Mitch McConnell stands in his office, smiling. Hanging on the walls are faces, most of them stern, from Washington's past. A picture of McConnell may soon join them. Last month, the Republican leader of the US Senate resigned from the role he had held longer than anyone else in American political history. At 82, McConnell is “ready to do something else.”
A pivotal politician in a turbulent time, McConnell took power and used it to shift the country to the right during his 17-year term. He won races across the country, raised more than $1 billion to support his colleagues, and negotiated bills worth more than $1 trillion, including aid that got the country out of the pandemic. He became hugely influential and widely unpopular, creating enemies among Democrats for blocking Supreme Court nominations and among Republicans for his occasional sharp criticism of Donald Trump. As the latter prepares to return to the White House next month, the veteran representative issues a warning from America's past. “We are in a very dangerous world right now, reminiscent of before World War II,” he says. “Even the slogan is the same. ‘America First.’ That’s what they said in the 1930s.
In his enthusiasm for his historical subject, McConnell turns to one of the images behind him, that of an influential wartime Republican senator named Robert A. Taft. Robert, the son of 27th President William Howard Taft, was an “angry isolationist” who opposed Lend-Lease before World War II and the creation of NATO and the Marshall Plan afterward, McConnell says. “Thank God Eisenhower beat him for the (presidential) nomination in 1952 and had a much different view of America’s role in the world.”
McConnell has been a Kentucky senator since 1985. Having committed to serving the final two years of his term, he intends to spend time countering the growing isolationist elements in today's Republican Party. “The cost of deterrence is much lower than the cost of war,” he says, and lists the numbers to prove it. In World War II, the United States spent 37 percent of its GDP on fighting. Last year, this number was about 2.7 percent.
His words directly target Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, who have claimed that the United States should not spend more money on Ukraine. McConnell is a firm believer in Ronald Reagan's view of the United States' role in the world, not Trump's. I think the simple answer for most American voters is: Let's get out of this. That was the argument that was made in the 1930s, and this wouldn't work. “Thanks to Reagan, we know what works: not just saying peace through strength, but showing it.”
Trump also said that enemies within the United States are more dangerous than Russia and China. “I don't agree with that,” McConnell says.
Although some of his most important moments as Senate leader came during Trump's first presidency, he is not a fan of the president-elect. After blocking Barack Obama from replacing the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, McConnell was instrumental in confirming three conservative justices to the court under Trump. After in The price of powerIn a new biography of McConnell by journalist Michael Tackett, McConnell describes Trump as “stupid” and a “despicable human being.”
After pro-Trump mobs attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, McConnell said the then-president was “practically and morally responsible” for inciting violence. However, he did not vote to convict in the ensuing impeachment trial, which, if successful, would have barred Trump from running for the White House again. His reasoning was that Trump was already out of office.
Today, McConnell admits for the first time that he voted for Trump last month, although he cannot say his name. “I supported the ticket,” he says. Asked if he wished he had done more to prevent Trump from becoming president again, McConnell said: “The election is over and we're moving forward.”
It's a hallmark of McConnell's politics. He values the power of the Republican Party above almost all other considerations. You could call it the Republican Party first. But he realizes that the fight for his party's future is an uphill struggle. “He has a huge audience, and he just won the national election, so there's no question he's the most influential Republican out there,” he says of Trump. He also described Trump's recent victory after his loss in 2020 as a “fantastic comeback.” As for his role in shaping the foreign affairs of the next administration, McConnell says: “Regardless of who is elected president, I think it will require significant opposition, yes, and I intend to be one of the supporters.”
He will chair the Defense Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and will make decisions on how billions of dollars will be spent for the Pentagon. “This is where the real money is,” McConnell says. He doesn't know whether the United States will spend more on military aid to Ukraine, but “the goal here is for the Russians not to win.” Regarding Ukraine and Israel, he says: “We have two democratic allies fighting for their lives. I don’t think we should micromanage what they think is necessary to win.
McConnell's appetite for scrap is not in doubt. He overcame polio at an early age and repeatedly sought recognition from his peers, starting with winning the role of “King” in the school's first-grade beauty pageant. Through his unusual dedication to politics, he worked his way from Senate intern to leader. Reflecting on his legacy, he considers his role in radically changing the makeup of the Supreme Court “the most important thing I have been involved in.” The court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is just one notable example of how the six conservative justices have shifted American law to the right.
He was a great fundraiser and a strong advocate for more money in politics. The 2024 presidential and congressional races cost $16 billion, according to the nonpartisan nonprofit Open-Secrets, compared to $5.6 billion in 2000. When asked if that was too much, McConnell said: “No.” it's not. This is political talk. One of the really good things the Supreme Court did was convince the government not to tell people how much they could spend to defend their views.
On the day he became the party's longest-serving leader in the history of the US Senate, McConnell told his biographer: “I wasn't sure I was good enough.”
Why did he feel that way? “I thought about it all the way through,” McConnell says. “Basically, I was filled with gratitude for the men and women who worked with me over the years, who were really smart and made me look better than I was every day.” His advice on what it takes to take the lead as a leader is simple: “Be a good listener.”
McConnell faced questions about his health last year when he appeared to freeze while speaking to reporters on two separate occasions. Shortly after our meeting, there were reports that he had fallen into the Capitol building. In the wake of the recent Senate leadership election that confirmed Senator John Thune of South Dakota as his successor, McConnell reportedly told colleagues that he felt “liberated.” “I guess that's a good way to put it,” he smirks. “In the job of a leader, you spend a lot of time nurturing others and trying to help everyone succeed in the ways they choose, and you don't give your opinion on a number of things just because you're asked to.”
Ask him something he won't miss. McConnell takes a long pause. “Well, I enjoyed it and really wanted the job,” he says. “I think it's important to know when to leave the stage.”
Alex Rogers is the Financial Times' US business and politics correspondent
