Former Senator Bob Dole died Sunday morning December 5, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation announced. “At his death, at the age of 98, he had served the United States faithfully for seventy-nine years”, said the Foundation, specifying that he had died ” in his sleep “. Bob Dole announced in 2018 that he was suffering from stage 4 lung cancer.
“Senator Bob Dole was a great man who lived an extraordinary life in the service of America and he will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him”, reacted the former vice-president, Mike Pence.
Thirty-six years in the Capitol
Three-time candidate for the Republican Party nomination for the White House, Bob Dole was dismissed by Ronald Reagan in 1980, then by George Bush Sr. in 1988, before winning in 1996. Outgoing President Bill Clinton, s ‘will however easily impose against this 73-year-old man, who seemed outdated in the era of television politics.
He entered Congress in 1961, first as a representative, then as a senator from Kansas. During his thirty-six years on Capitol Hill, he had become one of the Senate’s most influential lawmakers and party leader.
Returning a medalist but seriously injured from the Second World War, he learned to walk again and regained control of his body, with the exception of his right arm. He dedicated the last years of his life to the cause of veterans.
He was married to Elizabeth Dole, who herself had a distinguished political career as Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Labor, and Senator from North Carolina.