Former Senator Richard Bryan remembers McDonald, who helped advance the careers of many notable Nevada politicians.
In November, Nevadans voted in a significant election and lost one of their favorite sons. Bob McDonald died at the age of eighty-eight. He co-founded one of the state's leading law firms, McDonald Carano Wilson. But there was a lot more to his story.
This World War II fighter pilot, casino owner and attorney was friend to both democrats and republicans alike. Even though passionate about democratic politics, he was instrumental in the political careers of many notable Nevadans governors, both democrat and republican, since World War II.
McDonald already came from a family with strong influence on state politics, with his father, Joseph McDonald serving as the editor of the Nevada State Journal and Reno Evening Gazette and a close friend and ally of Senator Pat McCarran. With a history of the McDonald family helping Nevada become what it is today, Bob McDonald lived up to his name.