Obama Shares Last Letter He Sent to Harry Reid: ‘I Wouldn’t Have Been President’ Without You
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Former President Barack Obama mourned the death of Harry Reid by releasing a letter he wrote to the former Nevada senator in his last days.
News of Reid’s death broke on Tuesday night after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. Reid was widely regarded as one of the most influential politicians among the Democrats, due to his senate career spanning 3 decades, plus the role he played in passing major pieces of legislation during the Obama years, including the Affordable Care Act.
Obama released his last letter to Reid on Instagram, saying that his wife, Landra Reid, was asking him and others to write letters that she could read to her husband. The former president decided to share the letter in lieu of a statement on Reid’s death, where he reflected on their friendship, their political partnership, and he credited Reid for his rise to the White House.
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.
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Flags at the Capitol are being lowered to half staff in Reid’s honor as other political figures are mourning his loss. Reid’s death broke on the same day that the world learned about the death of NFL broadcaster John Madden.
