Bob Dole

Senator

• Born: July 22, 1923
• Birthplace: Russell, Kansas
• Died: December 5, 2021
• Place of death: Washington, DC

American representative (1961–69) and senator (1969–96)

A prominent Republican senator and presidential candidate of the latter twentieth century, Bob Dole was an effective legislator, mediator, and deal maker who supported legislation for civil rights; farm reform; aid for the disabled, especially military veterans; Social Security; and a balanced federal budget.

Areas of achievement Government and politics, law, military affairs, social reform

Early Life

Bob Dole was born in a small house in Russell, Kansas, the second of four children. His father, Doran Dole, operated a cream-and-egg station, purchasing dairy products from local farmers and shipping the products by rail to larger markets. He later became manager of a grain elevator. Known for his commitment to work, Doran missed only one day on the job in forty years. The young Dole learned some early political lessons by watching his father conduct business with farmers and merchants.

Dole’s mother, Bina, one of twelve children, grew up in poverty on a farm. A hardworking housewife, Bina demanded that her two daughters and two sons be industrious. To help with expenses, she sold Singer sewing machines door to door. Both parents instilled in their children a sense of responsibility, a work ethic, and the importance of love and sacrifice, values to which Dole attributes his successful career in politics and in life.

Although Doran and Bina worked extremely long hours, the Doles, like countless other Americans, endured the ravages of the Great Depression. The Dole children performed various duties to help their parents: All helped their mother keep house, while Bob and his brother did odd jobs such as milking cows, washing cars, and doing yard work to earn extra income.

At age twelve, Dole became a soda jerk at Dawson’s Drug Store, a central gathering place for Russell townspeople. He had developed a biting wit and got along well with the customers, readily exchanging jokes and stories. While working at the drugstore, he decided to become a physician, as he was impressed with the dedication of doctors and the respect they received.

During high school, Dole was a member of the National Honor Society and participated in sports, lettering in track, football, and basketball. His tenacious determination to excel drove him to establish a rigorous training regimen, jogging either early in the morning or after practice. Additionally, he and his brother lifted homemade weights.

After graduating from high school in June 1941, Dole enrolled at the University of Kansas with the intent of fulfilling his goal of becoming a doctor; he also intended to be the first in his family to obtain a college degree. World War II intervened, however, and he enlisted in the US Army in December 1942. He was called to duty on June 3, 1943. In 1944, Dole was graduated from Fort Benning, Georgia, as a second lieutenant and was sent to Italy in December. As an officer, he cared for his men’s welfare and gained their respect.

On April 14, 1945, platoon leader Dole and his men of the Tenth Mountain Division participated in Operation Craftsman, which had as its objective to push the Germans north of the Po Valley and to secure northern Italy. During the fierce fighting, the Tenth Mountain Division suffered tremendous casualties, one of whom was Dole, who led his men into battle. An exploding shell shattered his right shoulder, broke his collarbone, and penetrated a lung and vertebrae, paralyzing him from the neck down. After he lay immobile for nine hours, medics took him to a hospital, where no one believed he would survive. However, Dole did survive, and overcame physical problems including excruciating pain, numerous operations, and the loss of a kidney. For his valor, Dole received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with Clusters.

Life’s Work

A new phase in Dole’s life began with his injury. He was forced to give up his dream of becoming a doctor, as his withered right arm would not allow him to pursue such a career. Instead, he pursued another course of action with characteristic intensity and tenacity: studying law. This decision would ultimately lead him to national prominence as a politician.

Dole returned to Russell in late 1946. In November 1947, he met Phyllis Holden, an occupational therapist, at a dance for patients at Percy Jones Army Medical Center in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he was undergoing another operation. The two were married on June 12, 1948, in Concord, New Hampshire. Later that same year, the Doles moved to Tucson, Arizona, where Bob enrolled as a junior at the University of Arizona under the GI Bill.

Dole left after one year because of lingering health problems and his unhappiness with the law program at Arizona. He returned to Kansas and entered Washburn University in Topeka to pursue a career in law and to be close to medical laboratories that could treat his blood and lung problems. At Washburn, Dole began to flirt with the possibility of entering politics.

In 1950, Dole’s political career began when Kansas Republicans recruited him to become a candidate for the Kansas House of Representatives because of his status as a war hero. Dole, whose parents were Democrats, accepted the Republican offer. At age twenty-seven, Dole became the youngest member of the Kansas house. He compiled an exemplary record, voting on every key issue during the three-month legislative session. Even though he decided not to seek reelection, his appetite for politics had been whetted.

Dole was graduated magna cum laude from Washburn University in 1952, and he passed the state bar exam and joined a law firm in Russell. In the same year, he ran successfully for the office of county attorney, a position to which he was reelected in 1954, 1956, and 1958. As county attorney, Dole displayed a cunning wit and sharp mind. His advocacy of juvenile code issues, concern for better treatment of neglected youth, and opposition to an oil-and-gas severance tax enhanced his reputation as an effective politician. During his years as county attorney, the Doles had a daughter, Robin.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, another famous Kansas war hero, aided Dole in his successful 1960 campaign for the US House of Representatives. Dole served eight years in the House, during which time he never missed a vote. He sat on the House Agriculture Committee and played a key role in exposing the illegal activities of Billy Sol Estes, a businessman involved in a major grain-elevator fraud. A staunch Republican conservative, Dole opposed President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs, but he supported the 1964 Civil Rights Bill and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

In 1968, Dole was elected to the US Senate, a seat he would hold until 1996. His first major address on the Senate floor called for increased aid to the disabled, an issue he continued to champion. He sat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, where he continued to support farm legislation. Dole became an ardent supporter of President Richard M. Nixon, whom he viewed as a fellow survivor. He supported Nixon’s Vietnam War policies and campaigned unsuccessfully for the confirmation of two of Nixon’s Supreme Court nominees.

In return for his loyalty, Nixon offered Dole the Republican National Committee chairmanship in 1971. In this capacity, Dole worked hard to ensure Nixon’s reelection. As Dole’s political prominence increased, however, his relationship with his wife disintegrated. Always a workaholic, Dole spent increasingly little time with Phyllis, resulting in their divorce in 1972. In that same year, Dole met his future wife, Elizabeth Hanford, who worked in the Office of Consumer Affairs.

Nixon was reelected in 1972. Two weeks after the election, however, Nixon asked for Dole’s resignation as Republican National Committee chairman. Nixon had apparently lost faith in his loyal supporter, and he had even devised a scheme in which an unsuspecting Dole asked UN Ambassador George H. W. Bush to succeed him (Nixon had already approached Bush).

Many Kansas voters were uneasy about Dole’s divorce. Moreover, in 1974, the Watergate scandal resulted in Nixon’s resignation; although Dole had no role in the Watergate affair, his association with Nixon was politically damaging. Dole faced his most difficult reelection race against Bill Roy, a Democrat from Topeka. During the campaign, Dole made abortion a central issue of the contest. The abortion issue became a prototype for the Republican Party for the next three decades. Dole ultimately won reelection to the Senate in 1974 by a small margin. Returning to Washington, he began courting Elizabeth, whom he married on December 6, 1975. The new Mrs. Dole was as ambitious, competitive, and career-oriented as her new husband. They were a “symbiotic and synergistic” couple who intrigued Americans.

In 1976, Gerald R. Ford, who had succeeded to the presidency in the wake of Nixon’s resignation, selected Dole as his running mate for his own reelection effort. They began their campaign in Dole’s hometown of Russell, Kansas; Dole worked relentlessly, traveling more than sixty thousand miles and visiting forty-four states during the campaign.

Ford and Dole agreed to televised debates with the Democratic nominee, Jimmy Carter, and his running mate, Walter Mondale. Dole debated Mondale on October 15, 1976, in Houston, Texas; in the opinion of most observers, Dole “lost” the debate by appearing insensitive, flippant, and arrogant, and his responses seemed to justify the derogatory appellation “hatchet man” that his opponents often leveled at him. Carter and Mondale won a narrow victory, and Dole suffered his first defeat in fifteen campaigns.

Returning to his Senate duties, Dole opposed the Panama Canal Treaty, introduced legislation to balance the federal budget, and teamed with Senator George McGovern, a Democrat, to cosponsor food-stamp reform that culminated in the Food Stamp Act of 1977. In addition, he also cosponsored farm legislation to improve agricultural conditions. In 1980, Dole made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for president, which went to Ronald Reagan. Dole considered retiring from politics but decided instead to seek a third Senate term.

During the 1980s a new vigor seemed to possess Dole. From 1981 to 1986, he worked to create bipartisan consensus to address major social issues such as Social Security reform in 1983 and tax reform in 1986. In 1981, he became chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. He supported passage of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, which cut individual income taxes and federal spending, and the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, which lowered the federal deficit. In 1983, Dole favored legislation establishing the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., as a national holiday. Also in 1983, he formed the Dole Foundation to promote employment of the disabled.

Recognition of Dole's power was confirmed when he became Senate majority leader in 1984 and 1994 and Senate minority leader in 1986 and 1992. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for again. president in 1988. In 1996, however, Dole did become the Republican nominee and gave up his Senate seat to devote more time for the campaign. In a series of televised debates with incumbent President Bill Clinton, Dole proved somewhat more effective than he had in his 1976 debate with Mondale. However, he was widely criticized for running a poor campaign overall, even acting like he did not seriously want or expect to win. He was soundly defeated in the November election. Dole would not run for public office again.

After the 1996 election, the University of Kansas established the Dole Institute of Politics in recognition of Dole's service to Kansas and the nation. Recognizing his years of service and dedication to the country, President Clinton honored Dole in January 1997 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. Also in 1997, Clinton appointed Dole as the national chair of the World War II Memorial Campaign. Dole asked his old friend and confidant Fred Smith to co-chair the committee, and together, with government seed money and interest, they raised $197 million. In 2003, Dole escorted his wife, Elizabeth, to her swearing-in ceremony as a United States Senator from North Carolina.

On May 29, 2004, Dole saw his dream realized with the dedication ceremony of the World War II Memorial. That same year Dole also was an honored guest at the dedication of President Clinton’s Presidential Library. Dole’s ability to forge partnerships was again manifested with President Clinton when they worked together to raise $100 million for the Families of Freedom Scholarships to benefit surviving family members of those who were killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Dole continued his service to the nation when President George W. Bush appointed him to co-chair the Presidential Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors with Donna Shalala, former secretary of Heath and Human Services under Clinton, to investigate multiple problems at military and Veterans Administration hospitals throughout the United States in March 2007. In April 2007, Dole received three major awards. The National Hospice Foundation recognized his leadership in enacting legislation on behalf of hospice and people with disabilities, and the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation honored him with its lifetime achievement award for his continued support of disabled people. Finally, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recognized Dole for his contributions and policies to aid low income families, particularly those with nutritional needs. The United States Association of Former Members of Congress presented to Dole its Distinguished Service Award for his lifetime of noteworthy service to his country in May 2007.

Though he remained out of elected office, Dole remained politically active throughout the early twenty-first century despite continued health issues. After endorsing Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination in the 2012 presidential race, he returned to the Senate to lobby for the ratification of a bill that would support his efforts to aid individuals with disabilities at an even greater level. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was a United Nations treaty that, if passed, would serve an international purpose similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure that those with disabilities in other countries would receive the same benefits as those in the United States. However, the measure failed to meet the required votes for ratification. Dole also remained a regular adviser with the law firm Alston & Bird. In 2014 he set off on a reunion tour of his home state of Kansas, as a means for him to directly thank the people who had supported him over his long career. He also made various media appearances, including commercials in which he poked fun at his own reputation, including his repeated inability to win the presidency.

Dole endorsed Republican nominee and eventual victor Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, after his initial preferred candidates dropped out of the race. He was the only former Republican presidential nominee to endorse Trump and to appear at the Republican convention where Trump was officially nominated. In 2018 Dole was presented the Congressional Gold Medal for his national service. Meanwhile, his health continued to deteriorate, leading him to use a wheelchair in public appearances. In February 2021 it was announced that he had been diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer and would be undergoing treatment. He died on December 5, 2021, at the age of ninety-eight.

Significance

Bob Dole served his country in war and in Washington as a congressman and senator for thirty-five years, leaving a major impact on American politics. Particularly throughout his long Senate career, he demonstrated shrewd political instincts and played a role in many important legislative achievements. He blended deep conservative values with a willingness to at times go against his party's line and get bipartisan deals done. However, despite his effectiveness, Dole was often criticized as an unsmiling “hatchet man” with few clear convictions of his own and a willingness to serve wealthy lobbyists. He became notorious for his sardonic, strident attacks on opponents and a tendency to blame others for his political defeats. Those defeats, especially his failed presidential campaigns, also greatly shaped his public image. Dole did refine his image somewhat after leaving elected office, showing an ability to joke about himself, and is widely remembered as a key figure in American politics of the second half of the twentieth-century.

Bibliography

Balz, Dan. "Bob Dole, on Kansas Tour, Takes a Gracious Look Back While Still Eyeing GOP's Future." Washington Post. Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.

Dean, Virgil W., ed. John Brown to Bob Dole: Movers and Shakers in Kansas History. Lawrence: UP of Kansas, 2006.

Dole, Bob. One Soldier’s Story: A Memoir. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.

Dole, Bob, and Elizabeth Dole, with Richard Norton Smith. The Doles: Unlimited Partners. New York: Simon, 1988.

Hilton, Stanley G. Bob Dole: American Political Phoenix. Chicago: Contemporary, 1988.

Hilton, Stanley G. Senator for Sale: An Unauthorized Biography of Senator Bob Dole. New York: St. Martin’s, 1995.

Seelye, Katharine Q. "Bob Dole, Old Soldier and Stalwart of the Senate, Dies at 98." The New York Times, 6 Dec. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/us/politics/bob-dole-dead.html. Accessed 6 Dec. 2021.

Wertime, Marcia. Bob Dole: Politician. Philadelphia: Chelsea, 1997.

Williams, Donald. Upstream Cloudburst: Russell, the War, and the Shaping of Bob Dole. Wichita: Wichita Eagle and Beacon, 1996.

Woodward, Bob. The Choice. New York: Simon, 1996.