and his classmates "lived by the bell" and wore coats and ties to dinner. Romney made his mark at the prestigious private school, but a former classmate says, "you never saw Mitt and said, 'That's the governor's son.' He was one of the guys, quite honestly."

As the Republican governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney worked with the overwhelmingly Democratic state Legislature to pass a landmark universal health care law. But some lawmakers say a CEO style that may have worked for Romney in the business world didn't always help his ability to govern.

Health care has become one of the starkest contrasts between President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney in the 2012 campaign. And that's surprising, given that once upon a time they both came up with similar plans to fix the system.

After their first meeting in 1989, legendary law professor Laurence Tribe was so impressed with the skinny first-year law student in jeans, a sweatshirt and an afro, that he made a special notation on his calendar. The student, Barack Obama, went on to become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.

Amid the '70s counterculture movement, Mitt Romney stood out as more of a Boy Scout type, classmates recall. But they say he was also a loyal friend.