Addison Mitchell McConnell III, born on February 20, 1942, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Kentucky since 1985 and the Senate Minority Leader since 2021. He previously served as Senate Majority Leader and has been a key figure in Republican Party politics for decades. At age two, McConnell contracted polio but made a full recovery after extensive treatment, including time at the Warm Springs Institute in Georgia. His family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1956 when he was 13, where he attended duPont Manual High School, becoming student council president and demonstrating early political ambition by wearing an 'I Like Ike' button and excelling in student government. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisville in 1964, serving as student body president, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1967, where he was president of the Student Bar Association. After law school, he briefly served in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1967 but was honorably discharged due to optic neuritis. Before entering the Senate, McConnell built a career in Republican politics and law, interning for Senator John Sherman Cooper, working as chief legislative assistant to Senator Marlow Cook (1968-1970), serving as deputy assistant attorney general under President Gerald Ford (1974-1975), and elected judge/executive of Jefferson County, Kentucky (1977-1984). Known for his tactical prowess, McConnell opposed campaign finance reforms like the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, challenging it in court, and played key roles in judicial confirmations and blocking Democratic initiatives during his Senate tenure. In February 2024, he announced he would step down as Senate Republican leader at the end of the year but continue serving his term through 2026.