John Madden in the CBS Sports broadcast booth c. 'Even when I was president, he would hang up on me,' Mr. Reid was also known for his abrupt style, typified by his habit of unceremoniously hanging up the phone without saying goodbye. A champion of suicide prevention, he defended social programs, but also voted against most gun control bills, and proposed ending legal prostitution in his home state. He steered hundreds of millions of dollars to the state, but was also instrumental in blocking construction of a controversial nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain outside Las Vegas. He pushed to move Nevada's presidential caucuses to February, at the start of the nominating season, boosting the state's importance. During his career, he played a key role in landmark Democratic legislation, from the economic stimulus package after the Great Recession, to President Barack Obama's signature achievement, the Affordable Care Act, in 2010. As the former head of the Nevada Gaming Commission, and a participant in sting operations against organized crime, Reid was once targeted with a crude bomb planted in his car.įirst elected to the House in 1982, Reid won his first Senate race in 1986, and four more after that, becoming Senate Majority Leader in 2007. He would put himself through law school at George Washington University in D.C., working nights as a Capitol Police officer.īy 28 Reid was elected to the Nevada Assembly, and at 30 became the youngest lieutenant governor in the state's history. His mother was a laundress at a bordello.

A former amateur boxer, he brought a willingness to draw partisan blood, and famously espoused: 'I would rather dance than fight, but I know how to fight.'īorn in meager circumstances in Searchlight, Nevada – a town he once said had 13 brothels and not much else – Reid lost his alcoholic father to suicide. Nevada Democrat Harry Reid (December 2, 1939-December 28, 2021), a lion of the Senate, was known as one of the toughest dealmakers in Congress for more than three decades. The Associated Press contributed to this gallery. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty ImagesĪ look back at the esteemed personalities who left us this year, who'd touched us with their innovation, creativity and humanity.īy senior producer David Morgan.

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