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.
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