RIP Harry Reid, fmr Democratic Senate Majority Leader

[lpetrich]

Harry Reid, a longtime US senator from Nevada and former Democratic leader, dies at 82 - CNNPolitics

Harry Reid, the scrappy former Democratic Senate leader who spearheaded epic legislative battles through three decades in Congress, has died at the age of 82, according to a statement from his wife, Landra Reid.

"I am heartbroken to announce the passing of my husband, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He died peacefully this afternoon, surrounded by our family, following a courageous, four-year battle with pancreatic cancer," she said in a statement Tuesday.

Reid rose from humble beginnings in Searchlight, Nevada, to become the most powerful politician in Nevada history, capping off his political career as the Democratic leader in the Senate, including eight years in the majority.

He got a lot of praise, like:

Chuck Schumer on Twitter: "Harry Reid was one of the most amazing individuals I've ever met
He never forgot where he came from and used those boxing instincts to fearlessly fight those who were hurting the poor & the middle class
He’s gone but will walk by the sides of many of us in the Senate every day (pic link)" / Twitter

Also
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Sometimes, in a quiet or difficult moment, Harry Reid would reach out. It was like he knew.
His counsel, encouragement, kindness, and generosity was so deeply moving. It was sincere. And I will never forget it.
Thank you, Senator Reid. Wishing peace and strength to his family." / Twitter

President Joe Biden, who served with Reid in the Senate, called him one of "the all-time great Senate Majority Leaders in our history" in a statement Tuesday.

...
Former President Barack Obama released a letter he had written to Reid before his death in lieu of a statement. "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," Obama wrote.

...
A boxer in his youth, Reid later attended Utah State University before moving to Washington, DC, and working his way through law school at George Washington University by working as an officer for the United States Capitol Police.

"I think I am the only former Capitol policeman here that is a senator," Reid said in 2011. "I have such great respect for the work that they do."

 

[lpetrich]

When he graduated from law school, he returned to Nevada and served as the state's youngest Lt Gov over 1971 - 1975. He then headed the Nevada Gaming Commission, which oversees that state's gambling industry. That made him a target for organized-crime gangs, and a wife once found a bomb in his car.

When Nevada got a new Congressional district in 1980, he ran for the House in 1982 in a new district around Las Vegas. He was re-elected in 1984, and he went on to the Senate in 1986. He got re-elected in 1992, 1998, 2004, and 2010, retiring in 2017. He was the Democratic whip over 1999 - 2005, and for the rest of his stay, he was the party's Senate leader.

As the chamber's Democratic leader, Reid was a polarizing figure. Republicans argued much of the congressional gridlock stemmed from his hard-ball tactics, but Reid often reveled in playing the political bad guy -- even calling then-President George W. Bush a "loser" and a "liar." (Later, when Donald Trump was in the White House, Reid told CNN's Bash that he wished for Bush "every day.")

Reid is often blamed for deepening an era of political polarization with irascible rhetoric about Republicans and the use of controversial Senate procedures that left traditionalists worried that the consensus that once made the chamber special had vanished forever.

He brought those same tactics to electoral politics, too. During Obama's reelection bid in 2012, Reid accused Republican nominee Mitt Romney, with no evidence, of not paying his taxes. Asked by CNN in 2015 whether he regretted the attack, Reid said, "I don't regret that at all."

"Romney didn't win, did he?" Reid asked rhetorically.

One of his favorite accomplishments is to encourage then-Senator Barack Obama to run for President. In turn, BO praised him a lot. While BO was President, HR helped get Obamacare through Congress, using reconciliation as a way to bypass the Republicans' filibuster of it. He said that the Republicans should "stop crying" about it.

He also got praise from Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, and some respect from Mitch McConnell.

 

[lpetrich]

VENT The Defeatocrats' Cheer - YouTube - "Hot Air's Michelle Malkin picks up the pom poms to take on Harry Reid and the rest of the Defeatocrats."

In modern-day Washington, the former senator's impact is perhaps most present in his 2013 change to the Senate rules to prevent filibusters of most executive branch nominations.

He told CNN last year that he "absolutely" doesn't regret changing the rules at the time, saying: "I have no regret. It was the right thing to do. And by the way, it's not the first time the rules have been changed. They've been changed lots of times. It was time to do it again."

Then in 2019, he wrote Opinion | Harry Reid: The Filibuster Is Suffocating the Will of the American People - The New York Times - "To save our country’s future, Democrats must abolish this arcane Senate rule. "