| Senator Mitch McConnell is Kentucky's longest-serving senator. Elected nine times to lead the Republican conference from 2006-2024, he is also the longest-serving Senate party leader in American history. From 2015 to 2021, McConnell was just the second Kentuckian to serve as Senate Majority Leader, following Senator Alben Barkley (1937 to 1949). He previously served in leadership as the Majority Whip and as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
McConnell's consequential Senate leadership has earned widespread praise. Seasoned observers have called him "the most important Republican since Ronald Reagan" and "the most important leader of the United States Senate in American history". On three occasions, TIME Magazine named McConnell one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
McConnell led a transformation of the federal judiciary in a victory for the rule of law and the Constitution. His decision to follow precedent and keep a Supreme Court vacancy open during the 2016 presidential election gave Republicans the opportunity to confirm three justices to the Court. In four years, he prioritized the confirmation of 30% of circuit court judges nationwide and a total of 234 lifetime appointments to the federal bench.
Throughout his career, McConnell has championed an internationalist foreign policy grounded in a strong national defense, robust trade, and strategic alliances and partnerships. He recognizes global leadership as the cornerstone of U.S. national security and leads efforts to restore America's hard power in the tradition of peace through strength. His work on this front continues in leadership of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
McConnell made history in 1984 as the only Republican challenger in the country to defeat an incumbent Democrat and as the first Republican to win a statewide Kentucky race since 1968. On November 3, 2020, he was elected to a record seventh term, winning 117 of the Commonwealth's 120 counties.
McConnell graduated with honors from the University of Louisville College of Arts and Sciences, where he served as student body president. He also is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he was elected president of the Student Bar Association. He is the proud father of three daughters.
McConnell is married to Secretary Elaine Chao, the 18th U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Previously, Secretary Chao served for eight years as President George W. Bush's Secretary of Labor. She is also a former president of the United Way of America and director of the Peace Corps. |