Bob Dole

Bob Dole Click to enlarge

• Born: 22 July 1923
• Birthplace: Russell, Kansas
• Best Known As: 1996 Presidential candidate and Viagra spokesman

While serving in World War II as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Bob Dole was seriously injured and not expected to survive. Although he recovered, Dole was partially paralyzed and left without the use of his right arm. He went to law school and then entered politics as a Republican. Dole served as a congressman beginning in 1961 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968; in 1976 he was President Gerald Ford's running mate in Ford's unsuccessful run against Jimmy Carter. During the 1980s Dole was a high-profile American politician, the senate's majority leader and a well-known presidential aspirant. He finally won the GOP nomination in 1996 and resigned his senate seat to run for president against Democrat Bill Clinton. After his unsuccessful bid, Dole became a prominent spokesman for Viagra and Pepsi Cola.

Dole is married to Elizabeth Dole, a Republican who ran for president in 2000 and served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina from 2003-2009 (she was elected to fill the seat of retiring senator Jesse Helms).

For more information on Bob Dole, visit Britannica.com.

(b. Russell, Kansas, 22 July 1923) US; US Senator 1966 –  , Senate majority leader 1985 – 6, 1995 –  , Republican presidential candidate 1996 In the Second World War Dole served in Italy, where he was wounded, leaving him with permanent injuries including a withered arm. After the war, he attended the University of Kansas and Washburn University. He served in the Kansas House of Representatives 1951 – 3, and was County Attorney for Russell County, Kansas, 1953 – 9. He was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1960 and served four terms. In 1968 he was elected to the Senate and was re-elected in 1974, 1978, 1986, and 1992. In 1976 he was selected by President Ford as the vice-presidential candidate of the Republican Party. He performed poorly in the campaign, coming across as acerbic, especially in a debate with the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Walter Mondale. His performance was regarded as one reason for the loss by a narrow margin of the Ford-Dole ticket to the victorious Carter-Mondale Democratic ticket. Nevertheless, he was highly regarded for his legislative skill in Congress and rose to prominence in the Republican Party. A bid for the Republican nomination for president in 1980 was unsuccessful, but in 1985 he became Senate Majority Leader. With the loss of control of the Senate by the Republicans as a result of the 1986 elections he became minority leader, until as a result of the Republican triumph in the 1994 Senate elections he became Senate majority leader again in 1995. In 1988 he sought the Republican nomination for president but lost to George Bush. In 1996 his third bid for the Republican nomination for President met with success.

He held moderately conservative views on most issues. But his reputation was established above all as a pragmatic political fixer. With Republican victory in the 1994 congressional elections, he attempted to steer through the Senate the measures proposed in the Contract with America in the campaign in 1994. With a Democrat in the White House, however, gridlock developed over such matters as the budget, Medicare reform, and term limits.

Dole's high reputation in the halls of Congress was not matched by success as a campaigner, where he appeared too much as a Washington insider who lacked any overall vision and who spoke in flat, monotonous tones, with a streak of mean-spiritedness. In 1996 he suffered also from the disadvantage that at the age of 73, he appeared to be too old.

Robert J. Dole (born 1923) of Kansas represented that state in the Senate from 1968 until 1996. He served as Republican National Committee chair under President Richard Nixon and was Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976. As Senate majority leader during the second administration of President Ronald Reagan and again from 1994 to 1996, Dole was an articulate spokesperson for Republican policies. Dole won the Republican presidential nomination in1996, but lost the general election to the incumbent president, Bill Clinton.

Born in a one bedroom home in the small Kansas town of Russell on July 22, 1923, Robert J. Dole knew the hard scrabble life of Plains states' folks at first hand. Doran, his father, ran a grain elevator while his mother, Tina (Talbott), sold sewing machines. Dole and his three siblings grew up in a larger, more comfortable home than he had been born in, but his parents rented the upper floor to earn extra income.

His childhood was the commonplace one of a farmtown boy: Methodist church meetings, Boy Scouts, public schools, a strict loving home life, and a penchant for work. An honor secondary school student, Dole was extremely ambitious, at one time entertaining the dream of medical school. He had a passion for sports and won letters in running, football, and basketball. At the University of Kansas (Lawrence) he enrolled in a pre-med course and continued his athletics, becoming a star quarter-miler.

Life Threatened in War

In 1943, Dole's studies were interrupted by World War II and he began training in various military specialties at schools around the country, completing his training as an infantry second lieutenant at Fort Benning (Georgia) Officer Candidate School. Assigned as a platoon leader to the 10th Mountain Division in Italy in early 1945, he saw action against German units in March. A month later - on April 14, 1945 - he received a wound which kept him hospitalized for more than three years and left him with a permanently disabled right arm.

For a while there was no guarantee he would live, since the shell hit his shoulder and spine, paralyzing all his limbs. When the European war ended less than four weeks after he was injured, Dole's private war with deadly infection, experimental drugs, grueling therapy, and many operations had just begun. These tested his spirit and courage deeply and sharpened two qualities which characterized him later: optimism and tenacity.

In 1948, while in the hospital, he met and married Phyllis Holden, by whom he had his only child, Robin. Phyllis was a physical therapist who aided him in his return to school. He took up his education again, this time at Washburn University (Topeka) where he earned bachelor's and law degrees.

Political Career Led to Washington

Dole discarded medicine as a career in favor of politics, and even before he had earned his law degree he ran for and won a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives. After a single term as state lawmaker (1951-1953), Dole ran for Russell County prosecutor, a post he held for seven years until his successful 1960 race for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Dole served as a member of the six-person Kansas House delegation for one term, survived the 1960 reapportionment - which cost the state one seat - in his second race, and was re-elected twice more. During his eight years as a House member (1961-1969) Dole came across as a combative, rural-oriented, conservative Republican opposed on principle to much of the Great Society's program. In 1964, for example, he voted to prohibit the Supreme Court from interfering in reapportionment cases involving state legislatures, voted against the Economic Opportunity Act, and opposed the Urban Mass Transportation Act. He did support the Civil Rights Act of that year, however, and backed similar legislation throughout his career. In 1968 he took advantage of the retirement of a Republican incumbent and won the nomination as the Republican Party's candidate for the Senate. In the general election he defeated moderate Democrat William Robinson decisively, winning more than 60 percent of the popular vote.

Dole emerged in the Senate of the 91st Congress (1969-1971) as a powerful national figure. Service on the Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee gave him the opportunity to keep fences mended at home. He also gave a good deal of time on party matters, devoting himself to the Nixon Administration's efforts to build a new national Republican coalition. Resented by some party liberals, he nevertheless became Nixon's choice for chair of the Republican National Committee and won high praise from the president for his part in the stunning victory of 1972.

Untouched by Watergate, Dole continued his growth in the Senate, winning a second term in 1974 and climbing the seniority ladder. His conservative voting record helped him win the nomination as President Gerald Ford's vice presidential candidate at the Kansas City (Missouri) Republican convention in August, 1976. The selection was viewed as a means of placating party conservatives, angry over Ford's choice of Nelson Rockefeller as his first vice president. Dole won the support of Western and Midwestern voters but was widely criticized as Ford's "hatchet man." He and Governor Jimmy Carter's vice presidential candidate, Senator Walter Mondale, participated in the explosive and precedent-setting first vice presidential debate at Houston, Texas, in October. Both Dole and Mondale emerged from the 1976 election as national figures. Dole returned to the Senate floor, Mondale mounted to the chair of president of the Senate.

Dole's life's work was also his hobby and all consuming interest: he lived politics every working hour. Meanwhile, he had experienced upheaval in his personal life. His marriage to Phyllis Holden ended in divorce in 1972, and three years later, on December 6, 1975, he married a brilliant Harvard-educated activist lawyer named Elizabeth (Liddy) Hanford. The couple became one of Washington's most powerful teams as Senator Dole won election as majority leader of the Republican-controlled Senate in January 1985; Elizabeth Dole had already been confirmed as President Reagan's Secretary of Transportation. Among numerous other posts, she also served as Secretary of Labor and director of the American Red Cross. She also assisted her husband in creating the Dole Foundation, which raised millions of dollars to assist disabled Americans.

Recurring Candidate for the Presidency

Dole made a very brief run for the presidential nomination in 1980, but he was overwhelmed by Ronald Reagan. His disappointment over his early poor showing was tempered somewhat by the fact that the Republicans gained control of the Senate as well as the Presidency. Dole became chair of the Finance Committee with an important role in ushering President Reagan's economic policies through Congress. He became majority leader of the Senate in late 1984 and helped craft a comprehensive deficit reduction bill in 1985.

In November of 1986, the Democrats regained the Senate, and Dole was demoted to leading the minority party. As the two terms of the Reagan Administration drew to a close, Dole decided once again to seek the presidency, this time with more organization, stature, and money than he had had in 1980. He battled early and often with George Bush, Reagan's vice president, who ultimately won the 1988 Republican nomination and the election.

Dole seemed to receive a new lease on life when Democratic candidate Bill Clinton was elected President in 1992. With the Presidency no longer in Republican hands, Dole became the nation's head Republican. Early in the Clinton Administration, Dole became a fixture on television news shows, positioning himself as the chief spokesperson against the president's policies. He led Senate Republicans in filibusters against Clinton's legislation, and he forced Clinton to scale back an economic stimulus bill the President tried to steer through Congress early in the Administration. Already in 1993, Dole was visiting the early presidential primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

In 1994, Republicans won the House for the first time in four decades, and they regained control of the Senate where Dole once again became majority leader. As the Republicans worked to fulfill the "Contract with America" with which they had won in '94, Dole planned his third attempt for presidential office.

Loses to Bill Clinton in 1996

The first primaries early in 1996 went badly. Candidate Steve Forbes made Dole the target of some $25 million in negative advertising, and Dole lost races to Forbes and Patrick Buchanan. With the Republican party establishment rallying to his defense, Dole locked up the nomination in March. He initially tried to remain majority leader while campaigning for the presidency. However, the Democrats frustrated his legislative efforts so successfully that he was forced to leave the Senate. In June of 1996, he ended his 35-year congressional career by resigning both as Senator from Kansas as well as majority leader.

Dole spent the next four months crisscrossing the country on the campaign trail. Even before the contest was over, many Republicans criticized Dole for doing a poor job of delivering the party's messages. Polls showed that the two televised presidential candidates debates in October helped Clinton and hurt Dole. In election day exit polls, seven out of ten voters said they did not believe Dole's promise to cut taxes by fifteen percent, the key theme of his campaign. It traditionally has been difficult to defeat an incumbent president during times of peace and economic prosperity. However, a New York Times analysis concluded that Dole's "third run for the presidency was plagued by missteps, indecision, and strategic blunders so fundamental that they bordered on amateurish."

Clinton won handily in an election marked by the lowest voter turnout in 72 years. Clinton took 49 percent of those voting and carried 31 states. Dole received 41 percent of the popular vote and won 19 states. (Reform Party candidate Ross Perot took another eight percent of the vote.) Yet the election was hardly a rout for the Republicans. The GOP maintained majority control of both the House and Senate and elected a majority of the nation's governors.

After the election, the Doles remained in Washington, D. C., where Elizabeth Dole served as president of the American Red Cross. Robert Dole joined the law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand. A major lobbying concern, Verner Liipfert represented foreign nations as well as some of the largest business corporations in the U.S. and abroad. Dole became the senior Republican among the firm's lobbyists, whose roster included three former Democratic governors and two former Democratic senators.

Altogether - including their earnings from pensions, product endorsements, speaking fees and Elizabeth Dole's Red Cross salary - the Doles enjoyed an income well in excess of $1 million in 1997. No longer under intense public scrutiny, the former Senator traded in his 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity on a brand new Cadillac. Dole also advanced the $300,000 House Speaker Newt Gingrich owed as a penalty for violating ethics rules, giving Gingrich eight years to pay at 10 percent interest.

Further Reading

Bob Dole is referred to in the memoirs of the principal figures of his day. Former President Gerald Ford's autobiography, A Time to Heal (1979), for example, has insightful observations on Dole's part in the 1976 campaign. Martin Schram's Running for President 1976 (1977) treats the same subject in less detail.

Cramer, Richard, Bob Dole (Random House, 1995). Dole, Bob and Elizabeth Dole, Unlimited Partners: Our American Story (Simon & Schuster, 1996). Dole, Bob and Jack Kemp, Trusting the People: The Dole-Kemp Plan to Free the Economy & Create a Better America (HarperCollins, 1996). Hilton, Stanley, Senator for Sale (Saint Martin's, 1996). Margolis, Jon, The Quotable Bob Dole: Witty, Wise & Otherwise (Avon Books, 1996). McCurry, Michael and John Buckley, "Inside Story," New Yorker, November 18, 1996, pages 44-60. "Masters of the Message," Time, November 18, 1996, pages 76-96.

• Born: July 22, 1923, Russell, Kans.
• Political party: Republican
• Education: Washburn Municipal University, undergraduate and law degrees, 1952; Kansas University, 1941–43]; University of Arizona, 1948–49
• Representative from Kansas: 1961–69
• Senator from Kansas: 1969–96
• Senate majority leader: 1985–87, 1995–96
• Senate minority leader: 1987–95

There is nothing wrong with partisanship, Bob Dole believes, as long as it remains constructive and focused on issues rather than personalities. Dole never shies away from partisan politics. He entered the Senate with the Republican party in the minority in both houses of Congress, but with the Republican Richard Nixon in the White House. Having little influence in his committees as a freshman, Dole spent much time on the Senate floor defending the President's programs. Barry Goldwater (Republican-Arizona) called Dole “the first fellow we've had around here in a long time who can grab 'em by the hair and haul 'em down the aisle.” Dole's outspoken partisanship, tough debating style, and sense of humor all gained him recognition. In 1971 President Nixon endorsed him for chairman of the Republican National Committee. Gerald Ford chose him to be the Vice Presidential running mate in 1976, and Senate Republicans elected Dole as their leader in 1985. Although he lost the Republican Presidential nomination to George Bush in 1988, Dole led Senate Republicans in support of the the administration's programs. Dole resigned as majority leader in 1996 to become his party's nominee for President, a race he lost to Bill Clinton.

See also Leadership in Congress

Sources

• Richard Ben Cramer, Bob Dole (New York: Vintage, 1995)

Bob Dole overcame childhood poverty and a wartime injury that left him partially paralyzed to become one of the most powerful players in national politics. The Republican majority leader from Kansas often won praise from Republicans and Democrats alike for finding a middle course through difficult issues. His long career in national politics put him at the center of major legislative debates; and whether in budgetary, social, or foreign policy matters, he often bridged party differences. These battles made him not only a skilled negotiator but, by the 1990s, the most powerful leader in his party. His politics were generally characterized by economic conservatism, support for civil rights, and moderation on social issues. In addition to being a vice presidential candidate in 1976, Dole mounted three presidential campaigns, in 1980, 1988, and 1996.

The values of Dole's working-class family informed his upbringing. He was born on July 22, 1923, in Russell, Kansas, the son of an egg and cream station owner, Doran Ray Dole, and a traveling sewing machine saleswoman, Bina Talbot Dole. An athletic young man, Dole excelled in football, basketball, and track. He worked at several jobs and wanted to be a doctor. At age eighteen, he enrolled in the premed program at the University of Kansas. Drafted two years later, in 1943, he found himself fighting in Italy. World War II had almost ended in April 1945 when a shell hit him on the battlefield, smashing his neck, shoulder, and spine. Doctors thought he would be crippled. But Dole's persistence through three years of operations and therapy brought an amazing recovery. His only permanent disabilities are a lack of control of his right arm and hand, and partial loss of control of his left.

The twenty-five-year-old survivor was transformed. With new earnestness, he finished his undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona and earned a law degree with honors from Washburn University of Topeka.

Law quickly led to politics. Dole served one term in the Kansas Legislature in 1951, and for the remainder of the decade worked as a prosecutor in his local county. He entered national politics in 1960 with election to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he won reelection every two years through 1968. Dole advocated fiscal conservatism while supporting limited welfare spending. He voted against the Great Society programs of President Lyndon B. Johnson, but he supported aid to hungry and disabled persons and to farmers. He strongly backed civil rights legislation, a position from which he never wavered throughout his career. His model in politics—and the figure who ultimately became his mentor—was Richard M. Nixon, a friend since the 1950s. Dole's election to the U.S. Senate in 1968 gave President Nixon a vociferous supporter, and earned Dole the post of Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman in 1971.

The 1970s and 1980s brought Dole prominence in national politics. One reason for this was his marriage in 1975 to Elizabeth Hanford, an accomplished Harvard graduate who later held the posts of secretary of transportation and secretary of labor. Dole's chairmanship of the RNC also brought dividends. In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford chose Dole as his vice presidential running mate in an unsuccessful bid for reelection. The 1976 race whetted Dole's appetite for more, and he mounted his own campaign for president in 1980, losing out to Ronald Reagan.

In 1984 Dole was elevated to Senate majority leader. Although his function in this role was to deliver party loyalty on votes in the Senate, he also became a strong supporter of president Reagan. During the Iran-Contra scandal Dole took a leading role in damage control. He made public reassurances and traveled the United States to rally support for the president.

Dole made another bid for president after Reagan's departure in 1988. This unsuccessful struggle for the Republican nomination against Vice President George Bush revealed what many critics had long seen as a mixed blessing in Dole: his acerbic tongue. This had appeared as an issue as early as 1976, when, while campaigning as Gerald Ford's running mate, Dole had ridiculed Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter as "Southern Fried McGovern." In 1988, again while campaigning, he lashed out at George Bush on national TV, saying Bush had lied about him. The attack on Bush raised some speculation about whether Dole could control his temper.

In 1996 Dole's third run for the White House was characterized by a rightward shift. Soon after declaring his candidacy, he attacked Hollywood for making movies that "revel in mindless violence and loveless sex." Dole called for making English the nation's official language, returned the campaign contribution of a gay Republican organization (later calling the move a mistake), and quit attending a United Methodist church that conservative critics had denounced as excessively liberal.

More crucially, perhaps, Dole's ideas on economics now resembled those that he had found untenable in President Reagan. The senator who had won bipartisan praise for a 1982 tax compromise now told voters, "We can cut taxes and balance the budget at the same time." And less apparent was his trademark willingness to compromise: throughout late 1995 and early 1996, Dole and House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) engaged in a budget deadlock with President Bill Clinton that forced a shutdown of the federal government. He lost the 1996 election to Bill Clinton.

Dole's career stands as a testimony to the necessity of pragmatism and compromise in Washington, D.C. Even with Republican presidents, including Reagan, the most popular president in history, the GOP needed help in Congress with its agenda. Dole's mastery of deal cutting—and occasional firm stifling of opposition—provided it. A man of resolve, rather than image, Dole was a bulwark of Republican party politics for nearly three decades.

Quotes:

"Those who cultivate moral confusion for profit should understand this: we will name their names and shame them as they deserve to be shamed."

"We know [smoking tobacco] is not good for kids, but a lot of other things aren't good. Drinking's not good. Some would say milk's not good."

Robert Joseph Dole
United States Senator from Kansas
In office January 3, 1969 – June 11, 1996
Preceded by	Frank Carlson
Succeeded by	Sheila Frahm
15th and 18th United States Senate Majority Leader
In office January 3, 1995 – June 11, 1996
Preceded by	George J. Mitchell
Succeeded by	Trent Lott
In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	Howard H. Baker, Jr.
Succeeded by	Robert C. Byrd
15th United States Senate Minority Leader
In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Robert Byrd
Succeeded by	Tom Daschle
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas's 1st district
In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1969
Preceded by	William Henry Avery
Succeeded by	Keith Sebelius
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas's 6th district
In office January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963
Preceded by	Wint Smith
Succeeded by	District Abolished
47th Chairman of the Republican National Committee
In office 1971 – 1973
Preceded by	Rogers Morton
Succeeded by	George H. W. Bush
Born	July 22, 1923 (1923-07-22) (age 86) Russell, Kansas
Birth name	Robert Joseph Dole
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	(1) Phyllis Holden, divorced (2) Elizabeth H. Dole
Alma mater	Washburn University
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Methodist[1]
Law School	Washburn University, 1952
Signature
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1942-1948
Unit	10th Mountain Division
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Bronze Star (1) Purple Heart (2)

Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole (born July 22, 1923) is an attorney and retired United States Senator from Kansas from 1969–1996, serving part of that time as United States Senate Majority Leader, where he set a record as the longest-serving Republican leader. He was his party's 1996 presidential nominee but lost the election to incumbent Democrat Bill Clinton. He was the Republican vice presidential nominee in the 1976 U.S. Presidential election, but lost the election to Walter Mondale, who ran on the Jimmy Carter ticket. Dole is special counsel at the Washington, D.C. office of law firm Alston & Bird.

In 2007, President George W. Bush appointed Dole as a co-chair of the commission to investigate problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, along with Donna Shalala, a former member of the Clinton cabinet.^[2] Dole is married to former U.S. cabinet member and former U.S. Senator Elizabeth Hanford Dole of North Carolina.

Contents 1 Early years 2 World War II and recovery 3 Political career 3.1 U.S. Senate 3.2 Presidential politics 4 Retirement 5 Personal life 6 Parodies in popular culture 7 Electoral history 7.1 Bibliography 8 References 9 External links

Early years

Dole was born in Russell, Kansas, the son of Bina N. (née Talbott; 1904-1983) and Doran Ray Dole (1901-1975).^[3] His father, who had moved the family to Russell, Kansas while Dole was still a toddler, had made a living by running a small creamery. During the Great Depression, which hit Kansas very hard, the Dole family moved into the basement of their home and rented out the rest of the house. As a boy, Dole took many odd jobs around Russell; he would later work as a soda jerk in the local drug store. Dole graduated from Hebron High School in the spring of 1941^[4] and enrolled at the University of Kansas the following fall. Dole, a star high school athlete in his native Russell, earned a coveted spot on the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team under legendary coach Phog Allen. While in college, he joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity, where he later became one of the "Men Of The Year". Dole's study of law at KU was interrupted by World War II. After the war, Dole returned to being a law student. He attended the University of Arizona from 1948 to 1951 and earned his degree from Washburn University School of Law in 1952.

World War II and recovery

In 1942, Dole joined the United States Army's Enlisted Reserve Corps to fight in World War II. He became a second lieutenant in the Army's 10th Mountain Division.

In April 1945, while engaged in combat near Castel d'Aiano in the Apennine mountains southwest of Bologna, Italy, he was hit by German machine gun fire in his upper right back. His right arm was also badly injured. As Lee Sandlin describes, when fellow soldiers saw the extent of his injuries all they thought they could do was to "give him the largest dose of morphine they dared and write an 'M' for 'morphine' on his forehead in his own blood, so that nobody else who found him would give him a second, fatal dose."^[5] He had to wait nine hours on the battlefield before being taken to the 15th Evacuation Hospital. He began a recovery that would last until 1948 at Percy Jones Army hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he met future fellow politicians Daniel Inouye and Philip Hart. His right arm was paralyzed; Dole often carried a pen in his right hand to signal that he could not shake hands with that arm.

The hospital where he recovered from his wounds, the former Battle Creek Sanitarium, is now named Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in honor of the three former U.S. Senators treated at the hospital: Philip Hart, Daniel Inouye and Dole himself.

Dole was three times decorated for heroism, receiving two Purple Hearts for his injuries, and the Bronze Star with combat "V" for valor for his attempt to assist a downed radio man.

Political career

Dole ran for office for the first time in 1950 and was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives, serving a two-year term. After graduating from law school at Washburn University in Topeka, Dole was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in his hometown of Russell in 1952.

Also in 1952 Dole became the County Attorney of Russell County, serving in that position for eight years. In 1960, Dole was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Kansas' 6th Congressional District, located in central Kansas. In 1962, his district was merged with the 3rd District in western Kansas to form the 1st Congressional District, a huge 60-county district that soon became known as the "Big First." Dole was re-elected that year and twice thereafter without serious difficulty.

U.S. Senate

1982, Dole as a Senator

In 1968, he defeated Kansas Governor William H. Avery for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate to succeed retiring Senator Frank Carlson, subsequently being elected. He was re-elected in 1974, 1980, 1986, and 1992, before resigning on June 11, 1996 to focus on his Presidential campaign. He only faced one truly enthusiastic and well-financed challenger – in 1974 by Congressman Bill Roy. Much of Roy's popularity was in response to the fallout from Watergate. Dole would win re-election in 1974 by only a few thousand votes, having in the end graphically painted Roy as pro-abortion. While in the Senate he served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1971 until 1973, the ranking Republican on the Agriculture Committee from 1975 to 1978, and the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee from 1979 to 1980.

When the Republicans took control of the Senate after the 1980 elections, Dole became chairman of the Finance Committee in 1981, serving until 1985. From 1985, when Howard Baker of Tennessee retired, until his resignation from the Senate, Dole was the leader of the Senate Republicans, serving as Majority Leader from 1985 until 1987 and again from 1995 to 1996. He served as Minority Leader from 1987 to 1995. Following the advice of conservative William Kristol, Dole flatly rejected the health care plan of Bill Clinton, remarking, "There is no crisis in health care."

Dole had a moderate voting record and was widely considered to be one of the few Kansas Republicans who could bridge the gap between the moderate and conservative wings of the Kansas Republican Party. As a Congressman in the early '60s he supported the major civil rights bills, which appealed to moderates. When Johnson proposed the Great Society in 1964–65, Dole voted against some War on Poverty measures like public-housing subsidies and Medicare, thus appealing to conservatives. Dole's first speech in the Senate in 1969 was a plea for federal aid for the handicapped. Later, as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs he joined liberal Senator George McGovern to lower eligibility requirements for federal food stamps, a liberal goal that was supported by Kansas farmers.

Dole's hawkishness on the Vietnam War and on crime issues kept him in good standing with the right wing. When they heard Nixon might make Dole chairman of the Republican National Committee, half the Republican Senators protested, especially moderates who feared he would direct party assets to conservatives. They were wrong, as Dole in fact offered something to all Republican factions.^[6]

Presidential politics

Bob Dole (far left) at the 1976 Republican National Convention with (from left) Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, Susan Ford and Betty Ford

The official portrait of Sen. Dole by Everett Raymond Kinstler, which was unveiled in 2005. It is tradition to commission a portrait for Senate leaders.

During 1988 primaries Dole won Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming and home state Kansas

In 1976, Dole ran unsuccessfully for Vice President on a ticket headed by President Gerald Ford. Incumbent Vice President Nelson Rockefeller had withdrawn from consideration the previous fall, and Dole was chosen. He stated during the Vice Presidential debate, "I figured it up the other day: If we added up the killed and wounded in Democrat wars in this century, it would be about 1.6 million Americans — enough to fill the city of Detroit".^[7] The remark backfired. In 2004, Dole stated that he regretted the remark.

Dole ran for the 1980 Republican Presidential nomination, eventually won by Ronald Reagan. Despite his fame from the '76 campaign, Dole was viewed as a lower tier candidate, trailing not only Reagan but George Bush, Howard Baker, John Connally, and John Anderson. He received only 597 votes (less than 1%) in the New Hampshire primary and immediately withdrew.

Dole made a more serious bid in 1988, formally announcing his candidacy in Russell, KS on November 9, 1987. At the ceremony, he was presented with the cigar box that had been used to collect donations for his war-related medical expenses. The box contained $100,000 in campaign donations. He started out strong by solidly defeating then-Vice President George H.W. Bush in the Iowa caucus—Bush finished third, behind television evangelist Pat Robertson. However, Bush recovered in time to defeat Dole in the New Hampshire primary a week later. The New Hampshire contest between the two was particularly bitter although they differed little on the issues. After the returns had come in on the night of that primary, Dole appeared to lose his temper in a television interview. Dole was interviewed live in New Hampshire on NBC by Tom Brokaw, who was in the NBC studio in New York. It happened that Bush was right next to Brokaw in the studio. Brokaw asked Bush if he had anything to say to Dole. Bush responded, "No, just wish him well and meet again in the south." Dole, apparently not expecting to see Bush, when asked the same question about the Vice President said, "Yeah, stop lying about my record", largely in response to a very tough New Hampshire Bush commercial which accused Dole of "straddling" on taxes. This remark prompted some members of the media to perceive him as angry about the loss, contributing to his "hatchet man" image earned during his tenure as RNC chairman and the '76 campaign.

Despite two big wins in South Dakota and Minnesota a week after NH, he was not able to recover. Dole, viewed by many as a micromanager who could not effectively oversee a presidential campaign while serving as a senator, did not hire a full time campaign manager, former TN Senator Bill Brock, until the fall of 1987, well after Bush's team had been in place. Despite raising almost as much money as the Bush campaign, the Dole campaign spent its money faster and were vastly outspent in the contests held after IA, NH, MN, and SD. Despite a key Dole endorsement by Senator Strom Thurmond, one of many Republican senators who supported their leader, Dole was defeated by Bush again in South Carolina in early March. Several days later, every southern state voted for Bush in a "Super Tuesday" sweep. Another big victory in Illinois persuaded Dole to withdraw from the race. Dole was at the top of Bush's list for a vice presidential candidate, but Bush surprised the political community by instead choosing Indiana Senator Dan Quayle.

Dole was the early front runner for the GOP nomination in the 1996 presidential race. He was expected to win the nomination against underdog candidates such as the more conservative Senator Phil Gramm of Texas and more moderate Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. However populist Pat Buchanan upset Dole in the early New Hampshire primary, with Dole finishing second and former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander finishing third. Publisher Steve Forbes also ran and broadcast a stream of negative ads. At least eight candidates ran for the nomination.

Dole eventually won the nomination, becoming the oldest first-time presidential nominee at the age of 73 years, 1 month (Ronald Reagan was 73 years, 6 months in 1984, for his second presidential nomination). In his acceptance speech, he stated "Let me be the bridge to an America that only the unknowing call myth. Let me be the bridge to a time of tranquillity, faith, and confidence in action"^[8], to which incumbent president and Democratic nominee Bill Clinton responded, "We do not need to build a bridge to the past, we need to build a bridge to the future."^[9]. Dole however had been forced to spend more on the primary than he had planned and until the convention in San Diego faced federal limits on campaign spending. He hoped to use his long experience in Senate procedures to maximize publicity from his rare positioning as Senate Majority Leader against an incumbent President but was stymied by Senate Democrats. On June 11, 1996, he resigned his seat to focus on the campaign, saying he was either heading for "The White House or home".^[10]

The incumbent, Bill Clinton, had no serious primary opposition. Dole promised a 15% across-the-board reduction in income tax rates and made former Congressman and supply side advocate Jack Kemp his running mate. Dole also found himself criticized from both the left and the right within the Republican Party over the convention platform, one of the major issues being the inclusion of the a Human Life Amendment. Bill Clinton framed the narrative against Dole early, painting him as a mere clone of unpopular then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, warning America that Bob Dole would work in concert with the Republican Congress to slash popular social programs, like Medicare and Social Security, dubbed by Clinton as "Dole-Gingrich"^[11]. Bob Dole's tax-cut plan found itself under attack from the White House, who said it would "blow a hole in the deficit" which had been cut nearly in half during his opponent's term^[12]. Dole was defeated by President Clinton in the 1996 election. Clinton won in a 379-159 Electoral College landslide, capturing 49.2% of the vote against Dole's 40.7% and Ross Perot's 8.4% who drew equally from both candidates.^[13]

He is the only person in the history of the two major U.S. political parties to have been his party's nominee for both President and Vice President, but who was never elected to either office.

Retirement

2005, Dole speaking at the 60th Anniversary of VE Day

Dole has worked part-time for a Washington, D.C. law firm, and engaged in a career of writing, consulting, public speaking, and television appearances. This has included becoming a television commercial spokesman for such products as Viagra, Visa, Dunkin' Donuts and Pepsi-Cola (with Britney Spears), and as an occasional political commentator on the popular American interview program Larry King Live and has guested a number of times on Comedy Central's satirical news program, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was, for a short time, a commentator opposite Bill Clinton on CBS's 60 Minutes. He guest-starred as himself on NBC's Brooke Shields sitcom Suddenly Susan in January 1997 (shortly after losing the presidential election). On the Larry King show he had a heated exchange with Democratic presidential primary candidate Wesley Clark in which he correctly predicted that Clark would lose the New Hampshire primary and other primaries. In 2001, Dole, at age 77, was treated successfully for an abdominal aortic aneurysm by vascular surgeon Kenneth Ouriel. Dr. Ouriel said Dole "maintained his sense of humor throughout his care."^[14]

The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, housed on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas, was established to bring bipartisanship back to politics. The Institute, which opened in July 2003 to coincide with Dole's 80th birthday, has featured such notables as former President Bill Clinton and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Dole has written several books, including one on jokes told by the Presidents of the United States, in which he ranks the presidents according to their level of humor. On January 18, 1989, he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Reagan. Then, on January 17, 1997, President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his service in the military and his political career. He received the American Patriot Award in 2004 for his lifelong dedication to America and his service in World War II.

Dole's legacy also includes a commitment to combating hunger both in the United States and around the globe. In addition to numerous domestic programs, along with former Senator George McGovern (D-South Dakota), he created an international school lunch program through the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which helps fight child hunger and poverty by providing nutritious meals to children in schools in developing countries. This program has since led to greatly increased global interest in and support for school-feeding programs — which benefit girls and young women, in particular — and won McGovern and Dole the 2008 World Food Prize.

In December 2004, Dole had a hip-replacement operation, which required him to receive blood thinners. One month after the surgery it was determined that he was bleeding inside his head. He spent 40 days at Walter Reed, and when he was released, his "good" arm, the left, was of limited use. He told a reporter that he needed help to handle the simplest of tasks, since both of his arms are injured. He undergoes physical therapy for his left shoulder once a week, but doctors have told him that he might not regain total use of his left arm.

Dole is special counsel at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Alston & Bird. On April 12, 2005, Dole released his autobiography One Soldier's Story: A Memoir (ISBN 0-06-076341-8), which talks of his World War II experiences and his battle to survive his war injuries.

On June 28, 2004, Senator Robert Dole was named 'Shining Star of Perseverance' by the Assurant Employee Benefits WillReturn Council.^[15]

On September 18, 2004, Senator Dole offered the inaugural lecture to dedicate the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service at which he chronicled his life as a public servant as well as discussed the importance of public service in terms of defense, civil rights, the economy, and in daily life.^[16]

In 2007, President George W. Bush appointed Dole and Donna Shalala co-chairs of a commission to investigate problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.^[2]

Personal life

Dole's wife, former Senator Elizabeth Dole

Dole married Phyllis Holden, an occupational therapist at a veterans hospital, in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1948. His daughter, Robin, was born in 1954. Dole and Holden divorced in 1972. Holden remarried in 1973 to Lou Buzick, was widowed in 1978, and married for a third time in 1986 to her former childhood sweetheart, Benjamin Macey. She died on April 22, 2008.

Dole has been married to Former Senator Elizabeth Dole, née Hanford, of North Carolina since 1975. Elizabeth ran unsuccessfully for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2000 and was elected to the United States Senate in 2002, losing her seat in 2008 to Democrat Kay Hagan.

Parodies in popular culture

Dole has a habit of referring to himself in the third person and is known for carrying a pen in his paralyzed hand. During the New Hampshire primaries in 1996, for example, he told supporters "You're going to see the real Bob Dole from now on." By April, a National Review columnist termed the habit "irritating".^[17] The habit has been much-parodied in popular culture:

• Dole has been parodied on Saturday Night Live by Dan Aykroyd and Norm Macdonald. His caricature constantly refers to himself in the third person.^[18] Dole appeared personally on SNL in 1996 shortly after losing the Presidential election. He even lampooned his own caricature of his third-person references and criticized Macdonald as doing "an impersonation of Dan Aykroyd doing (him)."
• MADtv featured Bob Dole (played by David Herman) appearing at the 1996 election as Dolemite.
• In an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington", the Springfield Republican Party holds a secret meeting where they are deciding on a Congressional nominee. All of the attendees agree on the nomination of Krusty the Clown except for Bob Dole, who nominates himself, citing, "Maybe Bob Dole should run. Bob Dole thinks Bob Dole should. Actually, Bob Dole just wants to hear Bob Dole talk about Bob Dole. BOB DOLE!"^[19] In the episode "Brawl in the Family," Dole attends another secret conference of the Springfield Republican Party to give an inspirational reading from the Necronomicon.
• In "Treehouse of Horror VII", the 1996 Halloween special episode of The Simpsons (and just days before the 1996 presidential election), both President Bill Clinton and Dole are abducted by aliens. While being abducted, Dole remarks, "Bob Dole doesn't need this."
• In the Family Guy episode "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington", Peter meets Bob Dole, who states, "Bob Dole is a friend of the tobacco industry. Bob Dole likes your style..." then repeatedly refers to himself in third person until he eventually falls asleep.
• Dole appears in the Futurama episode "A Head in the Polls" in the "Closet of Presidential Losers", claiming that "Bob Dole needs company. LaRouche won't stop with the knock knock jokes."
• In the 3rd Rock from the Sun episode where Harry Solomon runs for City Council, he at one point addresses Dick with Bill Clinton's thumbs up sign, then shifts into third person and displays a pen in his right hand. He promptly claims he "appeals to both sides."
• In a segment for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Bob Dole appeared on stage to present his book Great Presidential Wit, and while doing so denied Leno's earlier statements about it being possible for Viagra-consumption to lead to blindness in men. "I know a little about Viagra... Bob Dole knows a little about Viagra," Dole claimed, and then proceeded to act as though he were losing his vision. In another segment, Bob Dole jokingly claimed—in the third person—that he had once been part of the cast of Friends but later resigned to run for President of the United States of America. "Bob Dole should have stayed with Friends," he commented.
• In an episode of Johnny Bravo, Dole is parodied as a Dinosaur that held a pencil in its right hand and kept referring to itself in the third person as "T-Rex".

Electoral history

Main article: Electoral history of Bob Dole

Bibliography

• Dole, Bob: One Soldier's Story: A Memoir. (2005). HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-076341-8
• James W. Ceaser and Andrew E. Busch: Losing to Win: The 1996 Elections and American Politics Rowman & Littlefield, 1997
• Clinton, Bill: My Life. (2005) ISBN 1-4000-3003-X
• Robert E. Denton Jr.: The 1996 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Perspective Praeger Publishers, 1998 online
• Elovitz, Paul: "Work, Laughter and Tears: Bob Dole's Childhood, War Injury, the Conservative Republicans and the 1996 Election." Journal of Psychohistory (1996) 24(2): 147–162. Issn: 0145-3378
• Joshua Wolf Shenk: "The Best and Worst of Bob Dole," Washington Monthly, Vol. 28, July 1996 online
• Kerry Tymchuk, Molly Meijer Wertheimer, Nichola D. Gutgold: Elizabeth Hanford Dole: Speaking from the Heart Praeger, 2004

References

1. ^ frontline: the choice '96: Stories of Bob | PBS
2. ^ ^{a b} Dole, Shalala to investigate Walter Reed problems - CNN.com
3. ^ Ancestry of Robert Dole (b. 1923)
4. ^ "Hebron High School 1914 Alumni". http://www.usd407.org/rhs/Alumni/1941.htm. Retrieved 1998-11-05. 
5. ^ "Losing the War" by Lee Sandlin
6. ^ Richard Lacayo, "Where's the Party? Time August 19, 1996 online version
7. ^ Online NewsHour: Previous Vice Presidential Debates Lend Perspective to Edwards, Cheney Face-Off - October 5, 2004
8. ^ 1996 Bob Dole acceptance speech
9. ^ Mr. Clinton's Bridge
10. ^ New York Times, May 16, 1996: Dole says he will leave Senate to focus on presidential race.
11. ^ Clinton And Dole, Face To Face, Spar Over Medicare And Taxes - New York Times
12. ^ Business Week, 09/02/96: Medicare, taxes and Bob Dole: a talk with the president.
13. ^ AllPolitics - Presidential Election Exit Poll Results
14. ^ "Bob Dole has surgery to treat aneurysm". USA Today via Associated Press. 2001-06-27. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/june01/2001-06-27-dole.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
15. ^ 2004 Shining Star of Perseverance Media Release
16. ^ Clinton School Speakers
17. ^ Florence King (1996-04-08). "The Misanthrope's Corner: Presidential candidate Bob Dole's irritating reference to himself in the third person". National Review. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n6_v48/ai_18177779. Retrieved 2006-09-24. 
18. ^ Saturday Night Live Transcripts
19. ^ YouTube - Bob Dole Thinks Bob Dole Should Run

External links

United States Army portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bob Dole

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bob Dole

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Author:Bob Dole

•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• DOLE, Robert Joseph, (1923 – )
• His official website
• His hometown's biography of him
• His remarks at the dedication of the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas
• His memorial to Ronald Reagan after Reagan's death (registration required)
• The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics
• His biography on Alston & Bird's website
• CNN AllPolitics review of his early life
• Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Citizens Medal - January 18, 1989
• Bob Dole at the Internet Movie Database

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Wint Smith	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas's 6th congressional district 1961 - 1963	District abolished
Preceded by William Henry Avery	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas's 1st congressional district 1963 - 1969	Succeeded by Keith Sebelius
United States Senate
Preceded by Frank Carlson	United States Senator (Class 3) from Kansas 1969 – 1996 Served alongside: James B. Pearson, Nancy Kassebaum	Succeeded by Sheila Frahm
Political offices
Preceded by Russell B. Long Louisiana	Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee 1981 – 1985	Succeeded by Bob Packwood Oregon
Party political offices
Preceded by Rogers Morton	Chairman of the Republican National Committee 1971 – 1973	Succeeded by George H. W. Bush
Preceded by Spiro Agnew	Republican Party vice presidential candidate 1976 (lost)
Preceded by Howard Baker Tennessee	Senate Republican Leader 1985 – 1996	Succeeded by Trent Lott Mississippi
Preceded by George H. W. Bush	Republican Party presidential candidate 1996 (lost)	Succeeded by George W. Bush
Awards
Preceded by William Porter Payne	Recipient of the Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA) 1998	Succeeded by Bill Richardson

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Persondata
NAME	Dole, Bob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Dole, Robert Joseph
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	July 22, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH	Russell, Kansas, United states
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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