Bob Dole, a former Republican Leader of the U.S. Senate for Kansas, died this past Sunday at 98 years old. The Elizabeth Dole Foundation confirmed that Dole had died in his sleep. In February of this year, Dole revealed that he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and was beginning his treatment.
For the past 79 years, Dole has unconditionally served the United States of America. He was a World War II veteran, an attorney, a member of the U.S. Congress, and a presidential nominee.
After World War II, Dole returned to college and went to law school to become an attorney. Shortly after receiving his law degree, he started to be more involved in politics. Not only was he an elected attorney in Russell County, but an elected member in the state of Kansas. His campaigns were successful, leading him to be a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Less than a decade later, he successfully won a seat in the U.S. Senate that lasted for six presidential terms.
In 1945, Dole was wounded fighting in Italy. His injuries were very severe which left him disabled permanently disabled in his right arm and his left arm working minimally. He then became an advocate for the disability community and played a crucial significant role to convince lawmakers to pass the Americans With Disabilities Act. Passing this disability law was considered to be one of his greatest achievements.
Dole was the most politically involved man of his time. Back in the mid-1970s, he was nominated for the Vice President ticket for Gerald Ford in the 1976 election, and ran for president in 1980 and 1988. Dole served as a Senate Majority Leader from 1985 until 1987. Shortly after, he then became a minority leader from 1987 until 1995, where he then became a majority leader again in 1995 until 1996. In 1996, he stepped out to run in the presidential election and became the GOP nominee, but lost to Bill Clinton.
Robert Joseph Dole will lie in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Thursday, December 9th, and a funeral ceremony will be held on Friday, December 10th at 9:30 a.m. at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Dole’s funeral will be live streamed at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall. You can watch the livestream on via Washington National Cathedral’s Youtube page.