Harry Reid Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
Here is a look at the life of Harry Reid, former Senate majority leader and retired US senator from Nevada.
Personal
Birth date: December 2, 1939
Birth place: Searchlight, Nevada
Birth name: Harry Mason Reid
Father: Harry Reid Sr., miner
Mother: Inez (Jaynes) Reid
Marriage: Landra (Gould) Reid (1959-present)
Children: Key, 1974; Josh, 1971; Leif, 1968; Rory, 1962; Lana, 1961
Education: Utah State University, B.S., 1961; George Washington School of Law, J.D., 1964
Religion: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Other Facts
He was a middleweight amateur boxer.
Reid and his wife both converted to the LDS church in college. He had been raised nonreligious and his wife was raised Jewish.
Timeline
1961-1964 – US Capitol police officer (while in law school).
1964-1966 – City Attorney for Henderson, Nevada.
1969-1970 – Member of the Nevada State Assembly.
1970-1974 – Wins election as the youngest lieutenant governor in Nevada history, at age 30.
1974 – Resigns as lieutenant governor to run for the US Senate, but loses to Paul Laxalt.
1977-1981 – Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission.
January 1983-January 1987 – US Representative from Nevada’s 1st District.
November 4, 1986 – Wins election to the US Senate.
November 3, 1992 – Wins a second term in the Senate.
November 3, 1998 – Re-elected to the Senate.
January 1999-January 2005 – Democratic Party Whip in the Senate.
November 2, 2004 – Re-elected to the Senate.
2005-2007 – Senate Minority Leader.
2007-2015 – Serves as the Senate Majority Leader.
January 9, 2010 – In the book, “Game Change,” a quote from Reid about Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election stirs racial controversy for which Reid apologizes.
March 26, 2010 – Reid, for the second time, votes incorrectly for the health care reconciliation bill. He is in support of the bill but when he was asked to place his vote, he accidentally yells “no.”
November 2, 2010 – Is re-elected to the Senate.
January 2015-January 2017 – Senate Minority Leader.
January 1, 2015 – Breaks several ribs and bones in his face when a piece of exercise equipment he is using breaks, causing him to fall.
March 27, 2015 – Announces he will not seek re-election.
October 6, 2015 – Reid files a lawsuit in a Nevada court against Thera-Band’s parent company, the Hygenic Corp, along with Hygenic Intangible Property Holding Co. and Performance Health LLC. Reid claims that Thera-Band’s exercise equipment malfunctioned, causing him serious injuries.
October 26, 2016 – Reid files an amended complaint in his civil case against Thera-Band and its parent companies.
December 8, 2016 – Reid delivers his final speech as Senate Minority Leader and US Senator from Nevada.
April 10, 2017 – Announced as UNLV Boyd School of Law’s first distinguished fellow in law and policy.
May 14, 2018 – Undergoes surgery at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center for pancreatic cancer. According to a statement from Reid’s family: “His doctors caught the problem early during a routine screening and his surgeons are confident that the surgery was a success and that the prognosis for his recovery is good. He will undergo chemotherapy as the next step in his treatment.”
April 12, 2019 – Reid calls for an end to the legislative filibuster in a New York Times opinion piece, asserting that removing the procedure would help end the “era of obstruction and inaction” in the Senate.
February 16, 2021 – The Clark County Board of Commissioners votes in favor of renaming McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas after Reid. In June 2021, the FAA approves the name change and lists the new airport name — Harry Reid International Airport — on flight databases.
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