Longtime Nevada Sen. Harry Reid remembered as ‘the embodiment of the American dream’

byDuc Manh •
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2007.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 26, 2007. Reid, the former Senate majority leader and Nevada’s longest-serving member of Congress, has died. He was 82.
Dennis Cook, Associated Press

Harry Reid, the former long-serving Democratic senator from Nevada and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was remembered fondly on both sides of the aisle Tuesday as news of his death at age 82 was shared.

According to a statement from his wife of 62 years, Landra, Reid died after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

“He died peacefully this afternoon, surrounded by our family,” she said.

In 2018, Reid underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer, according to the Nevada Independent, although he announced in summer 2020 that he was cancer free after an experimental surgery.

“We are so proud of the legacy he leaves behind both on the national stage and his beloved Nevada,” Landra Reid wrote Tuesday. “Harry was deeply touched to see his decades of service to Nevada honored in recent weeks with the re-naming of Las Vegas’ airport in his honor.”

Reid’s death comes just two weeks after Las Vegas’ McCarran Airport officially changed its name to Harry Reid International Airport, a move Reid called “the greatest of honors” in a Dec. 15 statement.

A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Reid’s political career spans 30 years in the Senate. From 2005 until he stepped down in 2017, he led the Senate Democratic Caucus, and from 2007 to 2015 he served as the Senate Majority Leader during both the presidencies of both George Bush and Barack Obama.

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extended condolences to Reid’s family in a statement Tuesday.

“Sen. Reid was a devoted and capable public servant who was dedicated to his family, his faith, and his country. We are grateful for his tireless service in each of these facets of a life well-lived,” the statement reads. “We pray that Sen. Reid’s loved ones will be blessed and sustained at this tender time of parting and in the years ahead.”

Utah Sen. Mike Lee took to Twitter Tuesday evening to remember Reid, who he said was his family’s home teacher, calling him “a kind, caring friend.”

Longtime Utah Republican former Sen. Orrin Hatch called Reid “the embodiment of the American Dream.”

Hatch served in the Senate with Reid during the entirety of his 30 year career. On Tuesday, he said he was “grateful to have known Harry and to have called him a friend.”

Before Reid passed, his wife asked former President Obama to share letters that she could read to him, as it was becoming too difficult for the former Nevada Senator to talk over the phone. Obama shared one of the letters Tuesday evening, in which he called Reid “a great leader in the Senate” and “a good friend.”

“As different as we are, I think we both saw something of ourselves in each other — a couple of outsiders who had defied the odds and knew how to take a punch and cared about the little guy. And you know what, we made for a pretty good team,” Obama wrote.

“Enjoy your family, and know you are loved by a lot of people, including me. The world is better cause (sic) of what you’ve done. Not bad for a skinny, poor kid from Searchlight.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, called Reid “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 for those who were hurting the poor and the middle class,” Schumer wrote on his Twitter account.”

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak released a statement Tuesday evening, writing that the word “giant doesn’t fully encapsulate all that he accomplished on behalf of the state of Nevada and for Nevada families; there will never be another leader quite like Senator Reid.”

“Perhaps what I appreciate most about Senator Reid's legacy is he never forgot who he was or where he came from. From humble beginnings in Searchlight, he became one of the state’s most powerful and fiercest advocates in Washington D.C. ... I feel lucky to have known him,” Sisolak wrote.

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