Harry Mason Reid

Harry Mason Reid was born in the tiny mining town of Searchlight, Nevada, the son of a hard rock miner and a laundress. He earned his law degree from George Washington University Law School in 1964 and was admitted to the Nevada bar that same year, launching a legal and public career rooted firmly in his home state. His first office was as city attorney for Henderson, Nevada, a post he held from 1964 to 1966.

Reid moved steadily into public service while continuing in the law. He served in the Nevada State Assembly and was elected the state's lieutenant governor, serving from 1970 to 1974. From 1977 to 1981 he chaired the Nevada Gaming Commission, where he became known for his efforts to keep organized crime out of the state's casino industry - work that defined his reputation for toughness and integrity.

He went on to represent Nevada in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1987 and then in the U.S. Senate from 1987 to 2017, where he rose to become the chamber's Democratic leader and one of the most influential figures in modern Nevada and national politics. A central figure in the politics of the Silver State, Reid died on December 28, 2021, at the age of 82, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.