The Long Game

A Memoir

By: Mitch McConnell

Narrated by: Mitch McConnell

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

"I have learned that the story of a nation's success, and the success of each one of us, is a slow awakening to the timeless value of the long game."

In October 1984, a hard-charging Kentucky politician waited excitedly for President Ronald Reagan to arrive at a presidential rally in Louisville. In the midst of a tough Senate campaign, the young Republican hoped Reagan's endorsement would give a much-needed boost to his campaign. Alas, when Reagan finally stepped to the microphone, he smiled for the crowd and declared, "I'm happy to be here with my good friend, Mitch O'Donnell."

That was hardly Mitch McConnell's first setback - and far from his last. But as he learned while running his very first campaign for high school student body president, you don't have to be the most popular, most athletic, or even luckiest kid to win. You just need to run the best campaign. So he swallowed hard, put his head down, and kept going. Four weeks later he won his Senate seat, beginning a storied career that would eventually lead to his becoming the Senate majority leader.

The Long Game is the candid, behind-the-scenes memoir of a man famous for his discretion. He tells how his mother helped him beat polio by leading him through long, aching exercises every day for two years. He explains how his father taught him the importance of standing up to bullies, even if it meant taking the occasional punch. And he reveals what he really thinks about the rivalry between the Senate and the House; about the players and the stakes involved when a group of political opportunists tried to hijack the Tea Party movement; and about key figures such as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Harry Reid. He tells the inside story of the battle against Obamacare and explains the real causes of the chronic gridlock, his ongoing efforts to restore the US Senate, and what ordinary citizens have a right to expect from Washington.

In today's atmosphere of impatience and instant gratification, McConnell still believes the founders knew best when they instituted a government with checks and balances. As he writes, "In the end, the goal isn't a perfectly running congressional machine or a party without blemish or inner turmoil. The goal is to allow the country to work out its differences freely and energetically, confident that the institutions the founders left us are capable of accommodating the disputes and disagreements that arise in a nation as big and diverse and open as ours."

©2016 Mitch McConnell (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"From Alabama country boy bedridden for two years with polio to Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate is a remarkable journey. Mitch McConnell tells this quintessentially American story with lucid prose and refreshing candor. A most valuable historical contribution to the politics of our time." (Charles Krauthammer, author of Things That Matter)

"Mitch McConnell’s The Long Game is a warm, candid, and captivating story of a young boy who conquered polio, loved the Brooklyn Dodgers, and set his sights on becoming a ballplayer before finding his life’s calling in politics. The steady upward climb from high school president to office boy in the Senate mailroom, from county judge to majority leader, is told with insight, humor, and telling detail." (Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian)

"With candor and a sure sense of history - both of the nation's and of the Senate - Mitch McConnell has written an engaging and compelling memoir of a life spent in the arena. Readers seeking to understand where we are, how we got here, and what might come next will find this book at once entertaining and essential." (Jon Meacham, author of Destiny and Power)

Great Read!

If you want to learn more about the Senate Majority Leader, and politics in general, this is the book for you! It’s such a great story that many people do not know. I implore anyone interested in politics to read this book.

Interesting read

I learned a lot about Senator McConnell through his book including his upbringing and life’s work. I found it very informative. However, I could sense the deep anger through his words and voice when discussing the interactions with former President Obama. Truthfully it may have looked better in a sense to scale that back into a more neutral tone but maybe that personal preference.

The McConnell we don't know.

Most people accept the media caricature of Mitch McConnell. Some are lucky to know him in some small sense by working with him on policy issues of the day. But this is a very accessible, interesting and timely memoir of the Leader and what the Senate should be as an institution. A great read.

Story about Mitch

Learning about Mitch make me more apprecate what make him tick and the way he keep doing and completing.

Pity It Doesn't Carry Through to 2019

Remarkably to me, this is a compelling & informative autobiography.
I have been as skeptical as anybody about politicians in general, &, perhaps, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, in particular.
Read this - it may not change your views or your votes, but there are valuable things to learn here, about American government, & about the principles & history of decent government, if there is any to be found, elsewhere.
Put it this way: not just how government works, but why - & what makes decent government fail.
Highly recommended.

I’m a Liberal and Against Mitch

I have disagreed with Mitch McConnell on many points on policy. I disagree with his arguments on Campaign Finance along with several other stances Mitch holds.

I do however, have the upmost respect for him. I am thankful that a man with his character and discipline is in the position that he’s in today.

Mitch, I wrote you a letter titled Obamacare. Thank you again for your service and I wish you, Eliane, and your family with the upmost happiness.

Jason Dutton

The best Senatorial book of the cycle

The book is an even handed, readable and enjoyable romp through the last thirty, but particularly the last few, years of Senate history, accompanied by a large dose of all American personal story. I'd particularly recommend this book to students as it provides an excellent framework from which to judge future political claims.

The Long Game

Great book. Thanks for writing it. You have been well prepared to help our nation. Mary God Bless you. The

book was very informative. I'm glad I read it.

Not the devil

This book made me understand who Mitch McConnell is and why he isn’t literally the devil incarnate as most populist republicans would have you believe. I emerged from this with a greater understanding of politics in the senate and a greater respect for our great minority leader( for now just wait till 2022) Mitch McConnell.

A Look at a Career Politician

McConnell writes in his memoir he wanted to be a career politician at an early age. I have read a number of political memoirs and he is the first person to say they always wanted to be a politician. I read memoirs from politicians of both parties in an attempt to understand them and their viewpoints. I am always interested in how a person becomes who they are.

In the first part of the book McConnell tells of his early life. I was most interested in his fight with polio as a child. He gives the credit of his recovery to his mother who daily led him through exercises and encouraged him. He states he and his mother grew very close. He said that from his father he learned to stand up to bullies even if he had to take a punch. The middle and end of the book deals with McConnell’s political career. He says he graduated from the University of Louisville with a B.A. in history/political science and from the University of Kentucky School of Law. He tells about his beginnings in running for elected office to becoming leader of the Senate. McConnell goes into his political philosophy and goals for himself and the nation.

The book is well written and moves at an even pace. My main criticism of the book is his one sided view of issues and government. Overall I found learning about McConnell’s life and his view of government interesting. Mitch McConnell narrated his own book.