Early Life, Education, and Military Service
McConnell was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama and raised in southern Louisville, Kentucky, son of Addison Mitchell McConnell and his wife Julia Shockley. He attended duPont Manual High School. He graduated with honors from the University of Louisville with a B.A. in political science in 1964. McConnell was student body president and a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. He has maintained strong ties to his alma mater and "remains a rabid fan of its sports teams." Three years later, McConnell graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he was president of the Student Bar Association.
McConnell enlisted in the 100th Division (Training), U.S. Army Reserve, in Louisville, Kentucky, during his final semester of law school. He did six months active service at Fort Knox, thereafter serving the active reserve. He received an early discharge for optic neuritis, which is a common manifestation of multiple sclerosis.
Read more about this topic: Mitch McConnell
Famous quotes containing the words early, military and/or service:
“Make-believe is the avenue to much of the young child’s early understanding. He sorts out impressions and tries out ideas that are foundational to his later realistic comprehension. This private world sometimes is a quiet, solitary
world. More often it is a noisy, busy, crowded place where language grows, and social skills develop, and where perseverance and attention-span expand.”
—James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)
“[I]t is a civil Cowardice to be backward in asserting what you ought to expect, as it is a military Fear to be slow in attacking when it is your Duty.”
—Richard Steele (1672–1729)
“I can counterfeit the deep tragedian,
Speak, and look back, and pry on every side,
Tremble and start at wagging of a straw,
Intending deep suspicion. Ghastly looks
Are at my service like enforced smiles,
And both are ready in their offices
At any time to grace my stratagems.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)