When one examines ALL of the Presidential nominees of the two major parties in the past century since 1912, one discovers that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has the LEAST total government experience of any nominee, with the exception of the Republican nominee in 1940, businessman Wendell Willkie!
If we go back to 1896, we would need to add two nominees and one winner of the White House who had an equal amount of experience or less than Romney has–a total of four years and two years each. These are three time Democratic nominee (1896, 1900, 1908) William Jennings Bryan, who served as a Nebraska Congressman from 1890-1894; and Democratic President Woodrow Wilson, who served only two years as New Jersey Governor from 1910-1912, although serving as President of Princeton University for eight years previous to running for Governor.
When we talk about government experience, it includes time in the US House of Representatives, US Senate, the Governorship, state legislature, local office, service in administrative positions in government, and military experiences.
So only Wendell Willkie (no government experience) and Woodrow Wilson (two years of government experience) have less experience than Romney, with William Jennings Bryan matching Romney with four years in government.
Everyone else who ran as nominees for President had extensive experience in government, which is what one should expect for someone who wants the responsibility to be the leader of the most powerful nation on earth!
This is a very different nation than it was in 1896, 1912, or even 1940!