How Harry Reid was shaped

WASHINGTON — "I am not a pacifist," Sen. Harry Reid wrote as the opening sentence in his memoir. It is not a surprising comment to people who have followed his long career.

Students of the Senate majority leader were further enlightened on what makes the man tick at a forum today where Reid talked about how he was shaped by his hardscrabble youth in Searchlight.

At a breakfast organized by the National Journal, Reid, who is not often publicly reflective, agreed to be probed by journalist Ron Brownstein.

In one segment of their conversation, Brownstein delved into Reid's autobiography (which by the way comes out in paperback next week), and Reid's description of his father. Harry Reid was a struggling miner who, his son wrote, "understood physical strength."

"That was the world I was raised in," Reid wrote. His father "judged people by what they could do physically and he taught me to do the same." Reid was a brawling youth who channeled his energy into boxing and later into the law and politics, arenas of confrontation by less physical means.

Does that lesson still apply to how you practice politics? Brownstein asked. Does strength still impress you?

In a word, yes.

"I still think of myself as being that same tough guy I was many years ago and I think it is helpful," Reid said. "I was never afraid of anybody physically. Even though I know there are a lot of people smarter than I am, I am not really afraid of anybody intellectually. I think it has had a bearing on what I do."

Reid said he respects senators who take tough votes, for instance, and insisted he has no use for polls.

And Reid noted that one of his earliest memories of Mike O'Callaghan, the man who ended up playing a big role in his life, was when O'Callaghan as a new teacher in Reid's high school clobbered the school bully. O'Callaghan, who later became Nevada governor, was Reid's mentor and, Reid said, taught him to look out for the little guy.

"He set a tremendous example," Reid said of O'Callaghan, who died in 2004. "I learned a lot from him."