The candid, behind-the-scenes memoir of the of the Senate Majority Leader and GOP veteran. In October 1984, a hard-charging Kentucky politician waited excitedly for President Ronald Reagan to arrive at a presidential rally in Louisville. In the midst of a tough Senate campaign against an incumbent Democrat, the young Republican hoped Reagan’s endorsement would give a much-needed boost to his insurgent campaign. He even had a camera crew ready to capture the president’s words for a TV commercial he planned to air during the campaign’s final stretch. Alas, when Reagan finally stepped to the microphone, he smiled for the crowd and declared: “I’m happy to be here with my good friend, Mitch O’Donnell.” That was hardly Mitch McConnell’s first setback, and far from his last. He swallowed hard, put his head down, and kept going. Four weeks later, in the biggest upset of the year, his dream of being a US senator came true—by a margin of about one vote per precinct. By persevering, he’d be the only Republican in the country to beat an incumbent Democratic US senator. McConnell learned patience and fortitude during his post–World War II youth in Alabama. His mother helped him beat polio by leading him through long, aching exercises every day for two years. His father taught him the importance of standing up to bullies, even if it meant taking the occasional punch. It turned out to be the perfect childhood for a future Senate majority leader. “In the line of work I would choose, compromise is key, but I’d come to find that certain times required me to invoke the fighting spirit both of my parents instilled in me.” For more than three decades, McConnell has worked steadily to advance conservative values, including limited government, individual liberty, fiscal prudence, and a strong national defense. But he has always cared much more about moving the ball forward than about who gets the credit. Now McConnell reveals what he really thinks about the rivalry between the Senate and the House; the players and the stakes involved when a group of political opportunists tried to hijack the Tea Party movement; and key figures such as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Harry Reid. He explains the real causes of the chronic gridlock that has so many voters enraged, his ongoing efforts to restore the US Senate’s indispensable dual role as a brake on excess and a tool for national consensus, and what ordinary citizens have a right to expect from Washington.

The Long Game: A Memoir

Biographies & Memoirs

McConnell, Mitch

Leaders & Notable People

Sentinel

Now in paperback with a foreword by President Donald J. Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's memoir shows how one of the most successful public figures of our time has worked to advance conservative values in Washington. Under Mitch McConnell’s famously quiet and strategic leadership, Republicans in the Senate have seen win after win—from tax cuts and deregulation to major improvements for veterans, farmers, and our national defense. In 2018, President Donald Trump dubbed McConnell “the greatest leader in history”—and even his harshest critics on the Left acknowledge his skill. Now with a new foreword by President Trump and an afterword that details McConnell’s friendship with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, this paperback edition of McConnell’s memoir reveals the backdrop of his decision not to fill Scalia’s vacant seat until after the 2016 presidential election. Of this decision, New York Times chief Washington correspondent Carl Hulse wrote that “McConnell not only preserved a Supreme Court seat, he elected Donald Trump president.” The years of the McConnell-led Senate have proved that lasting change can only be won by playing the long game. Leading up to the 2020 election, when the system of government our Founding Fathers created will again be threatened by the Left, this book is necessary reading for anyone who wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of our recent past.

Penguin Audio

Kentucky has long punched above its weight in the US Senate, as some of the nation's most distinguished senators have hailed from the Commonwealth. Despite its relatively small population for much of American history, Kentucky has produced a record two Senate majority leaders, a record three Senate majority whips, and one of the country's greatest lawmakers, Henry Clay. These Kentuckians played an important role in the evolution of leadership institutions in the Senate. Official positions such as Senate majority leader and majority whip are nowhere to be found in the Constitution or early American history, yet today these offices have essentially eclipsed the constitutionally created legislative leadership positions of vice president and president pro tempore. While Kentucky senators have played a vital role in leading the Senate and in its institutional history, no book has told the story in its entirety. The US Senate and the Commonwealth is the first book of its kind to provide a detailed, yet accessible, discussion of the US Senate's leadership throughout its 225-year history. Senator Mitch McConnell and Roy E. Brownell II weave together the history of the Senate with lively portraits of prominent Kentucky senators as well as firsthand reflections about legislative leadership by a Senate majority leader. The authors illuminate and humanize this discussion by exploring the colorful and vivid lives of fifteen Kentucky lawmakers, including Henry Clay, Alben Barkley, and John Sherman Cooper. This compelling and fascinating study is an essential resource.

The US Senate and the Commonwealth: Kentucky Lawmakers and the Evolution of Legislative Leadership

Brownell II, Roy E.

Reference

University Press of Kentucky

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