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What illness did Mitch McConnell have as a child?
In 1944, at the age of two, McConnell's upper left leg was paralyzed by a polio attack. He received treatment at the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation. The treatment potentially saved him from being disabled for the rest of his life.
How old is McConnell?
80 years (February 20, 1942)Mitch McConnell / Age
Does Mitch McConnell have children?
Elly McConnellPorter McConnellClaire McConnellMitch McConnell/Children
How old is Kamala Harris?
57 years (October 20, 1964)Kamala Harris / Age
Who is Mitch McConnell ex wife?
Sherrill RedmonMitch McConnell / Ex-spouse
Is Sherrill Redmon married?
Mitch McConnellSherrill Redmon / Spouse (m. 1968–1980)
Who is the youngest senator?
Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is the youngest sitting senator at 35, replacing Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who at 41 was the youngest senator of the 116th Congress. Ossoff is the youngest person elected to the U.S. Senate since Don Nickles in 1980.
How old is Elaine Chao?
69 years (March 26, 1953)Elaine Chao / Age
Controversies
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Personal life
- In his 2016 memoir The Long Game, McConnell recounted how he was struck with polio at the age of two while staying with his mother in his aunts home in Five Points, Alabama.
Health
- So its clear that Mitch McConnell did indeed receive significant help primarily in the form of physical therapy and physical therapy training for his mother from the polio rehabilitation center established by Roosevelt at Warm Springs, Georgia.
Funding
- However, neither this particular center nor the care given to McConnell were government-funded. In six months, the March of Dimes raised $81,073 (which would be about $1.4 million in 2017). In July 1938, the New York Times published a detailed auditors report, which offered a breakdown of donations and expenditure. The Warm Springs center that helped in Mitch McConnells recovery …
Philanthropy
- Roosevelt purchased the property at Warm Springs, Georgia and established a center there in 1927, having visited frequently for therapy for his own polio, which he contracted in 1921. He (and others) set up the Warm Springs Foundation, a nonprofit organization that depended on wealthy philanthropists and donations from members of the public. In 193...
Example
- For example, a large portion of funds raised in 1938 came from attendees at 8,000 Presidential birthday balls throughout the country, labor organizations contributed the equivalent of $760,000, and the Western Union and Postal Telegraph companies wrote off the cost of thousands of birthday greetings sent to the President at 25 cents per message. The following year, charity spo…
Research
- Funds raised for the Warm Springs Foundation and National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis were also distributed in the form of research grants to scientists hoping for a breakthrough in the treatment of polio.
History
- This came to fruition in the 1950s when Dr. Jonas Salk who had received a grant from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis developed a successful polio vaccine.
Ownership
- However, it was operated as an innovative, nationwide nonprofit organization, not a federal or state agency, and it was not taxpayer or government-funded. The Warm Springs center visited by McConnell remained owned and operated by a nonprofit organization until 1974, when the state of Georgia took it over, making it truly government-run. Since 2014, it has been owned and opera…