The longest-serving member of Congress was one of the most conservative Democrat
Harry Reid, the former U.S. Senate bulk chief and Nevada’s longest-serving member of Congress, passed away. He was 82.
Reid passed away on Tuesday “peacefully.” He was surrounded by his family in the suburbs of Henderson, “following a courageous four-year battle against pancreatic cancer,” as per family members and a statement by Landra Reid, his wife of 62 years.
“Harry was a devoted family man as well as a devoted to his friends,” She said. “We deeply appreciate the overwhelming support shown by all over the last few years. We are especially grateful to the nurses and doctors that helped the man. It made a difference to him,” Landra Reid said.
Funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days, she added.
Harry Mason Reid, a fierce former boxer turned lawyer, was widely recognized as one of the toughest bargainers in Congress as an orthodox Democrat in a polarized chamber, who annoyed lawmakers from both parties through his rude style and the following motto: “I would rather dance rather than fight, but I’m trained to fight.”
Senate Democratic Leader, along with Bush and Obama
For 34 years during his time in Washington, Reid thrived on hidden wrangling, and he kept the Senate under the control of his party, which included two presidents who were Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama – a devastating recession, and the Republican control of the House following the elections of 2010.
“If Harry said he would take action, he took the thing,” President Joe Biden declared in a statement shortly after the passing of his long-time Senate colleague. “If Harry stood by your word on the matter, you can trust him. This is how he got things completed for the benefit of our country for a long time.”
A son of Searchlight, Nevada, Harry never forgot his humble roots. 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.
May God bless Harry Reid, a dear friend and a giant of our history.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 29, 2021
Reid was forced to retire in 2016 after an accident caused him to go partially blind, and he announced in May of 2018 that he had been diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas and being treated.
Two weeks ago, government officials and one son, Rory Reid, marked the renaming ceremony of the bustling Las Vegas airport as Harry Reid International Airport. Rory Reid is a former Clark State Commission chairman and Democratic Nevada governor.
The pair of Harry or Landra Reid was present at the December. 14 ceremony at the airport, which had been in operation since 1948, was named McCarran International Airport, after the ex- U.S. senator from Nevada, Pat McCarran.
Reid was well-known as a Washingtonian Washington by his quirkier manner, which was evident in his habit of leaving the phone unattended without even saying goodbye.
Work that Barack Obama recognizes
“Even while I was President, Reid would get to me,” Obama said in the 2019 video of a tribute to Reid.
When Harry Reid was nearing the end, his wife Landra asked some of us to share letters that she could read to him. In lieu of a statement, here’s what I wrote to my friend: pic.twitter.com/o6Ll6rzpAX
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 29, 2021
Reid was often misunderstood, particularly during the elections of 2010, in which he appeared to be the underdog in the tea-party favorite Sharron Angle. In the aftermath, ambitious Democrats who believed he would lose were pursuing his position as the leader. However, Reid defeated Angle by a margin of 50 percent to 45% and regained the apex in his authority. For Reid, it was his opportunity to make history.
“I don’t hear people say “he’s the best speaker,” he’s gorgeous or that he’s in town,” Reid told The New York Times in December of that year. “But I don’t think about it. I am very content about my place in history.”
In Searchlight, Nevada, to an alcoholic dad who shot himself at the age of 58, along with a mother that worked as a laundress at a brothel, Reid was raised in a small, unfinished cabin with no plumbing inside. He would swim with the other kids in an area pool in the local brothel. He traveled by bus up to Basic High School in Henderson, Nevada, 40 miles (64 kilometers) from his home, and there was the first met his wife, who she would marry on the night of his wedding, Landra Gould. While at Utah State University, the couple was ordained to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
