Harry Reid was born December 2, 1939, the son of an alcoholic miner who killed himself at 58 and a mother who served as a laundress in a bordello.
He grew up in a small cabin without indoor plumbing and swam with other children at a local brothel.
Reid, who died Tuesday at 82 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer, was one of Congress’ most skilled negotiators, thriving on the behind-the-scenes wrangling that frustrated many of his predecessors.
40 miles from his searchlight home, he met the woman he would marry, Landra Gould, in 1959; she and their five children survive him.
As majority leader from 2007 to 2015, he kept the Senate in Democratic hands through a volatile era of polarizing health care and economic policy, recession and war, and with a Republican and then a Democratic president.
Harry Reid funeral: Date, time, venue, obituary poster
UPDATE: The body of late Nevada Sen. Harry Reid will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington on January 12, 2022, returning one last time to the heart of the place where he spent three decades helping shape the nation.
The Capitol Rotunda has served since 1852 as a place to pay tribute with a public viewing to the nation’s most distinguished citizens.
About 35 others have had the honor of lying in state, including 12 U.S. Presidents. Reid follows Republican Sen. Bob Dole (Dec. 9-10) and Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis (July 27, 28, 2020) to receive the honor.
It’s an opportunity for members of Congress to pay their formal respects to the deceased.
The events will include a formal arrival and departure ceremony. Due to the pandemic, the ceremony will be limited to invited guests.
Former President Barack Obama is expected to deliver the eulogy.