Rafael Edward Cruz (; generally known as Ted Cruz, born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States...
Rafael Edward Cruz (; generally known as Ted Cruz, born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator for Texas since 2013.
After graduating from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Cruz pursued a career in government. He worked as a policy advisor in the George W. Bush administration before serving as Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to 2008. In 2012, Cruz was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first Hispanic American to serve as a U.S. senator from Texas. In the Senate, Cruz has taken consistently conservative positions on economic and social policy; he played a leading role in the 2013 United States federal government shutdown, seeking to force Congress and President Barack Obama to defund the Affordable Care Act. He was reelected to the Senate in 2018.
In 2016, Cruz ran for president of the United States, placing second behind Donald Trump in the Republican primary. The competition for the Republican presidential nomination between Trump and Cruz was deeply acrimonious and characterized by a series of public personal attacks. Trump ridiculed the physical appearance of Cruz's wife, and falsely accused Cruz's father of murdering John F. Kennedy; Cruz vilified Trump, calling him a pathological liar and morally unfit for the presidency. Despite this, Cruz became a staunch Trump supporter during his presidency.
In January 2021, Cruz provoked a widespread political and popular backlash after filing objections to the certification of Joe Biden's victory over then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election; he was criticized for giving credence to the baseless conspiracy theory that the election was fraudulent. On the day the electoral votes were tallied and Cruz filed his objections, Trump supporters motivated by the belief that the election was stolen stormed the United States Capitol. Because Cruz helped popularize and legitimize the conspiracy theory that motivated the rioters, many figures from across the political spectrum argued that he bore a degree of responsibility for the riot and the five deaths it caused, and called for his resignation or expulsion from the Senate.
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Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid (; born December 2, 1939) is a retired American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from Nevada from 1987 t...
Harry Mason Reid (; born December 2, 1939) is a retired American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate's Democratic Conference from 2005 to 2017 and was the Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015.
Reid began his public career as the city attorney for Henderson, Nevada before winning election to the Nevada Assembly in 1968. Reid's former boxing coach, Mike O'Callaghan, chose Reid as his running mate in the 1970 Nevada gubernatorial election, and Reid served as Lieutenant Governor of Nevada from 1971 to 1975. After being defeated in races for the United States Senate and for the office of mayor of Las Vegas, Reid served as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977 to 1981. From 1983 to 1987, Reid represented Nevada's 1st district in the United States House of Representatives.
Reid won election to the United States Senate in 1986 and served in the Senate from 1987 to 2017. He served as the Senate Democratic Whip from 1999 to 2005 before succeeding Tom Daschle as Senate Minority Leader. The Democrats won control of the Senate after the 2006 United States Senate elections, and Reid became the Senate Majority Leader in 2007. He held that position for the final two years of George W. Bush's presidency and for the first six years of Barack Obama's presidency. As Majority Leader, Reid helped pass major legislation, such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Act, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Republicans took control of the Senate following the 2014 United States Senate elections, and Reid served as Senate Minority Leader from 2015 until his retirement in 2017.
Reid was succeeded as the Senate Democratic leader by Chuck Schumer, whose leadership bid had been endorsed by Reid. Along with Alben W. Barkley and Mike Mansfield, Reid is one of only three senators to have served at least eight years as majority leader.
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