76 Facts About Harry Reid

Harry Reid led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015.

From 1983 to 1987, Harry Reid represented Nevada's 1st district in the United States House of Representatives.

Harry Reid was elected to the United States Senate in 1986 and served in the Senate from 1987 to 2017.

Harry Reid served as the Senate Democratic whip from 1999 to 2005 before succeeding Tom Daschle as Senate Minority Leader.

The Democrats won control of the Senate after the 2006 United States Senate elections, and Harry Reid became the Senate Majority Leader in 2007.

Harry Reid held that position for the final two years of George W Bush's presidency and for the first six years of Barack Obama's presidency.

Republicans took control of the Senate following the 2014 United States Senate elections, and Harry Reid served as Senate Minority Leader from 2015 until his retirement in 2017.

Harry Reid was succeeded as the Senate Democratic leader by Chuck Schumer, whose leadership bid had been endorsed by Harry Reid.

Harry Reid's father died of suicide in 1972, at the age of 58, when Harry was 32 years old.

Harry Reid's paternal grandmother was an English immigrant from Darlaston, Staffordshire.

Harry Reid's boyhood home was a shack with no indoor toilet, hot water or telephone.

Since Searchlight had no high school, Harry Reid boarded with relatives 40 miles away, in Henderson, so that he could attend Basic High School, where he played football and was an amateur boxer.

Harry Reid attended Southern Utah University and graduated from Utah State University in 1961, where he double-majored in political science and history.

Harry Reid minored in economics at Utah State's School of Commerce and Business Administration.

Harry Reid then attended George Washington University Law School while working as a police officer for the United States Capitol Police, and he earned his Juris Doctor in 1964.

Harry Reid returned to Nevada after law school and served as Henderson city attorney before being elected to the Nevada Assembly for the multi-member fourth district of Clark County in 1968.

In 1970, at age 30, Harry Reid was chosen by O'Callaghan as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada.

Harry Reid lost by fewer than 700 votes to former governor Paul Laxalt.

In 1975, Harry Reid ran for mayor of Las Vegas and lost to Bill Briare.

Harry Reid served as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977 to 1981.

Harry Reid conceded under heated interrogation from Rosenthal that the two men had met for lunch at his Stardust Resort and Casino and that he had asked Rosenthal to cover up undesirable news stories.

FBI wiretaps captured mobsters claiming that Harry Reid was under their control, causing governor Robert List to feel pressure to ask Harry Reid to resign.

In 1981, Harry Reid's wife found a bomb attached to the family station wagon; Harry Reid suspected it was placed by Rosenthal or Gordon, although this has never been proven in court.

Harry Reid won the Democratic nomination for the 1st district, based in Las Vegas, in 1982, and easily won the general election.

Harry Reid was instrumental in the establishment of Great Basin National Park, sponsoring the bill creating it in 1986 and ensuring the protection of Wheeler Peak and groves of bristlecone pine.

In 1986, Harry Reid won the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring two-term incumbent Republican Senator Paul Laxalt.

Harry Reid ran for reelection in 1992 which he won by a double-digit margin.

In 2004, Harry Reid won reelection with 61 percent of the vote, defeating Richard Ziser.

Ensign and Harry Reid had a very good relationship despite their bitter contest in 1998.

Harry Reid then faced a very competitive race for the US Senate in Nevada in the 2010 general election.

Harry Reid engaged in a $1 million media campaign to "reintroduce himself" to the state's voters.

In January 2015, Harry Reid suffered severe injuries in an exercise accident.

On March 27,2015, Harry Reid uploaded a video to his YouTube account announcing that he would not seek reelection in November 2016.

Harry Reid endorsed Senator Chuck Schumer from New York to succeed him as Minority Leader.

Harry Reid was succeeded by former Nevada Attorney General and fellow Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto.

On January 1,2017, two days before the end of his term, Reid surpassed Senator John P Jones to become the longest-serving US Senator from Nevada.

From 1999 to 2005, Harry Reid served as Senate Democratic Whip, as minority whip from 1999 to 2001, and again from 2003 to 2005.

Harry Reid was majority whip from 2001 to 2003, except for a brief period from January to June 2001.

Harry Reid was the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee in from January to June 2001 before relinquishing the position to allow Jim Jeffords to switch parties and become chair, having given Democrats the majority.

Harry Reid succeeded Tom Daschle as Minority Leader in 2005; he became Majority Leader after the 2006 election until 2015.

Harry Reid was again Minority Leader until his retirement in 2017.

Liberal critics argued that Harry Reid allowed Senate Republicans to create a 60-vote bar for passage of bills without a Democratic filibuster.

Harry Reid was criticized during his tenure for several potentially self-enriching tactics.

In 2005, Harry Reid earmarked a spending bill to provide for building a bridge between Nevada and Arizona that would make land he owned more valuable.

Harry Reid called funding for the construction of a bridge over the Colorado River, among other projects, "incredibly good news for Nevada" in a news release after the passage of the 2006 transportation bill.

Harry Reid owned 160 acres of land several miles from the proposed bridge site in Arizona.

Harry Reid's staff stated that his campaign attorneys had approved this use of the funds, but that Harry Reid would personally reimburse his campaign for the expenses.

Harry Reid apologized on January 9,2010, for racially tinged comments he had made when Barack Obama was campaigning for president.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele and Senators John Cornyn and Jon Kyl called on Harry Reid to resign his leadership position in the Senate, citing Majority Leader Trent Lott resigning because of a statement relating to race.

In 2006, Harry Reid co-sponsored the Prevention First Amendment with Hillary Clinton, which would fund abortion prevention efforts such as giving women broader access to contraception.

In January 2007, Harry Reid brought a Senate ethics reform bill to a vote to bar congressional members from accepting gifts, meals, and trips from lobbyists and organizations employing lobbyists, to bar Senators from borrowing corporate jets for travel, and to compel Senators to disclose names of sponsors, or authors, of bills and projects.

Harry Reid was initially a centrist Democrat, and he held anti-abortion views, and supported gun rights and opposed illegal immigration.

Harry Reid believed that Roe v Wade should be overturned, and in 1999, voted against an amendment that supported Roe.

Harry Reid voted several times to ban the intact dilation and evacuation, or "partial-birth abortion" procedure.

In regard to local issues, Harry Reid firmly opposed construction of the proposed Yucca Mountain federal nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

Harry Reid called immigration reform one of his priorities at the 110th Congress.

Harry Reid supported the DREAM Act, which would give certain high school graduates who had arrived in the US illegally, conditional legal status so they could attend college or enlist in the military.

Harry Reid supported use of force in the Middle East, but in September 2007, called for a drastic change in strategy.

Harry Reid was a strong advocate of recognizing the Armenian genocide.

Harry Reid was a staunch defender of Obamacare both online and in speeches.

On May 15,2013, Harry Reid revealed to reporters that his niece is a lesbian as he spoke about his hope that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would be signed into law.

Harry Reid successfully secured the designation of about 5.1 million acres of US federal land in Nevada as protected land, shielding them from development.

Harry Reid was criticized as one of the main culprits for the failure of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, as the Democrats' majority in Congress during that time had not been used to enact climate-protection legislation prior to the conference.

Harry Reid repeated the accusation on the Senate floor on August 2,2012.

Harry Reid had a role in the movie Traffic, in which he played himself.

Harry Reid appeared, with Senators Sam Brownback and Barack Obama, in the 2007 documentary film Sand and Sorrow, which details the genocide in Sudan.

Harry Reid was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 2001.

Gould was from a Jewish family and her parents objected to the relationship because Harry Reid was not Jewish.

In 2014 financial disclosure reports, Harry Reid reported a net worth of between $2.9 million and $9.3 million.

Harry Reid and his wife converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while he was a college student.

Harry Reid delivered a speech at Brigham Young University to about 4,000 students on October 9,2007, in which he expressed his opinion that Democratic values mirror Mormon values.

Harry Reid was the co-chairman of the Board of Selectors of Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

On May 14,2018, Harry Reid had surgery for pancreatic cancer at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center after a tumor was found on his pancreas during a routine screening.

Harry Reid died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Henderson on December 28,2021, at the age of 82.

Harry Reid's funeral was broadcast live on CNN and MSNBC with tributes by President Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and performances by Brandon Flowers and Carole King.

Harry Reid was interred in his family plot in Searchlight.