The Kentucky senator was reviled by Democrats for his obstructionism and embraced by his own caucus for advancing a conservative agenda. Born in Alabama, McConnell spent two years during his childhood undergoing treatment for polio, he wrote in his memoir. After working as a congressional aide and in Republican President Gerald Ford's administration, McConnell became a judge-executive in Jefferson County, Kentucky, before his election to the U.S. Senate in 1984, according to his congressional bi