The first definitive biography of Mitch McConnell, revealing an intimate look at the personal and political life of one of the most powerful senators in American history.
Detailed and informative ... In undermining democracy at home while seeking to promote it abroad — a glaring contradiction that Tackett never mentions, let alone addresses — McConnell ended up compromising his own influence.
McConnell sat down for more than 50 hours of interviews and granted Tackett access to his oral history project ... Like any dutiful biographer, Tackett wants to show that McConnell is more complex than the power-hungry operator his critics make him out to be ... Sometimes Tackett seems too much in thrall to the material, quoting at length from family papers, even at their most banal ... . Tackett may have obtained considerable access, in the sense of getting lots of interviews with McConnell; he diligently catches McConnell’s many inconsistencies and relentless expediency. But the analysis is woefully thin.
Tackett’s quest to penetrate the surface of a senator who 'plays the power game' is instructive in itself. He strives to be fair and give credit where due, and he chronicles his subject’s political career with admirable diligence and even a certain sympathy.
