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It was a close battle. But in the end Joe Biden (77) won the US presidential election. The toughest fight is likely to lie ahead of the future president of the United States. His worst adversary: veteran Republican Mitch McConnell (78).
McConnell once studied political science and law. He did his military service in Louisville, Kentucky with the United States Army Reserve. Due to an eye disease, McConnell was not called up for active duty in the Vietnam War.
Supreme Republican married to the Secretary of Transportation of the United States
Instead, he became an employee of the United States Senate since 1967, later working for the Justice Department and as a Jefferson County District Judge. He has been a senator from the state of Kentucky for 35 years. In 2007 he became leader of the parliamentary group and in 2015 leader of the Senate majority.
McConnell is married to American politician Elaine Chao (67) for the second time. She was Secretary of Labor under the 42nd President of the United States, George W. Bush, from 2001 to 2009 and has been the Secretary of Transportation of the United States under Donald Trump (74) since 2017.
In the United States, the Republican is said to have an affable facial expression like that of a friendly turtle. But McConnell is arguably Biden’s worst adversary in the White House. He is not a charismatic or a man of great speeches; He has made a name for himself much more as a conservative pragmatist and tough negotiator. The ongoing US legislative elections could further corroborate this.
McConnell values Biden as a man who keeps his word
Republicans and Democrats remain on par in the Senate. They both have 48 seats. If the Republicans get a majority, things will be difficult for the future president of the United States. As the Senate appoints top government officials and passes laws, a Republican majority in the Senate is likely to severely restrict Biden’s personal and legislative agenda. As a result, the political change in the tax, environment and health sectors that Biden’s voters expect would be greatly slowed. But nothing has been decided yet.
Even if politically they are in opposite camps, McConnell and Biden can look back on a successful cooperation thus far, as the “New York Times” writes. McConnell has described Joe Biden as a man who keeps his word and knows how Congressional negotiations are conducted. After all, Biden was a senator for the US state of Delaware from 1973 to 2009.
McConnell attended the funeral of Biden’s son
“He doesn’t waste time telling me why I’m wrong. He gets to the point and watches the operation. There’s a reason “putting Joe on the phone” is a short time to “get serious” in my office, “McConnell said in Biden’s 2016 farewell speech as vice president.
McConnell and Biden aren’t just connected for business. The leading Republican also attended the funeral of Biden’s son, Beau Biden († 46), in 2015. Biden, in turn, spoke at McConnell’s Louisville Center for Government Affairs.
The fronts between Democrats and Republicans became even tougher
But in recent years the fronts between Democrats and Republicans have hardened even more. The common history, apart from the United States Congress, between the president-elect of the United States and the second most powerful Republican in the United States today cannot change that.
And last but not least, McConnell is a Republican through and through with a purpose of his own. In the days of the Obama-Biden administration, for example, their main objective was that Barack Obama not remain in office as a single legislature.
Biden can only hope that Senate Democrats get a majority. Otherwise, McConnell will be his most feared and well-known sparring partner during Biden’s future tenure.