he was battling pancreatic cancer. and with some difficulty. but he was as dana knows, he was never he was always feisty. he did reminisce a little about growing up in search light. he told me when he was growing up he never realized how destitute he and his family were, how many things they didn t have. it was just the way things were. he said it was after his brother died as an adult and his niece was going through pictures and sent him sold photographs that showed shack he grew up. he said it was only then he fully realized how terrible those circumstances had been. and for a person who was born into those difficult circumstances to today be eulogyized at his funeral by two american presidents is really a remarkable american story. absolutely. and david gergen, i mean, just to jump off of what susan was saying, you worked with several
suicide. his mother does laundry for brothels. and look what he becames. and i want to ask you about what he fought for in the senate, right? he had no healthcare and he was critical in getting obamacare through. talk about his legacy in terms of what he fought for, from where he came from. yeah, and there is no doubt that the passage of obamacare is a part of harry reid s legacy, forevermore. there is no doubt about that. he navigated those 60 senators that then turned into 59 senators but got that bill to president obama s desk. and there is no doubt, he talked about it at the time, that his own experience in search light, nevada, fed his drive to pursue that. you are right to call it an american story. even mitch mcconnell, who did a lot of political battle across the aisle with him. they were not really good friends at all. spoke yesterday after the news of harry reid s death about how quintessentially american reid s story is. yeah. and and and of his legacy,
most of all you ve been a good friend. as different as we are i think we both saw something of ourselves in each other. a couple of outsiders who had defied the odds and knew how to take a punch and cared about the little guy. and you know what? we made for a pretty good team. i think you and i both covered the obama administration and i think when historians talk about obama s successes, they will include how harry reid was instrumental in so many ways. what do you see as his legacy? chris, he is an american original. he grew up from humble origins in tiny search light, nevada and made his way to washington. he had to fight for everything he got. he made his way through law school at george washington university here by working as a u.s. capitol police officer and then of course climbed the ranks in the senate. it was dovetailed with the obama rise. reid became majority leader as
trained in high school under future nevada governor michael callahan who became his political mentor. reid worked nights as a capitol police officer to pay his wait through law school at george washington university. and survived an attempted car bombing by the mob during his tenure as chairman of the nevada gaming commission. make sure you are going to work as hard as you can at trying to do what you want to do. i believe that s a lesson for everyone. a little boy from search light has been able to be part of a changing state of nevada. i m grateful i have been part of that change. within d.c. circles, reid may be best remembered for enacting the nuclear option, the historic set reid and democratic colleagues took in november 2013 to prevent filibustering on presidential nominations. after retiring, reid co-founded a public policy think tank at unlv with former house speaker
know, charismaticly challenged. i couldn t believe that he was running to be in the famed club of 100. but, boy, did he prove me wrong in that campaign and going forward. and as mike barnicle said, his toughness cannot be underestimated. you heard all of the cliches about him being a boxer, growing up in poverty, in searchlight. this is when the cliches really resonate. that s who harry reid really was. this guy who grew up in a place that is almost unimaginable, this tiny spac in a nevada desert, indoor plumbing, with siblings. they barely had any medical care. and his character was forged there. and whether you like him or not, as you know, willie, a lot of people did not like harry reid. he became a polarizing figure. his determination, his grit and the successes that claire