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The Game Changer: How Harry Reid Remade the Rules and Showed Democrats How to Fight
How did the son of a laundress for local brothels end up one of America’s most powerful politicians and the Senate’s most bare-knuckled Democrat? Political journalist Jon Ralston gives us the first full biography of Harry Reid, the five-time Senator from Nevada whose ruthlessness and tenacity produced the most groundbreaking legislation of the late 20th century, and who also invented the tactics that would keep his Democratic Party in control. For that, he inspired loyalty and derision, admiration and disdain. But his legacy of change speaks for itself.
Born in tiny Searchlight, Nevada, Harry Reid rose from a childhood in a ramshackle home in the middle of nowhere to become the Democratic leader who ensured Obamacare became law, that the nation’s banks played by the rules, and who helped rescue the American economy by pushing through a stimulus bill.
His political instincts were forged in the take-no-prisoners culture of Nevada where he was once investigated by the FBI for his ties to the mob. He persuaded a Republican senator to switch parties to gain partisan control, and he changed the Senate filibuster rules to save President Obama’s lower court nominees. That maneuver later helped Republicans to cement the appointments of three Supreme Court justices. Reid also became a formidable force in Nevada, building a political machine that turned a red state blue and left an unmatched legacy on infrastructure and the environment—including squelching a planned nuclear waste dump.
In The Game Changer, Ralston shows the endurance of his accomplishments, but also his role in the enduring dysfunction of what was once called the world’s greatest deliberative body. It is a complicated portrait of a man who would not be denied.
Born in tiny Searchlight, Nevada, Harry Reid rose from a childhood in a ramshackle home in the middle of nowhere to become the Democratic leader who ensured Obamacare became law, that the nation’s banks played by the rules, and who helped rescue the American economy by pushing through a stimulus bill.
His political instincts were forged in the take-no-prisoners culture of Nevada where he was once investigated by the FBI for his ties to the mob. He persuaded a Republican senator to switch parties to gain partisan control, and he changed the Senate filibuster rules to save President Obama’s lower court nominees. That maneuver later helped Republicans to cement the appointments of three Supreme Court justices. Reid also became a formidable force in Nevada, building a political machine that turned a red state blue and left an unmatched legacy on infrastructure and the environment—including squelching a planned nuclear waste dump.
In The Game Changer, Ralston shows the endurance of his accomplishments, but also his role in the enduring dysfunction of what was once called the world’s greatest deliberative body. It is a complicated portrait of a man who would not be denied.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 28, 2026
As good as it gets. A masterpiece of Senator Reid’s life and a masterclass on his political rise. I learned a lot about what influenced his methods and values. Bravo!
February 7, 2026
A wonderful bio of a humble, contrarian, "tough son of a bitch." You might not agree with Harry Reid, but you had to admire him. Well told by Jon Ralston.
January 23, 2026
I pre-ordered this book because I am a fan of Jon Ralston and have followed his election coverage in particular in the last several elections. So, when I heard Nevada's premier political journalist wrote a book about Nevada's most prominent and influential politician, I was intrigued. Fortunately I was not let down, The Game Changer is a very engaging read, and having read many political memoirs, Harry Reid had a life more interesting than many of his politcal contemporaries. Nevada politics is a different beast than most places and Jon takes us on a journey through many of Nevada's most interesting political battles through the lense of one of its most intriguing figures. I did not know nearly as much as I thought I did about the man from Searchlight, and I am glad Jon has provided the world with such a thorough and candid biography.
February 3, 2026
Jon Ralston captures the essence of Harry Reid and his rise to power with honesty and candor. He fleshes out many myths, separates fact from fiction, and provides an accurate account of a paradoxical character. His chapter on Reid’s passage of the Affordable Care Act is told with the same deftness that Caro employs in his telling of Johnson’s passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in The Passage of Power, conveying all of the emotion and passion behind the antiseptic passage of a law. Ralston’s chapter on Reid’s final years- particularly his tribute to Landra on the floor of the US Senate- is a beautiful piece of writing, packing emotion without being cloying or sentimental.
February 6, 2026
A well-researched biography, recounting, warts and all, the life of the "master of the Senate," the "LBJ without the profanity." A book that very much needed writing
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews