Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Dead at 82

Henderson, Nevada (WNews) – Harry Reid, the former Democratic Senate leader who spearheaded legislative battles through three decades in Congress, has died at the age of 82, according to a statement from his wife, Landra Reid.

“I am heartbroken to announce the passing of my husband, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He died peacefully this afternoon, surrounded by our family, following a courageous, four-year battle with pancreatic cancer,” she said in a statement Tuesday.

“He was my leader, my mentor, one of my dearest friends,” – Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

Reid rose from humble beginnings in Searchlight, Nevada, to become the most powerful politician in Nevada history, capping off his political career as the Democratic leader in the Senate, including eight years in the majority.

“He was my leader, my mentor, one of my dearest friends,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday evening. “He’s gone but he will walk by the sides of many of us in the Senate every single day.”

Former President Barack Obama released a letter he had written to Reid before his death in lieu of a statement. “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,” Obama wrote.

Reid underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2018 and said less than a year later that he was in remission.

From 1999 to 2005, Reid served as Senate Democratic Whip, as minority whip from 1999 to 2001, and again from 2003 to 2005. Reid was majority whip from 2001 to 2003, except for a brief period from January to May 2001.

From 2001 to 2003, he served as chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee. Reid succeeded Tom Daschle as Minority Leader in 2005; he became Majority Leader after the 2006 election until 2015. He was again Minority Leader until his retirement in 2017.

Reid believed that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned, and in 1999, voted against an amendment that supported Roe. He stated that he believed in a restricted right to abortion, stating that “abortions should be legal only when the pregnancy resulted from incest, rape, or when the life of the woman is endangered.” He voted several times to ban the intact dilation and evacuation, or “partial-birth abortion” procedure. Reid supported embryonic stem cell research.

Regarding same-sex marriage, Reid initially believed that “marriage should be between a man and a woman”, but abandoned that position in favour of same-sex marriage in 2012.

On May 14, 2018, Reid had surgery for pancreatic cancer at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center after a tumour was found on his pancreas during a routine screening. In a January 2019 interview with The New York Times, it was revealed that Reid was confined to a desk at his home and was unable to move without the aid of a walker.

Upon his diagnosis, Reid said: “As soon as you discover you have something on your pancreas, you’re dead”. On February 25, 2019, Reid announced that due to early detection and chemotherapy, his cancer was in remission.