Elizabeth Warren was a professor at Harvard Law School, preparing barbecue and peach cobbler for a group of students expected at her home. The phone rang.

The owner of the faint voice on the other end of the line was well known, but they had never met. "Who?" Warren asked.

"Harry Reid," he replied. "Majority leader, U.S. Senate."

That was November 2008, when the economy was imploding, and Reid was offering her a spot on a new commission overseeing the Wall Street bailout Congress had just approved, NBC News reports. Would she take it? he asked.

Warren said yes right away and so began "When Harry met Liz," a political saga that continues to this day.

Reid's call set in motion a series of events that would lead to her inspiring the creation of a new federal agency, election to the Senate and an eventual run for the presidency, rising to the top of the Democratic field — with Reid as a powerful champion at key points along the way.

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