As the nation’s leaders shared statements on the passing of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), a 2010 letter from former President Donald Trump to the senator surfaced.
Reid, 82, who shepherded the Affordable Care Act through the Senate, died on Tuesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The New York Times’ Jonathan Martin shared a picture of a letter sent by Trump after Reid’s 2010 reelection. According to Martin, the letter hung in his post-Senate office.
“Congratulations,” Trump wrote, adding, “You are amazing!”
Reid had this up in his post-Senate office in Vegas – a nice note from a donor after Reid’s last win, in 2010 pic.twitter.com/TRaQahDrQa
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) December 29, 2021
In a tweet on Tuesday night, President Joe Biden wrote of Reid, “A son of Searchlight, Nevada, Harry never forgot his humble roots. A boxer, he never gave up a fight. A great American, he looked at challenges and believed it was within our capacity to do good — to do right.”
“May God bless Harry Reid, a dear friend and a giant of our history,” he added.
A son of Searchlight, Nevada, Harry never forgot his humble roots. A boxer, he never gave up a fight. A great American, he looked at challenges and believed it was within our capacity to do good — to do right.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 29, 2021
May God bless Harry Reid, a dear friend and a giant of our history.
In a statement, Vice President Kamala Harris said, “Our country has lost an honorable public servant. Harry Reid rose through the ranks in Washington, becoming Senate Majority Leader, but he never forgot his humble beginnings in Searchlight, Nevada – and he always fought for working families and the poor.
“Leader Reid also got things done: from expanding access to healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, to getting economic relief to families and businesses through the Recovery Act, and much more, he made a meaningful difference in people’s lives,” she added.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called Reid a “dedicated public servant and a truly one-of-a-kind U.S. senator.”
“The nature of Harry’s and my jobs brought us into frequent and sometimes intense conflict over politics and policy. But I never doubted that Harry was always doing what he earnestly, deeply felt was right for Nevada and our country. He will rightly go down in history as a crucial, pivotal figure in the development and history of his beloved home state,” McConnell added.
And former President Barack Obama shared a letter he wrote to Reid before his death in which he praised the former senator for being “more generous to me than I had any right to expect.” He added that he would not have run for president without Reid’s encouragement.
When Harry Reid was nearing the end, his wife Landra asked some of us to share letters that she could read to him. In lieu of a statement, here’s what I wrote to my friend: pic.twitter.com/o6Ll6rzpAX
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 29, 2021
Reid became the majority leader after the 2004 election and remained in his position until Democrats lost the majority in the 2014 midterm election. He retired from the Senate in 2017.
