Senator Bob Dole dies: Biden, Romney, McConnell pay tribute

Senator Bob Dole

Senator Bob Dole

Agency Report

Bob Dole, who overcame grievous World War Two combat wounds and served as a longtime Republican senator from Kansas and an unsuccessful 1996 presidential nominee, died on Sunday. He was 98.

Dole, known for a wit that ranged from self-deprecating to caustic, died in his sleep, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation said. Dole announced in February that he had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and would begin treatment. read more

“It is with heavy hearts we announce that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning,” the foundation said in a statement on Twitter.

“He had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years.”

Dole sought the presidency three times and was the Republican Party’s nominee in 1996 but lost to Democratic incumbent Bill Clinton.

Dole was his party’s vice presidential nominee in 1976 on a ticket headed by incumbent President Gerald Ford but they lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter and his running mate Walter Mondale. read more

Dole, known for referring to himself in the third person, made a classic American journey from the poverty of the Great Depression of the 1930s, through World War Two battlefields to the corridors of power with a stoic Midwestern dignity.

He represented Kansas in Congress for 35 years: 1961 to 1969 in the House of Representatives and 1969 to 1996 in the Senate. Dole helped shepherd Republican President Ronald Reagan’s legislative agenda as Senate majority leader in the 1980s and spearheaded important legislation of his own.

Dole, who lost the use of his right arm from a war wound, was an advocate for the disabled and worked to shore up the finances of the Social Security retirement program.

Dole was instrumental in passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public accommodations and transportation.

He also was a key figure behind building a memorial honoring Americans who served in World War Two on Washington’s National Mall, now a popular tourist stop.

President Joe Biden fondly recalled his visit to Dole in February at the Watergate complex in Washington where he lived.

“We picked up right where we left off, as though it were only yesterday that we were sharing a laugh in the Senate dining room or debating the great issues of the day, often against each other, on the Senate floor,” Biden said in a statement.

“Though we often disagreed, he never hesitated to work with me or other Democrats when it mattered most,” Biden said in a statement, a contrast to today’s bitter partisanship that has made it hard for the major parties to cooperate on legislation.

“When I think of the greatest generation, I think of Senator Bob Dole — a man who dedicated his life to serving our country. Rest In Peace, my friend,” Senator Mitt Romney, a former Republican presidential candidate, wrote on Twitter.

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell lauded Dole as “a bona fide American hero.”

“Whatever their politics, anyone who saw Bob Dole in action had to admire his character and his profound patriotism,” McConnell said in a statement.

Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-staff in tribute to Dole, her deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, said on Twitter.

Clinton in 1997 awarded Dole the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour. Dole in 2018 received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honour Congress can bestow.

Robert Joseph Dole was born on July 22, 1923, one of four children of a grain elevator manager and a traveling saleswoman in Russell, Kansas.

As a U.S. Army lieutenant in World War Two, he led an assault on a German machine-gun nest in Italy. A shell wrecked his right shoulder, paralyzed his right arm, broke vertebrae, riddled his body with shrapnel and cost him a kidney. Decorated for heroism, Dole spent 39 months in hospitals before returning to civilian life.

Dole attended law school, unable to write but getting through with the help of his first wife, Phyllis, who transcribed class lectures he recorded. Dole had one daughter, Robin, from his first marriage.

Dole became involved in the 2016 Republican presidential campaign by endorsing Jeb Bush and joining his campaign. After Bush dropped out, Dole endorsed eventual winner Donald Trump.

Former Dole adviser Paul Manafort served as Trump’s campaign chairman.

In 2017, Dole praised Trump for having “immensely helped restore our position as leader of the free world.”

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