Obama reveals the emotional message he sent to Harry Reid in the last days of his life
28 December 2021
As news broke Tuesday night that the former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had died at age 82, many people who knew him began sharing their remembrances of the Nevada lawmaker.
Former President Barack Obama posted a notable message on Twitter to commemorate his ally, which included a personal letter he had recently written to Reid.
"When Harry Reid was nearing the end, his wife Landra asked some of us to share letters that she could read to him," Obama explained. "In lieu of a statement, here’s what I wrote to my friend."
The letter expressed his loved and admiration for the former majority leader, and it credited Reid with being pivotal to most of the accomplishments of the Obama presidency.
Here it is in full:
Harry,
I got the news that the health situation has taken a rough turn, and that it’s hard to talk on the phone. Which, let’s face it, is not that big of a change cause you never liked to talk on the phone anyway!
Here’s what I want you to know. You were a great leader in the Senate, and early on you were more generous to me than I had any right to expect. I wouldn’t have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support, and I wouldn’t have got most of what I got done without your skill and determination.
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.
Enjoy your family, and know you are loved by a lot of people, including me. The world is better cause of what you’ve done. Not bad for a skinny, poor kid from Searchlight.
Barack
Reid had written in his memoir that he encouraged Obama to run for president early on, even though he was still quite new to the Senate.
"If you want to be president, you can be president now," Reid said he told Obama.