Their names burnished in modern American politics for more than three decades, it may be hard for some to remember when U.S. Senate icons Harry Reid and John McCain were just freshmen House members without a sliver of seniority.

Long before they rose to national political prominence, they first shook hands after winning seats in Congress in the 1982 election. The Arizona Republican and Nevada Democrat appeared to have little in common politically and sparred often in the ensuing years, but the endless give and take served to strengthen the bonds of their friendship.

Now McCain is dying. It’s no secret. Glioblastoma returns. True to that celebrated maverick spirit, McCain’s just finished a new memoir, “The Restless Wave” even as he’s been planning his own funeral. He made headlines this month when he said President Donald Trump wouldn’t be welcome at his service. McCain may be headed out of life’s bloodied ring, but he can still land a stinging shot. And he raised his voice again in a measured call for the Senate to reject the nomination of Gina Haspel as CIA director because of “her refusal to acknowledge torture’s immorality.” Despite his weakened condition, McCain has been excoriated by Trump’s eager acolytes.

The bloodying of the blowhard bully president’s nose must have tickled Reid, but come as no surprise. It’s something his friend McCain would do, Reid said in an interview this past week.

Although McCain is known for his searing temper, Reid said, he didn’t stay hot for long. Reid’s political mentor, the late Nevada Gov. Mike O’Callaghan was much the same way.

“I’ve known him for all those many years, and we’ve had our share of confrontations,” Reid recalled. “He’s got a temper like O’Callaghan’s, and it lasts about the same amount of time as O’Callaghan’s -- not very long.”

There were no arguments when the two teamed up to push through the naming of a triumphant concrete bridge that would span the Colorado River near Hoover Dam after O’Callaghan and former NFL star turned U.S. Army infantryman Pat Tillman. Reid was a member of Democrats’ leadership, but that status came with a lightning rod and “I know that it could receive some criticism, especially in the House.”

Working together with McCain, the deal took about five minutes. “There were no telephone calls, I just walked over to him,” Reid said. “I knew O’Callaghan’s name would be protected.” And Reid’s late mentor, he noted, retained top billing.

Fight fans and political junkies have occasionally noticed Reid and McCain at championship prize fights in Las Vegas. They share a passion for the sport and an apparent affinity for those willing to enter the ring for high stakes.

“We both love boxing and we were both boxing wanna-be’s,” Reid said. “We relished in the fact that, like Marlon Brando said, ‘I could have been a contender.’”

It became clear in the interview that, to Reid, no one surpasses McCain when it comes to sheer tenacity. From his well-documented years as a prisoner of war during Vietnam to his latest battle with terminal brain cancer, McCain just keeps coming.

“I don’t think any of us can appreciate what he went through in Vietnam,” Reid said. “I can’t understand it. The pain and suffering and torture he withstood. I don’t know how he did it. But he did.”

After his diagnosis, McCain made a brief recovery and left welts on Trump, who had once foolishly derided the former Navy fighter pilot’s undeniable status as a war hero, by casting a crucial vote in July 2017 against the Republican “skinny repeal” of the Affordable Care Act.

He was often a critic of President Barack Obama, but also recognized that the goal of making health care available would be buried by a repeal. Some have criticized McCain’s shifting stances on positions over the years, but Reid said it’s unreasonable to imagine a person -- even a senator -- not evolving through the years.

“That’s one reason I’ve always liked him,” Reid said. “He’s not a person so set in his ways who can’t change and do anything different. He’s a person who has, over the years, changed his opinion on a number of things. I think a lot of that is maturity. I didn’t like some of the changes, but I understand it.”

Reid, who has had his share of medical challenges in recent years, also appreciates the tug of the passage of time on a person’s spirit. McCain, once again, has provided inspiration.

“We’ve had some wonderful conversations since he got sick,” Reid said. “He’s such a good person, and I admire him very much. We’ve had so many good times together. One of the bonds we have is, we don’t always agree with each other, but we admire each other for who we are, and who we are not."

“I frankly have enjoyed him so very, very much these last few years. He is his old self again.”

Reid took jabs at his adversaries across the aisle on an almost daily basis, but there was no fist in his glove for his friend from Arizona.

“John McCain was never part of my criticism,” he said. “He never kowtowed to anybody, including President Trump. John McCain never was a bootlicker.”

John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at [email protected] On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith