Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will go down in history as not only the longest-serving Republican leader of the U.S. Senate but as a master of that august body. He will join the ranks of other Senate greats who knew how to wield power: Henry Clay, Lyndon Johnson, and Mike Mansfield.
To understand McConnell, the man and politician, I recommend you read journalist Michael Tackett's new book, "The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party."
Born in Sheffield, Alabama, in 1942, McConnell was struck with polio as a boy. To overcome his disability, he developed the virtues of patience and fortitude that would serve him well as he strove to reach the top of the greasy pole in politics.
The McConnell family moved to Kentucky in 1956.
Active in campus Republican politics at the University of Louisville, Mitch subsequently worked as an intern for Sen. John Sherman of Kentucky. His work in that office sparked his desire to serve someday in the U.S. Senate.
To achieve this political dream, McConnell began by earning a law degree in 1962, despite having little interest in actually practicing law in a private firm.
Heading back to Washington, McConnell worked as a legislative assistant to Sen. Matthew Cook, and in 1974 joined the Ford administration as assistant attorney general.
Returning home after Gerald Ford lost to Jimmy Carter, McConnell entered the race for Jefferson County judge and beat a Democrat incumbent. Four years later, he was reelected.
McConnell constantly worked his political backyard to advance his career. One aide told Tackett, "You could see his drive to win and, you wanted to do everything just right."
In 1984, Mitch McConnell captured the nomination to take on the incumbent senator, Walter Huddleston. While a Republican win in this race was a long shot, nevertheless, the renowned political consultant Roger Ailes agreed to run the campaign.
Making Huddleston's absenteeism from the Senate floor an issue, Ailes produced a powerful commercial that showed a pack of bloodhounds searching for the missing senator. The ploy worked, and McConnell won by 5,100 votes — a .3% margin.
In Washington, McConnell was not a senator concerned with being a TV talking head. Instead, he immersed himself in policy issues and mastered the mechanics of the Senate. He "worked every angle, leaving nothing undone."
And he did not forget the folks back home. Bringing home the bacon paid off. McConnell was reelected six times.
After winning his second term, McConnell began executing "his plan for a long, steady climb in an institution still driven by seniority and a waiting line."
Tackett notes that McConnell "studied everything he could about other Republicans, the political makeup of their states, what local issues were important, details about their family life, and what they needed to win another term."
His efforts finally paid off in December 2006 when he was elected Republican leader of the Senate.
During the Obama years, Majority Leader McConnell was willing to bargain with the White House. He believed, as did Ronald Reagan, that it was better to get 60% of the loaf than nothing at all.
After he was criticized for cutting a deal with President Barack Obama that saved some of President George W. Bush's tax cuts, a frustrated McConnell said, "Some of the most idiotic members of the far right of our party will probably think I made a big deal, but in fact if we don't do anything, everybody's taxes are going up at the end of this very week, and it will look like these crazy Republicans caused it."
McConnell's finest hour was when he refused in March 2016 to advance the name of Merrick Garland to replace the vacancy created by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Despite all the pressure and the ravings of the left, he stood firm.
While McConnell was not a big fan of President Donald Trump, he engineered through the Senate the Trump tax cuts, three Supreme Court justices, and 54 justices on the federal appeal courts.
McConnell's final achievement was the election of a Senate majority in November. He labored to identify good candidates who could win.
Summing up McConnell's career in the Senate, Michael Tackett concluded, "As he accrued power in the Senate, he wielded it mightily and at times ruthlessly, and in the process brought far-reaching, and at times deleterious change, not only to the institution he cherished but also to the country. If measured by how America is now different, particularly in its Federal judiciary—most prominently and impactfully, the Supreme Court—it is clear that McConnell used his power to achieve a political outcome, even if it is one for which at least half of the country has vilified him."
When asked if he wanted power, McConnell replied, "Absolutely." The point of power, he added "is to make policy in the mold of your political view."
Hopefully, his successor, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, will heed that advice in 2025.
George J. Marlin, a former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is the author of "The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact," and "Christian Persecutions in the Middle East: A 21st Century Tragedy." Read George J. Marlin's Reports — More Here.