Mitch McConnell was never a classic pol. He managed to defy Democratic presidents anyway.
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Mitch McConnell is the opposite of a classic pol, someone who apparently rejects grand oratory as unseemly and has perfected a facial expression that betrays no emotion beyond a certain sour skepticism.
Yet he became the longest-serving Senate party leader in history, holding power through some of the most tumultuous years of the Republican Party. He has reshaped the federal judiciary and defied the grand ambitions of more than one Democratic president.
That made McConnell's speech on the Senate floor Wednesday surprising not only because he announced he was stepping down from his leadership post in November. During his remarks, the seven-term Kentucky senator was introspective and even emotional, his voice catching, a figure at odds with the caricature of him as the hard-edged calculator of political advantage.
He mentioned the recent death of the sister of his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
"When you lose a loved one, particularly at a young age, there's a certain introspection that accompanies the grieving process," he said. "Perhaps it is God's way of reminding you of your own life's journey, to reprioritize the impact of the world that we all inevitably leave behind. I turned 82 last week and the end of my contributions are closer than I'd prefer."
More: Mitch McConnell, a colossal figure in Congress, will step down from his leadership post in November
It's Trump's GOP
His view that it's time to step back isn't shared by some others in his political generation. President Joe Biden is now running for a second term at age 81. Donald Trump is seeking a return to the White House at 77. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is 73.
But McConnell is now a top elected official in a Republican Party that he may no longer feel comfortable in or recognize. It has been more than three years since he even spoke with Trump, the face of the GOP who is poised to win the party's third consecutive nomination for the White House.
Indeed, among leading Republicans, McConnell is the most influential hold-out to endorsing the former president, a political gesture that is reportedly the subject of negotiations between Trump's team and his own.
When Trump burst on the political scene in 2016, McConnell matter-of-factly endorsed him once it became clear that the real-estate mogul and reality-TV star was going to win the GOP nomination. At the time, McConnell told USA TODAY that he saw no political percentage in Republicans trying to distance themselves from the presumptive nominee.
"My view is that Trump will not change the Republican Party," McConnell said then. "If he brings in new followers, that's great, and well worth the effort, but he will not change the Republican Party."
On that, at least, McConnell acknowledged he turned out to be wrong.
"Believe me, I know the politics within my party at this particular time," he said Wednesday on the Senate floor. "I have many faults. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them."
Remaking the Supreme Court
McConnell has been a skilled legislator known for holding his cards close to his vest. One political strength is his willingness to be ridiculed and denounced by his foes; he never seemed to particularly care what anyone except his fellow Republican senators thought of his work.
He earned the particular enmity of Democrats when he refused to let the Senate consider the confirmation of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court after President Barack Obama nominated him, and he then worked with the Trump administration to confirm three Supreme Court justices and a phalanx of conservative judges to federal courts.
He broke with Trump when the former president refused to accept his loss in the 2020 election and he held Trump responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. But he also voted against impeaching him.
On national-security policy, McConnell now finds himself battling the "America First" instincts of Trump and a rising tide of House Republicans. At a White House meeting with other congressional leaders Tuesday, he forcefully urged continued U.S. aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia. The assistance is included in a measure that has passed the Senate but faces uncertain prospects in the House.
'Father Time remains undefeated'
McConnell's health has also been a subject of concern. He suffered a concussion in a serious fall last year and, while speaking to reporters, has twice frozen briefly in episodes that were never fully explained.
"One of life's most underappreciated talents is to know when it's time to move on to life's next chapter," he said Wednesday. He plans to serve out his Senate term, which ends in January 2027− more than four decades after he was first sworn in during the Reagan presidency in 1985.
"Father Time remains undefeated," he said. "I am no longer the young man sitting in the back, hoping colleagues would remember my name. It is time for the next generation of leadership."
But he added: "I still have enough gas in the tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics and I intend to do so with all the enthusiasm which they have become accustomed."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mitch McConnell, never a classic pol, still defied Dem presidents
