I’ve mentioned, on several occasions, how much I like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. On a variety of issues, he and I are not exactly on the same page, but when it comes to an aggressive, feisty attitude, Reid is my kind of guy.
There’s a terrific profile on Reid in the current issue of the New Yorker, highlighting Reid’s ability to keep Senate Dems together — and considering Dems’ usual tendencies, that’s no small feat.
But what really comes through in this profile is Reid’s inclination to scuffle with those who take him on. So many political leaders avoid confrontation; Reid seems to have an incorrigible willingness to hit his opponents in the mouth, sometimes literally.
As George W. Bush has learned, Harry Reid does not ignore slights…. When I asked what got him interested in politics, he had a one-word reply: “Rudeness.” He explained that not long after he returned to Henderson to practice law, a client, a doctor, had asked him to accompany him to an administrative hearing at a hospital. “As we walked in, the chairman of the board of trustees said, ‘We don’t need lawyers here. We do what we want to do,’ ” Reid recalled. “It was just so rude. I wasn’t there to say anything. I was there just to watch. As a result of how rude he was, I decided to run for the hospital board.” He was elected in 1966, and not long afterward, he said, “we got him” — the administrator — “fired.”
In 1968, Reid ran for the state assembly. After his election he set the Nevada record for introducing the most bills in a session. In 1970, barely thirty, Reid was elected lieutenant governor. After an unsuccessful run for the Senate in 1976, he was appointed to chair the Nevada Gaming Commission. In Nevada, at the time, that meant dealing with organized crime.
Reid handled it unusually well.
There had been a decrease in Mob activity, but organized crime was again investing in Las Vegas, and for four years Reid confronted wiseguys like Tony (the Ant) Spilotro, who had been sent to Las Vegas by a Chicago branch of La Cosa Nostra, “the Outfit,” and was known for killing his victims by squeezing their heads in a vise. In 1979, Reid barred Spilotro from all casinos.
In July of 1978, a man named Jack Gordon, who was later married to LaToya Jackson, offered Reid twelve thousand dollars to approve two new, carnival-like gaming devices for casino use. Reid reported the attempted bribe to the F.B.I. and arranged a meeting with Gordon in his office. By agreement, F.B.I. agents burst in to arrest Gordon at the point where Reid asked, “Is this the money?” Although he was taking part in a sting, Reid was unable to control his temper; the videotape shows him getting up from his chair and saying, “You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!” and attempting to choke Gordon, before startled agents pulled him off. (emphasis added)
Maybe it’s just me, but I think Congress should have more lawmakers who try to strangle those who offer bribes and fewer lawmakers who accept bribes and offer them to other lawmakers.