Harry Reid

Reid was born in Searchlight, Nevada, the third of four sons of Harry Vincent Reid, a rock miner, and Inez Orena (Jaynes) Reid, a laundress. At that time, Searchlight was a small, impoverished town.[1][2] His father committed suicide in 1972, at the age of 58, when Harry was 32 years old.[3][4] His paternal grandmother was an English immigrant from Darlaston, Staffordshire. Reid's boyhood home was a shack with no indoor toilet, hot water, or telephone.[3][5]

Since Searchlight had no high school, Reid boarded with relatives 40 miles (64 km) away, in Henderson, so that he could attend Basic High School,[3] where he played football and was an amateur boxer.[6] While at Basic High, he met future Nevada governor Mike O'Callaghan, who was a teacher there and served as Reid's boxing coach. Reid attended Southern Utah University and graduated from Utah State University, where he double-majored in political science and history.[7] He also minored in economics at Utah State's School of Commerce and Business Administration.[8] He then attended George Washington University Law School, earning a J.D. degree while working as a police officer for the United States Capitol Police.[1]

Reid scored a lifetime conservative rating of 19% from the American Conservative Union (ACU),[17] and a 2008 liberal rating of 70% from the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA).[18] Other independent ratings include a 29% rating in 2003 from NARAL, the abortion rights lobbyists,[19] an 85% rating from Planned Parenthood in 2013,[20] and a "B" rating from the National Rifle Association.[21]

President Barack Obama shakes hands with Reid after signing the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 on March 30, 2009.

Reid spearheaded several initiatives while in Congress. In 2006, Reid co-sponsored the "Prevention First Amendment" with Hillary Clinton, which would fund abortion prevention efforts such as giving women broader access to contraception. The bill faced Republican opposition and failed.[22] In January 2007, Reid brought a Senate ethics reform bill to a vote to bar congressional members from accepting gifts, meals, and trips from lobbyists and organizations employing lobbyists, to bar Senators from borrowing corporate jets for travel, and to compel Senators to disclose names of sponsors, or authors, of bills and projects. The bill passed 96–2.[23] In the 111th Congress, Reid shepherded the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) through the Senate.

Reid believed that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned, and in 1999, voted against an amendment that supported Roe.[24] 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."[25] He voted several times to ban the "intact dilation and evacuation", or "partial-birth abortion" procedure.[26] Reid supported embryonic stem cell research.[27]

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

In regard to local issues, Reid firmly opposed construction of the proposed Yucca Mountain federal nuclear waste repository in Nevada.[28] Reid initially opposed the legalization of online poker, but in 2010 it was reported his position had evolved-a move some argued was influenced by "the hundreds of thousands of dollars Las Vegas casinos contributed to his re-election campaign".[29]

Reid speaking at the State Children's Health Insurance Program Art Exhibit press conference

Reid called immigration reform one of his priorities at the 110th Congress. He supports the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act), which would give certain high school graduates who had arrived in the U.S. illegally, conditional legal status so they could attend college or enlist in the military. They could then obtain permanent legal residency after completing two years of military service or two years of college.[30] In June 2009, Reid announced his intention to enact a new guest worker program as part of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.[31]

Reid supported use of force in the Middle East, but in September 2007, called for a drastic change in strategy. In January 1991, Reid voted to authorize the first Gulf War,[32] quoting John F. Kennedy's 1963 State of the Union speech on the Senate floor, saying "the mere absence of war is not peace."[33][34] He also voted in support of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[35][36] In March 2007, he voted in favor of "redeploying U.S. troops out of Iraq by March 2008",[36] and later that year, said, "As long as we follow [President Bush's] path in Iraq, the war is lost."[37]

Reid was a strong advocate of recognizing the Armenian genocide.[38]

Reid advocated outlawing prostitution in Nevada.[39]

On May 15, 2013, Reid revealed to reporters that his niece is a lesbian as he spoke about his hope that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would be signed into law.[40]

In the late 2000s, liberal critics argued that Reid did not do enough to end the American military presence in Iraq,[45] and that he allowed Senate Republicans to create a 60-vote bar for passage of bills without a Democratic filibuster.[46][47][48] Conservatives criticized Reid for his extensive use of the procedural tactic known as "Filling the tree" to prevent amendments on important bills.[49]

Reid was also criticized for several potentially self-enriching tactics. In 2005, Reid earmarked a spending bill to provide for building a bridge between Nevada and Arizona that would make land he owned more valuable. Reid called funding for construction of a bridge over the Colorado River, among other projects, "incredibly good news for Nevada" in a news release after passage of the 2006 transportation bill. He owned 160 acres (65 ha) of land several miles from the proposed bridge site in Arizona. The bridge could add value to his real estate investment.[50] A year later it was reported that Reid had used campaign donations to pay for $3,300 in Christmas gifts to the staff at the condominium where he resides;[51] federal election law prohibits candidates from using political donations for personal use. Reid's staff stated that his campaign attorneys had approved this use of the funds, but that Reid would personally reimburse his campaign for the expenses. Citizens United filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission to investigate the matter.[52]

A series of investigative reports in the Los Angeles Times[53][54][55][56] suggested that Reid had introduced legislation and imposed pressure on regulatory agencies to advance the business interests of his close friend Harvey Whittemore, a Nevada attorney-lobbyist who contributed heavily to Reid's campaigns and leadership fund and who employed Reid's son Leif as his personal attorney. With Reid's help, Whittemore was able to proceed with construction of a $30 billion planned golf course development, Coyote Springs, a project heavily criticized by environmental groups for reasons including its projected effects on several endangered species.[57][58] Whittemore served a two-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2013 of funneling $133,400 in illegal contributions to Reid's reelection campaign.[59]

In 2006, the National Republican Senatorial Committee attempted to associate Reid with the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal by pointing out he had "received more than $50,000 from four tribes with gaming interests between 2001 and 2004 after they hired Abramoff". Reid denied any wrongdoing, and media reported that the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan research group, had produced an analysis showing a general increase in the amount and number of contributions by Indian tribes since the late 1990s.[60][61]

Reid apologized on January 9, 2010, for racially tinged comments he had made when Obama was campaigning for president. In private conversations, Reid had remarked that Obama could win the presidency because the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama — to whom he referred as being "light-skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one". These comments had been recently revealed by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in Game Change, their book about the 2008 United States presidential election. In addition to his public apology, Reid called Obama to apologize; Obama accepted his apology, stating that as far as he was concerned, the book was closed on the incident.[62][63][64] RNC Chairman Michael Steele and Senators John Cornyn and Jon Kyl called on Reid to resign his leadership position in the Senate, citing Majority Leader Trent Lott resigning because of a statement relating to race. However, multiple experts said there was virtually no chance of that. DNC Chairman Tim Kaine and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Jack Reed expressed support for Reid and confidence he would retain his leadership position, and another senior Democrat indicated Reid has "produced supportive statements from key African American leaders in the Congress and civil rights community".[65]

In August 2010, Reid spoke in front of National Council of La Raza: "I don't know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK. Do I need to say more?"[66] The following day, Dr. Manny Alvarez and Republican Senate-candidate Marco Rubio, both of Hispanic descent, spoke out against Reid's remarks.[67]

Reid speaks during the third night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Part of Reid's confrontation with Frank Rosenthal while chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission is reenacted in the 1995 movie Casino.[91] Reid had a role in the movie Traffic (2000), in which he played himself.[92] He appeared, with Senators Sam Brownback and Barack Obama, in the 2007 documentary film Sand and Sorrow, which details the genocide in Sudan.[93]

Reid was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 2001.[94] In 2013, adviser Jim Margolis said of Reid, "He is unique in this city. And you see it in so many different ways. Is he the best TV talking head? No. He'd be the first to tell you that. Should he smile more? Yes. Should he say goodbye on the phone when he's done talking to you? Probably. But those are things you'd assume are part and parcel of a polished figure in Washington. That is not Harry Reid."[5]

Reid met his future wife, Landra Gould, in high school. Gould was from a Jewish family, and her parents objected to the relationship because Reid did not share their faith. The two eloped in 1959 when they were in college.[95] The Reids have five children: a daughter and four sons. Their eldest son, Rory, was an elected commissioner for Clark County, Nevada, of which he became chairman, and 2010 Democratic nominee in the election for Governor of Nevada.[96] Another son, Josh Reid, unsuccessfully sought municipal office in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.[97] In 2014 financial disclosure reports, Reid reported a net worth of between $2.9 million and $9.3 million.[98] Most of Reid's net worth was in municipal securities and in land and mineral rights in southern Nevada and Arizona; a blind trust managed the liquid assets of Reid and his wife.[98]

Harry Reid (far left) and LDS leaders, Thomas S. Monson and Dallin H. Oaks, (center and far right) presenting family history to U.S. President Obama.

Reid and his family reside in the Anthem area of Henderson, Nevada.[99] Reid (who was raised agnostic) and his wife (who was born to Jewish immigrant parents and grew up in Henderson) converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while he was a college student.[3] In a 2001 interview he said, "I think it is much easier to be a good member of the Church and a Democrat than a good member of the Church and a Republican." He went on to say that the Democrats' emphasis on helping others, as opposed to what he considers Republican dogma to the contrary, is the reason he's a Democrat.[100] He delivered a speech at Brigham Young University to about 4,000 students on October 9, 2007, in which he expressed his opinion that Democratic values mirror Mormon values.[101][102] Several Republican Mormons in Utah have contested his faith because of his politics, such as his statements that the church's backing of California's Proposition 8 wasted resources.[103]

Reid is the co-chairman of the Board of Selectors of Jefferson Awards for Public Service.[104] In April 2015, Reid confirmed former U.S. Senator Larry Pressler as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[105]

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• Harry Reid at Curlie
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• "Tough Reid", Eve Fairbanks, The New Republic, April 15, 2009