Harry Lane was born in 1855 in Corvallis, Oregon; his grandfather was Oregon territorial governor and U.S. senator Joseph Lane. He graduated from Willamette University Medical School in Salem, Oregon. After studying further in New York and in Europe, Lane established a medical practice in San Francisco, California, and then in Portland, Oregon. He was a member of the Oregon State Medical Society, director of the Oregon State Insane Asylum (later Oregon State Hospital) from 1887 to 1891, and served on the Oregon state board of health from 1903 to 1906.

Lane married Lola Bailey in 1882; the couple had two daughters and adopted a third daughter.

In 1905, Lane was elected mayor of Portland, and was reelected in 1907. As mayor, he supported public health measures, regulation of railroads and public utilities, and effective city planning and services. He also called for the creation of the Portland Rose Festival. Lane supported women's suffrage, and appointed Esther Pohl Lovejoy as Portland's city health officer, and Lola G. Baldwin as the first policewoman in the United States.

In 1912, Lane was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat. As a senator, Lane supported government control of utilities and the breakup of monopolies. In 1917, he was one of six senators who opposed the United States' entry into World War I. This, along with his earlier opposition to a bill to arm U.S. merchant vessels, spurred harsh criticism and led to calls that he either resign or be recalled from office. Lane's health worsened, and he died on May 23, 1917, while recuperating in San Francisco.

Sources: "Harry Lane (1855-1917)," by Kimberly Jensen, Oregon Encyclopedia, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/lane_harry_1855_1917_/#.Y2K9yXbMIuU; articles in the Oregonian and Oregon Journal, March-May 1917.

In February 1917, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to authorize an expenditure of $100 million to furnish guns and gunners to U.S. merchant vessels, so they could defend themselves against attacks from German submarines. The bill was known as the armed neutrality bill or the armed ships bill. In early March 1917, Senator Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin filibustered against the bill, and 11 additional senators, including Harry Lane of Oregon, voiced opposition to the bill. Although most senators favored the measure, the bill never came to a vote, and died with the ending of the 64th United States Congress on March 4, 1917. Wilson denounced this outcome and demanded that the Senate adopt a cloture rule. On March 8, 1917, a special session of the 65th Congress adopted a cloture rule that required a two-thirds majority to end debate.

In the aftermath of the bill's failure, Harry Lane was accused of supporting LaFollette's filibuster, and people in Oregon wrote multiple petitions for his resignation. In response, Lane issued a statement that was printed in the March 21, 1917 issue of the Oregonian newspaper.

Sources: Articles in the Oregonian, February-March 1917; "Cloture Rule," United States Senate website, https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/filibusters-cloture/senate-adopts-cloture-rule.htm.