Today, Dole has a friendly relationship with his former Senate colleague, now President Joe Biden, who paid a call after hearing news of Dole’s cancer. Braver asked Bob, “Senator, some people were surprised that you supported President Trump’s re-election, given how different your tone and your approach to life is.” Dole was a mainstream Republican, advocating for lower taxes and smaller government, but he worked with Democrats on issues like saving Social Security, and supporting civil and disability rights. In fact, both Doles always prided themselves on working across the aisle, something that is rare these days. He is known for pushing to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday, the Americans with Disabilities Act and “Megan’s Law,” which protects children from convicted sex offenders. Dole served in World War II and was sent to boot camp in Texas in June 1943.
He spent 40 days at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; upon his release, his stronger left arm was of limited use. Dole told a reporter that he needed help to handle the simplest of tasks, since both of his arms were of limited use. He continued to go to Walter Reed several times a week for occupational therapy for his left shoulder. He later spoke before Congress and on public service announcements about early detection of the disease and the erectile dysfunction that resulted from his surgery. He also starred in a parody of his Viagra commercials for “the little blue can” of Pepsi. Firm Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, where he was a registered lobbyist on behalf of foreign governments ; the American Society of Anesthesiologists; Tyco; and the Chocolate Industry Coalition.
She earned a degree in political science from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, in 1958 and a master’s and a law degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1960 and 1965, respectively. Upon finishing her education, she moved to Washington, D.C., to work in national politics. “To those who believe that I am too combative, I say if I am combative, it is for love of country,” Dole said in his speech accepting his party’s 1996 presidential nomination. “… And to those who believe that I live and breathe compromise, I say that in politics honorable compromise is no sin. It is what protects us from absolutism and intolerance.” In June of 1996, Dole resigned from the Senate to devote his time to a third run for the presidency.
He sought his party’s presidential nomination in 1980 and 1988 and was the 1976 GOP vice presidential candidate on the losing ticket with President Gerald Ford. 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 sza face surgery headed by incumbent President Gerald Ford but they lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter and his running mate Walter Mondale. President Gerald Ford and Dole wave to the crowd on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, on Aug. 19, 1976. Ford selected Dole to be his vice presidential running mate in the election that year.
By January 1996, Dole was more open to compromise to end the shutdown , but he was opposed by other Republicans who wanted to continue until their demands were met. In particular, Gingrich and Dole had a tense working relationship as they were potential rivals for the 1996 Republican nomination. Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos cited the shutdown as having a role in Clinton’s successful re-election campaign. In a January 3, 1996, Briefing Room address, amid the ongoing United States federal government shutdowns of 1995–1996, President Clinton noted Dole as a lawmaker that was “working together in good faith” to reopen the government. Dole remained active after retiring from public office.
Long gone from Kansas, Dole made his life in the capital, at the center of power and then in its shadow upon his retirement, living all the while at the storied Watergate complex. When he left politics and joined a law firm staffed by prominent Democrats, he joked that he brought his dog to work so he would have another Republican to talk to. Representative Bob Dole supported civil rights legislation. Dole voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, earning him two votes that were not popular with many Republicans at the time. In 1992, Dole won a fifth term representing Kansas in the Senate. It was also the year that President Bush lost reelection to Bill Clinton.
Though they lost the election, it whetted Dole’s appetite and he later mounted his own campaign for president. Former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas served as a congressman and then senator from 1961 to 1996. A veteran of World War II, he was seriously injured in combat and suffered life-long paralysis in his right arm and hand.
The building was finished in 2003, and the dedication was on Dole’s 80th birthday, July 22. His quick wit and self-deprecating sense of humor made him a popular guest with late-night talk show hosts like Jay Leno and David Letterman and a frequent guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Larry King Live. He also made appearances on Saturday Night Live and sitcoms. Dole was so well known by that time, he decided to try for the presidency for the third time. There were other Republican contenders, but Dole prevailed and won the GOP nomination. Instead, Dole ran for reelection to the Senate and won.
“Bob was a man to be admired by Americans. He had an unerring sense of integrity and honor. May God bless him, and may our nation draw upon his legacy of decency, dignity, good humor, and patriotism for all time.” He met his second wife, Elizabeth Dole, while she was working for the Nixon White House. She also served on the Federal Trade Commission and as transportation secretary and labor secretary while Dole was in the Senate.
