Bryan, Richard Hudson (1937-…), was a member of the United States Senate from 1989 to 2001. Bryan, a Democrat, represented Nevada. He served as governor of Nevada from 1983 until 1989, when he resigned to take his Senate seat.
In the Senate, Bryan served on several committees, including Finance; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; and Democratic Steering. He became the ranking Democrat on the Senate’s Financial Institutions and Regulatory Relief Subcommittee. Bryan also worked on legislation concerning energy issues.
Bryan was born in Washington, D.C. He later moved to Nevada and graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1955. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada at Reno in 1959. Bryan served in the U.S. Army in 1959 and 1960 and afterward in the U.S. Army Reserves.
In 1963, Bryan received a law degree from the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law. He was deputy district attorney for Clark County, Nevada, from 1964 to 1966. He worked as a public defender from 1966 to 1968 and as a lawyer for juvenile court in 1968 and 1969.
Bryan served in the Nevada State Assembly from 1969 to 1973 and in the state Senate from 1973 to 1979. He was Nevada attorney general from 1979 to 1983. Bryan was elected governor in 1982 and reelected in 1986. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988 and took office in 1989. He won reelection in 1994. Bryan did not run for reelection in 2000 and retired from the Senate when his second term ended in 2001.
