Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dies at 82

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Former United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, died Tuesday at his home in Henderson, Nevada. He was 82. In a statement, Reid’s wife of 62 years, Landra, said he died of pancreatic cancer. Reid had suffered from the disease since at least 2018, but claimed to be in remission in 2019.

“A son of Searchlight, Nevada, Harry never forgot his humble roots,” wrote US President Joe Biden, who served alongside Reid for 22 years in the Senate. “A boxer, he never gave up a fight. A great American, he looked at challenges and believed it was within our capacity to do good — to do right.”

A boxer and United States Capitol Police officer before embarking on a career in politics, Reid first won election to the US House of Representatives in 1982. Four years later, Nevada sent Reid to the US Senate, a position to which voters re-elected him four times. Known for his hardnose and partisan approach, Reid was Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015, during which Democrats held control of the Senate. During his tenure, Reid opposed the Iraq War, controversially observing “this war is lost.” He pushed for and passed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the American Recovery Act, and ended the Senate filibuster for executive branch nominations, allowing judges to be confirmed with just a simple majority vote. He served two more years as Minority Leader before his retirement in 2017.

“Harry Reid was one of the most amazing individuals I’ve ever met,” tweeted Senator Chuck Schumer of New York who took over for Reid as Minority Leader and now serves as Majority Leader. “He never forgot where he came from and used those boxing instincts to fearlessly fight those who were hurting the poor and the middle class.”

Also on Twitter, former President Barack Obama, whose presidency was largely contemporaneous with Reid’s leadership, posted a letter he recently sent to Reid, revealing “I wouldn’t have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support, and I wouldn’t have got most of what I got done without your skill and determination.”

Statements were not as forthcoming from Reid’s past political opponents in the Republican Party. Fellow Mormon Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, whom, during the 2012 presidential election Reid accused of not paying federal income taxes for the previous ten years, did not comment on the death. This, despite having issued statements in December upon the deaths of former Senators Johnny Isakson of Georgia and Bob Dole of Kansas. Likewise, former President George W. Bush, whose last two years as president coincided with the first two of Reid’s leadership and whom Reid called a “loser” and a “liar,” did not make any public comment.

Nevertheless, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who succeeded Reid as Majority Leader, and who currently serves as Minority Leader, issued a press release eulogizing Reid while acknowledging their political clashes:

The nature of Harry’s and my jobs brought us into frequent and sometimes intense conflict over politics and policy. But I never doubted that Harry was always doing what he earnestly, deeply felt was right for Nevada and our country. He will rightly go down in history as a crucial, pivotal figure in the development and history of his beloved home state.

Leader Schumer has ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff to honor Reid. A memorial service has been scheduled for January 8 at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas.

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