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Harry Reid, who served as U.S. Senator of Nevada for 30 years from 1987 until 2017, has died. He was 82.
“Harry was a devout family man and deeply loyal friend,” she said, perNBC News. “We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support from so many over these past few years. We are especially grateful for the doctors and nurses that cared for him. Please know that meant the world to him.”
The retired lawyer and politician, who was considered one of the most influential elected officials in the Silver State’s history, previouslysaid last year that he was in “complete remission"from the disease.
After starting out in the 1960s as a city attorney in Henderson, Nevada, Reid was elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1968. From there, he served as lieutenant governor of Nevada from 1971 to 1975.
During his long and decorated political career, he became the U.S. Senator for Nevada from 1987 to 2017. During that time, Reid led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017. He was also the Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015.
Reid was instrumental in helping to pass key pieces of legislation, including former presidentBarack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in an effort to recover from the 2008 recession.
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When he learned of Reid’s death on Tuesday, Obama, 60, tweeteda letterhe had written to his former political ally.
“You were a great leader in the Senate, and early on you were more generous to me than I had any right to expect,” Obama wrote. “I wouldn’t have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support, and I wouldn’t have gotten most of what I got done without your skill and determination.”
“Most of all, you’ve been a good friend. As different as we are, I think we both saw something of ourselves and each other – a couple of outsiders who had defied the odds and knew how to take a punch and cared about the little guy,” Obama continued.
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“He was a canny and tough negotiator who was never afraid to make an unpopular decision if it meant getting something done that was right for the country,” Clinton, 75, wrote in a statement.
“We will likely never see another public servant quite like him — in personality, command of strategy and tactics, and assuredness in marching to the beat of his own drum,” he added.
source: people.com
