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Jan 8, 2022 - Politics & Policy

In photos: Biden, Obama and senior Dems remember "deeply good" Harry Reid

Erin Doherty
The remains of former US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are carried into The Smith Center for the Performing Arts for a memorial, in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 8, 2022.

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas hosts the memorial service for the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Jan. 8. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

President Biden and former President Barack Obama, along with their past congressional colleagues, came together on Saturday to honor the life of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Driving the news: "Harry Reid will be considered one of the greatest Senate Majority leaders in history," the president said in Las Vegas on Saturday.

  • "For Harry, it wasn't about power, it was about about the sake of power, about the power to be able to use power to do right by people," he added. "That's why you wanted Harry in your corner."

While eulogizing the long-time Nevada lawmaker, Obama said: "Few people have done more for this state, and this country, than this driven, brilliant, sometimes irascible, deeply good man from Searchlight, Nevada."

  • "In a battle between perfection and progress, Harry always chose progress," Obama said, adding that "pragmatism made Harry adaptable."
  • "Harry did know the Senate better than just about anyone else. More importantly, he understood why the work we were doing mattered," the former president said.

What they're saying: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also spoke at the funeral.

  • "Harry, in short, was one of the most incredible individuals I've ever met. The sort of person you come across only a handful of times in your entire life," Schumer said.
  • "He was tough as nails, a fighter to his core, but also one of the most compassionate individuals you could ever imagine. He never forgot where he came from, always stuck up for the underdog and the little guy."

The big picture: Reid died on Dec. 28 at 82 years old following a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

  • Reid was Senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015, and served in Congress for more than three decades.
  • Reid will lie in the Capitol Rotunda during the week of Jan. 10, Axios' Hans Nichols reports.

In photos:

President Joe Biden speaks during a memorial service for the late US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 8, 2022
President Biden speaks during Reid's memorial service. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Former US President Barack Obama speaks during a memorial service for the late US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Former President Barack Obama speaks during the memorial service. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a memorial service for the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during the memorial service. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks during a memorial service for Harry Reid.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks during the memorial service. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
US President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff attend a memorial service for US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Supporters hold signs during the memorial service for the late former U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)
Supporters hold signs during the memorial service. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Go deeper: Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dies at 82

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