Former US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dies at 82

Former US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid died on Tuesday at the age of 82, his wife Landra said.

Reid represented the state of Nevada in the US Congress for more than three decades. He was Nevada's longest-serving member of Congress.

Reid died after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer, his wife said in a statement.

One of the 'all-time great' leaders 

"I've had the honor of serving with some of the all-time great Senate Majority Leaders in our history. Harry Reid was one of them," US president Joe Biden said in a written statement.

"And for Harry, it wasn't about power for power's sake. It was about the power to do right for the people."

Former US President Barack Obama posted a letter he had written to Reid.

"You were a great leader in the Senate, and early on you were more generous to me than I had any right to expect," Obama said.

"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."

'Would rather dance than fight'

Reid was a member of the conservative wing of the Democratic Party but differed from others in the party on topics such as abortion and gun control.

As majority leader, Reid helped secure congressional passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, Obama's health care law colloquially known as "Obamacare."

Reid also regularly clashed with members of the opposing party, the Republicans.

"I always would rather dance than fight but I know how to fight," Reid said in 2004, alluding to his previous career as an amateur boxer.

sdi/fb (AP, AFP, Reuters)