Reed was widely credited for strengthening the Republican Party's influence and eventual dominance in the Southern United States.

[2] He graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Missouri in 1950, and then spent two years in the United States Air Force.

[1] His study of economics was primarily influenced by conservative thinkers such as Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, William F. Buckley Jr. and Milton Friedman.

In 1972, two of the party's congressional candidates, the future senators Thad Cochran and Trent Lott, became the first Mississippi Republicans elected to Congress since Reconstruction.

Reed was instrumental in the nomination of U.S. President Gerald Ford at the 1976 Republican National Convention, held in Kansas City, Missouri.

[1] Then–Chief of Staff Dick Cheney said that Reed was dissatisfied with then-former Governor Ronald Reagan and his running mate pick, U.S.

[2] He was noted for hosting political events and fundraisers for local and state politicians at the Doe's Eat Place in Greenville, Mississippi.

[2] In 2015, he endorsed his first Democratic political candidate, Tom Blanton, for Southern District of the Public Service Commission.