After being defeated in races for the United States Senate and mayor of Las Vegas, Reid served as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977 to 1981.

[11] While at Basic High, he met future Nevada governor Mike O'Callaghan, who was a teacher there and served as Reid's boxing coach.

After FBI agents interrupted the transaction, as prearranged, Reid lost his temper and attempted to choke Gordon, saying "You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!"

Reid presided over the 1979 hearing that refused to issue a gaming license to casino operator Frank Rosenthal because of his ties to organized crime groups such as the Chicago Outfit and particularly his close personal association with mobster Anthony Spilotro.

[20] Reid was instrumental in the establishment of Great Basin National Park, sponsoring the bill creating it in 1986 and ensuring the protection of Wheeler Peak and groves of bristlecone pine.

[21] In 1986, Reid won the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring two-term incumbent Republican Senator Paul Laxalt.

Reid defeated former at-large U.S. Representative Jim Santini, a Democrat who had turned Republican, in the November election.

The two frequently worked together on Nevada issues until Ensign resigned his Senate seat in 2011 due to an ethics scandal.

He was the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee in from January to June 2001 (succeeding Max Baucus) before relinquishing the position to allow Jim Jeffords to switch parties and become chair, having given Democrats the majority.

[31] Liberal critics argued that Reid allowed Senate Republicans to create a 60-vote bar for passage of bills without a Democratic filibuster.

[32][33][34] Conservatives criticized Reid for his extensive use of the procedural tactic known as "Filling the tree" to prevent amendments on important bills.

[35] In 2007, while he was the Senate Majority Leader, Reid initiated the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program to study unidentified flying objects[36][37] at the urging of Reid's friend, Nevada billionaire and governmental contractor Robert Bigelow,[38] and with support from the late senators Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

[42] When interviewed in the aftermath of publicity surrounding the AATIP, Reid expressed pride in his accomplishment, and was quoted as saying "I think it's one of the good things I did in my congressional service.

"[41] A 2009 letter by Reid was published by KLAS-TV investigative journalists George Knapp and Matt Adams, where the Senator states that AATIP has made "much progress" with the "identification of several highly sensitive, unconventional aerospace-related findings" that will "likely lead to technology advancements" and recommends the creation of a special access program for specific parts of AATIP.

In 2005, Reid earmarked a spending bill to provide for building a bridge between Nevada and Arizona that would make land he owned more valuable.

[57][58] Whittemore served a two-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2013 of funneling $133,400 in illegal contributions to Reid's reelection campaign.

[68] Reid was initially a centrist Democrat, and he held anti-abortion views and supported gun rights and opposed illegal immigration.

[80] In regard to local issues, Reid firmly opposed construction of the proposed Yucca Mountain federal nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

[81] Reid initially opposed the legalization of online poker, but in 2010 it was reported his position had evolved – a move some argued was influenced by "the hundreds of thousands of dollars Las Vegas casinos contributed to his re-election campaign".

[93] On May 15, 2013, Reid revealed to reporters that his niece is a lesbian as he spoke about his hope that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would be signed into law.

"[100] During the summer of 2012, Reid said in an interview with The Huffington Post that he had received information from an unidentified investor in Bain Capital that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney did not pay any taxes for 10 years.

[105] CBS reported that Romney had submitted 23 years of tax returns to the John McCain campaign in 2008, when he was being vetted for the vice-presidential nomination.

The following year, Reid called the attack "one of the best things I've ever done," while reiterating that Romney had not released his tax returns.

"[107][108] Part of Reid's confrontation with Frank Rosenthal while chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission is reenacted in the 1995 movie Casino.

[110] He appeared, with Senators Sam Brownback and Barack Obama, in the 2007 documentary film Sand and Sorrow, which details the genocide in Sudan.

[113][114][115][116] A veteran of the Reid political machine, Megan K. Jones, has gone on to be a senior advisor to vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

[122] Reid (who was raised agnostic) and his wife (who was born to Jewish immigrant parents and grew up in Henderson) converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while he was a college student.

[124][125] Several Republican Mormons in Utah contested his faith because of his politics, such as his statements that the church's backing of California's Proposition 8 wasted resources.

[129] On January 26, 2015, he underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from his right eye and repair facial bones.

[133] In a January 2019 interview with The New York Times, it was revealed that he was confined to a desk at his home and was unable to move without the aid of a walker.