Mitch McConnell /

Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr. (born February 20, 1942) is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky and the Republican Minority Leader. McConnell was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama to Julia (née Shockley) and Addison Mitchell McConnell. McConnell was raised in southern Louisville, Kentucky, where he attended the duPont Manual High School, and in 1964 he graduated with honors from the University of Louisville with a B.A. in political science. He was student body president and a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. He graduated in 1967 from the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he was elected president of the Student Bar Association. McConnell became a member of the 100th Division (Training), U.S. Army Reserve, in Louisville, Kentucky, during his final semester of law school; and he reported for his six months of active service, primarily for training, in July 1967. After induction at Fort Knox, Kentucky, McConnell was released early from his active-duty military service in August 1967. McConnell received a medical discharge for optic neuritis, which is a symptom of multiple sclerosis. In 1967, to gain experience on Capitol Hill, during his final semester of