+ A
A -
dpa
Washington
Former US Senate majority leader Harry Reid has died, his family announced on Tuesday. He was 82.
“He died peacefully this afternoon, surrounded by our family, following a courageous, four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Harry was 82 years old. We were married for 62 years,” his wife, Landra Reid, said in a statement.
“We are so proud of the legacy he leaves behind both on the national stage and his beloved Nevada.” Reid, a Democrat, was first elected to the House in 1982, before moving to the Senate four years later. He retired from Senate service in January 2017, at the end of the 114th Congress, after serving as the chamber’s Democratic leader for over a decade. He had announced well in advance that he would not be seeking reelection.
On Capitol Hill, Reid first became majority leader in 2007, when he enjoyed the cooperation of a Democratic House. He picked up a Democratic president in Barack Obama in 2009.
In a statement, Obama sent a letter he wrote to Reid at Landra’s request in the days before his death. In it, he credits Reid with encouraging his presidential run, as well as the success that came with it.
“You were a great leader in the Senate, and early on you were more generous to me than I had any right to expect. 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. Most of all, you’ve been a good friend,” Obama wrote.
Success was defined by holding his party together, and there were impressive results: Using procedural tools and his talents for horse-trading, Reid helped engineer the overhaul of the health care system that came to be known by many as
Obamacare.
“He was tough-as-nails strong, but caring and compassionate, and always went out of his way quietly to help people who needed help. He was a boxer who came from humble origins, but 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,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Tuesday.
Washington
Former US Senate majority leader Harry Reid has died, his family announced on Tuesday. He was 82.
“He died peacefully this afternoon, surrounded by our family, following a courageous, four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Harry was 82 years old. We were married for 62 years,” his wife, Landra Reid, said in a statement.
“We are so proud of the legacy he leaves behind both on the national stage and his beloved Nevada.” Reid, a Democrat, was first elected to the House in 1982, before moving to the Senate four years later. He retired from Senate service in January 2017, at the end of the 114th Congress, after serving as the chamber’s Democratic leader for over a decade. He had announced well in advance that he would not be seeking reelection.
On Capitol Hill, Reid first became majority leader in 2007, when he enjoyed the cooperation of a Democratic House. He picked up a Democratic president in Barack Obama in 2009.
In a statement, Obama sent a letter he wrote to Reid at Landra’s request in the days before his death. In it, he credits Reid with encouraging his presidential run, as well as the success that came with it.
“You were a great leader in the Senate, and early on you were more generous to me than I had any right to expect. 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. Most of all, you’ve been a good friend,” Obama wrote.
Success was defined by holding his party together, and there were impressive results: Using procedural tools and his talents for horse-trading, Reid helped engineer the overhaul of the health care system that came to be known by many as
Obamacare.
“He was tough-as-nails strong, but caring and compassionate, and always went out of his way quietly to help people who needed help. He was a boxer who came from humble origins, but 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,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Tuesday.
