Harry Reid reflects on his career in the U.S. Senate, focusing on his service as senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015, and involvement with the legislative initiatives of the Obama administration. Reid narrates the key political and policy events of the period from the perspective of the Senate's democratic caucus, including the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street R eform and Consumer Protection Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the Affordable Care Act. Reid was responsible for building support for these initiatives in the Senate, and he provides details about the negotiations that led to select voting coalitions. Reid also characterizes his relationships with Speakers of the House Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner, and with President Obama and White House staff. Also discussed are the process that led to Arlen Specter's joining the Democratic Caucus, the Democratic Party's focus on advertising at the expense of grassroots organizing, and the Senate politics surrounding notable foreign policy initiatives, including the Iran Nuclear Deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), the U.S. response to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), the closure of the Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp, and the publication of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's "torture report" (Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program)
Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009; Presidents--United States; Reid, Harry, 1939-2021; Obama, Barack; Pelosi, Nancy, 1940-; Boehner, John, 1949-; Specter, Arlen; IS (Organization); Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp Military base closures; United States. Congress; United States; Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008; Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action; Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2020
Physical Description
57 pages
Note (Biographical)
Senator Harry Reid served as U.S. senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017, and as senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015. Reid started his career in public service as city attorney in Henderson, Nevada before being elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 1968. He was then elected as lieutenant governor of Nevada, which he served in from 1971 to 1974. From 1977 to 1981, he was chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. In 1982, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Nevada's first district. Reid passed away in December 2021
Note
Interviewed by Nicole R. Hemmer on November 24 and December 1, 2020. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Harry Reid, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2022