Harry Reid, arguably one of the most influential Senate Majority Leaders in American history, has died. He was 82.
That is not a description I’d give lightly., by the way. In 2014, The Hill described him as such.
Harry Reid has become the most powerful Senate majority leader in history.
Congressional experts say the Nevada Democrat has used more strong-arm tactics than his predecessors, has a firm grip on his Democratic colleagues and has played a major role in changing the once-collegial Senate.
Republicans, eyeing a return to the majority in the upper chamber, are alleging an abuse of power by Reid as well as President Obama. They call the majority leader “a dictator” and have labeled the Obama era an “imperial presidency.”
Democrats counter that “obstructionist” Republicans should look in the mirror, claiming they have tried to work with the GOP on a range of issues.
American journalist Robert Caro famously dubbed Lyndon Baines Johnson the “master of the Senate,” but experts say Reid now wields more power than Johnson ever did.
Reid’s tight leadership reins have protected vulnerable Democrats from having to take tough votes and helped them amass a 55-seat majority. He routinely puts legislation on the floor as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, denying the minority and even members of his own caucus the chance to amend it.
The only figure probably more powerful and influential in Senate history would be Reid’s Senate contemporary (and successor as Majority Leader), Mitch McConnell.
But the difference between Reid and McConnell is that Reid played for immediate victories that have arguably hurt Democrats in the long run. His victories at the time gave bigger victories to Republicans in the long run.
Reid’s treatment of Mitt Romney’s candidacy in 2012, his tactics in trying to maintain control in the Senate, and the way he wielded both power and rhetoric continue to have a lasting impact on American politics. It’s very difficult to come to the conclusion that he really did his party any favors.
But, in the moment, he was a tough old bastard. I was not a fan, politically, but he was the only man capable of leading his party through those politics in that moment. You can’t argue that he was impotent in that seat, and you can’t argue that he wasn’t one of the most dominant forces the Senate has ever produced.
Rest in peace.