Romney was recruited to run for Senate in Utah by Hatch

One day last March, Mitt Romney and Senator Orrin Hatch sat together in a hotel suite on the top floor of the JW Marriott hotel in downtown Washington, a few blocks from the White House.

After eating lunch, Hatch revealed why he had called to meet with Romney, who happened to be in town to deliver a keynote address before an annual meeting of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. The seven-term Republican senator had been mulling retirement, and he had an idea: It was time for Romney’s political comeback.