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The former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid passed away at the age of 82. Reid served in Congress from 1983 until his retirement in 2017 and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018. He announced in 2019 his cancer was in remission. A Democrat representing Nevada, Reid served as senate majority leader from 2007-2015. He became most well-known for his use of the nuclear option in 2013, leading the charge to end the filibuster on executive branch nominees and judicial nominees other than to the Supreme Court. Reid’s responsibility for the nuclear option is not without irony. As a freshman senator in December 1987, the Nevada Democrat found himself before the Senate Rules Committee.

Reid earlier said, “We are not trying to turn the Senate into another House of Representatives. I’ve developed a great respect for the rules and procedures of the Senate. The rules are a carefully-crafted compromise designed to protect the right of a majority to prevail while preserving the right of a minority to prolong debate”. He initially broke into elected office in 1969, serving in the Nevada Assembly until 1971. He then served as Lieutenant Governor of Nevada from 1971-1975 before being elected to serve Nevada’s first district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982. He was first elected to the Senate in 1987. The Nevada lawmaker consistently bucked his own party on the issue of Roe v. Wade, which he believed should be overturned.

Reid played a central role in helping push the agenda of former President Barack Obama, leading the charge to unify all 60 members of the Democratic caucus in support of the Affordable Care Act in 2009. Despite widespread backlash to that law during the 2010 midterm elections, Reid defeated Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle by six points as other Republicans won a landslide election to retake the House. Reid’s wisp-thin voice betrayed his steely exterior. For instance, barely anyone could hear Reid speak over the din in the Capitol Rotunda during a presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal to golf icon Jack Nicklaus. But that soft-spoken tone didn’t mean that Reid won’t rumble with practically anyone.