Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who rose from poverty in rural Nevada to the heights of Democratic politics, has died at the age of 82.

“I am heartbroken to announce the passing of my husband, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He died peacefully this afternoon, surrounded by our family, following a courageous, four-year battle with pancreatic cancer,” Reid’s wife, Landra Reid, said in a statement Tuesday.

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