Former US Senate leader Harry Reid dies at 82

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on July 27, 2016 US Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and his wife, Landra, leave the stage on Day Three of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. – Harry Reid, former Senate majority leader died, he was 82 years old. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP)

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Former US Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada who rose from humble beginnings to lead the upper chamber during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, has died at the age of 82, officials said Tuesday.

Reid, who used his experience in Congress to help Obama steer his landmark Affordable Care Act through the Senate, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 1, 2013 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R) and others cheer for Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (C) during an event on Capitol Hill in Washington. – Harry Reid, former Senate majority leader died, he was 82 years old. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Laconic and soft-spoken, Reid was born and raised in the mining town of Searchlight, Nevada on December 2, 1939, in a house with no hot water or indoor toilets.

Despite his hardscrabble upbringing, he was elected to the Senate in 1986 and became the upper chamber’s Democratic leader in the 2004 elections.

© Agence France-Presse