Most people know Harry Reid as the quiet Democrat in charge of the Senate. Some consider him boring, but they couldn't be more wrong.
The Harry Reid story is a long one. He's had a remarkable career on his way from miner's son to Senate Majority Leader.
The Senate Majority leader emerged as a liberal favorite during the 2012 campaign with his dogged attacks on Mitt Romney. Now, as Congress tackles the fiscal cliff, Reid is once again at the center of the national political landscape.
Here's a look at the career that made Reid one of the most important — and fascinating — people in Washington.
Reid had a very interesting childhood.
Reid was born in the small town of Searchlight, Nev., to Harry and Inez Reid. His father was a hard rock miner. His mother did laundry for the 13 brothels in town. Harry learned to swim in the pool at a bordello.
Searchlight didn't have a high school at that time, so Reid boarded in Henderson, Nev., to go to school.
As an adolescent, Reid was a feisty, amateur boxer.
"I was raised where you settled your differences physically,"he told the Las Vegas Review Journal. "I still have a little of that in me and I'm fighting that all the time. I don't want to be mean to people."
Source: Huffington Post, Congressional Biographical Directory
In college, Reid eloped with his high school sweetheart.
Reid became familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when he was in high school in Henderson.
He went on to attend Utah State University. After his sophomore year, he eloped with his wife Landra, his high school sweetheart, because her Jewish parents did not want her to marry someone outside the faith. They were married in a Mormon chapel, and by the time Reid graduated, both he and his wife had been baptized as Latter-day Saints.
The couple moved to Washington, and Reid worked his way through George Washington University Law School by working nights as a Capitol Police Officer.
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Reid was the youngest lieutenant governor in Nevada history.
Reid was elected to the Nevada State Assembly at age 28 in 1968, and at age 30 was elected the youngest lieutenant governor in Nevada history.
After serving as Lieutenant Governor, Reid took time off to practice law in the state.
Source: Congressional Biographical Directory
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