
Harry Reid took a risk on Barack Obama
CNN
David Axelrod recalls the moment Harry Reid, along with Chuck Schumer, met with Barack Obama in the spring of 2006 and tried to persuade him to run for president. Obama recognized Reid was bucking the party establishment by planting the seeds of an insurgency -- and he decided this unexpected twist begged serious consideration.
"I just had the strangest conversation with Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer," he told me, fresh from a meeting with the US Senate Democratic leaders. "I didn't know why they were calling me over there. Turns out they wanted to tell me I should run for president."

One year ago this week, Joe Biden was president. I was in Doha, Qatar, negotiating with Israel and Hamas to finalize a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The incoming Trump team worked closely with us, a rare display of nonpartisanship to free hostages and end a war. It feels like a decade ago. A lot can happen in a year, as 2025 has shown.












