MCGILLICUDDY
Cornelius

• 1. Early life, education, and family

Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy III, known professionally as Connie Mack III, is an American retired Republican politician. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Florida from 1983 to 1989 and then as a Senator from 1989 to 2001. He served as chair of the Senate Republican Conference from 1997 to 2001.

He was considered for the Republican vice presidential nomination by Bob Dole in 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000. Jack Kemp and Dick Cheney, respectively, were chosen instead. He is the grandson of Connie Mack (1862–1956), former owner and manager of baseball's Philadelphia Athletics and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Early life, education, and family

Mack was born Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy III in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1940, the son of Susan (née Sheppard) and Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy Jr. He graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1966. He is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Florida Blue Key.

His paternal grandfather was Connie Mack (1862–1956), former owner and manager of baseball's Philadelphia Athletics and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mack's maternal grandfather was Morris Sheppard, U.S. Senator and Representative from Texas. His maternal step-grandfather was Tom Connally, who also served as U.S. Senator from Texas; Mack's widowed grandmother married Connally the year after Sheppard died. Mack's father's line were Irish immigrants. Mack's maternal great-grandfather was John Levi Sheppard, who served as a U.S. Representative from Texas.