Former U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada died at the age of 82 on Tuesday:
BREAKING: Harry Reid, probably the most important elected official in Nevada history, has died at 82.
My condolences to his family and friends.
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) December 29, 2021
President Joe Biden called Reid a “dear friend and a giant of our history”:
A son of Searchlight, Nevada, Harry never forgot his humble roots. A boxer, he never gave up a fight. A great American, he looked at challenges and believed it was within our capacity to do good — to do right.
May God bless Harry Reid, a dear friend and a giant of our history.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 29, 2021
Flags will be flown at half-staff today at the Capitol:
In honor of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:
The flags at the Capitol are being lowered to half-staff.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 29, 2021
Reid was an early backer of then Sen. Barack Obama’s run for president in 2008:
In the spring of 2006, then Sen. Obama said he was going to the Capitol, Sen. Reid wanted to see him. We both wondered why. A short time later, Obama returned, came into my office and said, a little stunned, "Harry wants me to run for President." It was the start of the journey.
— Robert Gibbs (@Robt_Gibbs) December 29, 2021
And he’s also responsible for the end of the judicial filibuster:
Harry Reid fundamentally & permanently altered the Senate, created America's current political landscape, paved the way for Donald Trump, & made it possible to put Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, & Barrett on the Supreme Court. https://t.co/Lfk3nLk4A8
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) December 29, 2021
Recommended
This thread chronicles his early life:
Harry Reid man what a life: (a thread)
Reid was the dirt-poor son of an alcoholic hard rock gold miner who grew up in Searchlight, Nevada, a failed mining community in the middle of the desert. His mom made ends meet by doing laundry for some of the thirteen local brothels. pic.twitter.com/4Gu89RbxXF
— Ari Rabin-Havt (@AriRabinHavt) December 29, 2021
Reid, “learned to swim at a whorehouse.” He credits the owner of that brothel, Willie Martello, with teaching him “honesty” and giving him his largest Christmas present every year: a five-dollar bill. (This happened to be the price of services at His establishment, the El Ray.)
— Ari Rabin-Havt (@AriRabinHavt) December 29, 2021
Reid hitchhiked 45 miles to high school, boxed his way to college, worked as a Capitol Police officer through law school at George Washington University, and rose through Nevada’s political ranks when his high school boxing coach and mentor, Mike O’Callaghan, became governor.
— Ari Rabin-Havt (@AriRabinHavt) December 29, 2021
He was the gaming commissioner caricatured in the Martin Scorsese movie Casino, who in reality shut down the mob and paved the way for the corporate casinos that now line the Strip.
— Ari Rabin-Havt (@AriRabinHavt) December 29, 2021
His car was bombed, with the FBI watching, he beat up singer LaToya Jackson’s future husband after he attempted to bribe him. Reid rose through the Senate to become majority leader by being one of the most hard- nosed and smartest inside players ever to walk in the chamber.
— Ari Rabin-Havt (@AriRabinHavt) December 29, 2021
A friend of his once told me that the desert outside Las Vegas was littered with the bodies of those who stood in his way. He was speaking hyperbolically (I think), but also paying Reid a compliment.
— Ari Rabin-Havt (@AriRabinHavt) December 29, 2021
The proudest moment of his life was not a political accomplishment, but when, as a teenager, he saved enough money doing work after school that he could afford to buy his mother a new set of teeth.
— Ari Rabin-Havt (@AriRabinHavt) December 29, 2021
Harry Reid could be blunt. He would hang up the phone without saying goodbye. But he was also one of the sweetest humans I have ever met. I was lucky to have worked for him. He taught us to fight and taught us to care.
— Ari Rabin-Havt (@AriRabinHavt) December 29, 2021
And in case you’ve never seen it, here’s the infamous clip of Reid battling mobster Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, Rober DeNiro’s character in “Casino”:
Here's the clip of Harry Reid and mobster Frank Rosenthal , courtesy of the KLAS "Mob on the Run" special report, that I just talked about with @AymanM:https://t.co/aWIWJEnhZp
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) December 29, 2021
More from the Las Vegas Sun on Reid-Rosenthal, including the time Reid’s family car was blown up:
Reid’s wife, Landra, famously escaped death when mobsters attempted to blow up Reid’s family car in 1981. Reid blames former mob associate and Las Vegas casino executive Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal for the attempted car bombing.
“Lefty Rosenthal was the only person I was ever afraid of,” Reid said. “I was not afraid of him physically. I was afraid of what he would do.”
“He was the kind of guy who wouldn’t hurt you himself,” Reid said. “He’d hire somebody to do it.”
Rosenthal was considered a top sports handicapper. His time in Las Vegas was the focus of the 1995 Martin Scorsese’s film ‘Casino.’
It is a movie that Reid will never see.
“Lefty Rosenthal was a bad guy,” Reid said. “I’ve never watched the movie ‘Casino’ because they tried to make him something that he wasn’t — a good guy — I’m told. So as a result of that, I’m not going to that movie and will never see it.”
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