As the GOP leader in the U.S. Senate, Mitch McConnell is the highest-ranking Republican in America. But surprisingly little is known about this skilled and powerful politician. Now, fellow Kentuckian and political columnist John David Dyche offers an engrossing inside look at Senator McConnell's unlikely rise. From McConnell's childhood in the Democrat-dominated Deep South - where he was stricken with polio and endured a long and painful recovery - through his political coming of age in the civil rights and Goldwater eras, through his ascendance during the Reagan and Gingrich revolutions, and up through the present, Dyche chronicles both the senator's increasing conservatism and his considerable strategic and tactical talents. The author also reveals how McConnell carefully crafted a strong statewide GOP structure in long-Democratic Kentucky - a structure that remained intact in 2008 even as Republicans nationwide were being trounced at the polls. "Republican Leader" provides a fascinating look into the values, opportunities, and successes, as well as the setbacks and compromises, of one of America's most influential politicians.