Bob Dole

Dole was born on July 22, 1923, in Russell, Kansas, the son of Bina M. (née Talbott; 1904–1983) and Doran Ray Dole (1901–1975).{{cite web|url=http://www.wargs.com/political/dole.html|title=Ancestry of Robert Dole (b. 1923)|publisher=Wargs.com|access-date=June 17, 2010}} His father, who had moved the family to Russell shortly before Robert was born, earned money by running a small creamery. One of Dole's father's customers was the father of his future Senate colleague Arlen Specter.{{cite web|url=http://www.law.upenn.edu/blogs/news/archives/2011/03/qa_with_senator_arlen_specter.html|title=Q&A with Senator Arlen Specter (Penn Law News & Stories)|publisher=Law.upenn.edu|date=March 3, 2011|access-date=April 8, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317045337/http://www.law.upenn.edu/blogs/news/archives/2011/03/qa_with_senator_arlen_specter.html|archive-date=March 17, 2011}} The Doles lived in a house at 1035 North Maple in Russell and it remained his official residence throughout his political career.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984325-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107040958/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984325-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 7, 2012|magazine=Time|title=Campaign '96: Russell, Kansas: You Can Go Home Again|date=April 1, 1996}}

Dole graduated from Russell High School in the spring of 1941{{cite web|url=http://www.usd407.org/rhs/Alumni/1941.htm|title=Hebron High School 1914 Alumni|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050530131659/http://www.usd407.org/rhs/Alumni/1941.htm|archive-date=May 30, 2005}} and enrolled at the University of Kansas the following fall. Dole had been a star high school athlete in Russell, and Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen traveled to Russell to recruit him to play for the Jayhawks basketball team. While at KU, Dole was on the basketball team, the track team, and the football team. In football, Dole played at the end position. In 1942 he was a teammate of the founder and longtime owner of the Tennessee Titans Bud Adams, Adams's only season playing football at Kansas.{{cite web|title=KU Football rosters 1940–1949|url=http://kuathletics.com/documents/2016/1/11//1940_49_Rosters.pdf?id=4066|website=KUAthletics.com|access-date=April 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406040506/http://kuathletics.com/documents/2016/1/11//1940_49_Rosters.pdf?id=4066|archive-date=April 6, 2018|url-status=dead}} While in college, Dole joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity, and in 1970 he was bestowed with the Fraternity's "Man of the Year" honor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kappasigma.org/man-of-the-year/|title=Man of the Year|website=Kappa Sigma Fraternity}} Dole's collegiate studies were interrupted by World War II, when he enlisted in the United States Army.{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3332/text|title=Text – H.R.3332 – 115th Congress (2017–2018): Bob Dole Congressional Gold Medal Act|last=Lynn|first=Jenkins|date=July 20, 2017|website=congress.gov|language=en|access-date=June 6, 2018}}

Dole attended the University of Arizona in Tucson from 1948 to 1949, before transferring to Washburn University in Topeka, where he graduated with both undergraduate and law degrees in 1952.{{Cite web|url=http://history.house.gov/People/Detail/12331|title=Dole, Robert Joseph |website= US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives |language=en|access-date=July 10, 2018}}

Dole joined the United States Army's Enlisted Reserve Corps in 1942 to fight in World War II, becoming 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, Dole was seriously wounded by a German shell that struck his upper back and right arm, shattering his collarbone and part of his spine. "I lay face down in the dirt," Dole said. "I could not see or move my arms. I thought they were missing."

As Lee Sandlin describes, when fellow soldiers saw the extent of his injuries, they believed all they could do was "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."{{cite web|url=http://www.leesandlin.com/articles/LosingTheWar.htm|title=Losing the War |first1=Lee |last1=Sandlin |publisher=Leesandlin.com|access-date=June 17, 2010}}

Dole was paralyzed from the neck down and transported to a military hospital near Kansas. Having blood clots, a life-threatening infection, and a fever of almost {{convert|109|F|C}}, he was expected to die. After large doses of penicillin were not successful, he overcame the infection with the administration of streptomycin, one of the first ever uses of that drug in a human.{{cite web |last1=Bilbray |first1=Brian P. |title=Antibiotic treatments over the past century |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2012-12-31/html/CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgE2023-4.htm |website=Congressional Record Online |publisher=Government Publishing Office |access-date=22 August 2023 |date=December 31, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230822230313/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2012-12-31/html/CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgE2023-4.htm |archive-date= Aug 22, 2023 }}Dole, B. One Soldier's Story, pp. 202–04.{{cite book |vauthors= Cramer RB |title=What it takes : the way to the White House |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-394-56260-5 |edition=1st |pages = 110–111}} He remained despondent, "not ready to accept the fact that my life would be changed forever". He was encouraged to see Hampar Kelikian, an orthopedist in Chicago who had been working with veterans returning from war. Although during their first meeting Kelikian told Dole that he would never be able to recover fully, the encounter changed Dole's outlook on life, who years later wrote of Kelikian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide, "Kelikian inspired me to focus on what I had left and what I could do with it, rather than complaining what had been lost." Dr. K, as Dole later came to affectionately call him, operated on him seven times, free of charge, and had, in Dole's words, "an impact on my life second only to my family".{{cite book|last=Bobelian|first=Michael|title=Children of Armenia: A Forgotten Genocide and the Century-long Struggle for Justice|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|year=2009|pages=164–65|isbn=978-1-4165-5725-8}}

File:Bob Dole and Daniel Inouye at Percy Jones Army Hospital.jpg (left) with Dole (next to Inouye) playing cards while recovering at Percy Jones Army Hospital (now Hart–Dole–Inouye Federal Center) in the mid-1940s.]]

Dole recovered from his wounds at the Percy Jones Army Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. This complex of federal buildings, no longer a hospital, is now named Hart–Dole–Inouye Federal Center in honor of three patients who became United States Senators: Dole, Philip Hart, and Daniel Inouye. Dole was decorated three times, receiving two Purple Hearts for his injuries, and the Bronze Star with "V" Device for valor for his attempt to assist a downed radioman. The injuries left him with limited mobility in his right arm and numbness in his left arm. He minimized the effect in public by keeping a pen in his right hand, and learned to write with his left hand.{{cite news |last=Seelye |first=Katharine Q. |date=April 14, 1996 |title=War Wounds Shape Life, and Politics, for Dole |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/14/us/war-wounds-shape-life-and-politics-for-dole.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 5, 2021}} In 1947, he was medically discharged from the Army as a captain.{{cite book |last1=Brokaw |first1=Tom |authorlink=Tom Brokaw |title=The Greatest Generation |date=November 30, 1998 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |edition=Hardcover |page=354 |chapter=BOB DOLE |isbn=978-0-375-50462-4 |language=en |quote=He(=Bob Dole) spent twenty months in hospitals before his discharge as a captain.}}, {{Google books|YHd-AMoLJgEC|The Greatest Generation|page=354}} {{access-date|December 18, 2021}}

File:Congressman Bob Dole.png

Dole ran for office for the first time in 1950 and was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives, serving a two-year term.{{cite web|title=Dillard to Dyck, Kansas Legislators Past and Present, State Library of Kansas|url=http://www.kslib.info/government-information/legislative-information/kansas-legislators-past-and-present/dillard-to-dyck.html|access-date=March 2, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113211645/http://www.kslib.info/government-information/legislative-information/kansas-legislators-past-and-present/dillard-to-dyck.html|archive-date=November 13, 2013}} During his term he served on the following committees: Assessment and Taxation, Gas and Oil, and Military Affairs and Soldiers Compensation.{{cite journal|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b2945490&view=1up&seq=385 |title=1951 Kansas House Journal |journal=House Journal |publisher=State of Kansas |access-date=December 28, 2019}} He became the County Attorney of Russell County in 1953. Dole was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Kansas's 6th congressional district in 1960.{{Cite news|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/politics/dole-kansas.html|title=A Political Life: Dole's Kansas Years|last=Kolbert|first=Elizabeth|date=May 19, 1996|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} After his first term, Kansas lost a congressional district, and most of Dole's district was merged with the neighboring 2nd district to form a new 1st district, encompassing much of central and western Kansas. Dole was elected from this merged district in 1962 and was re-elected two more times.{{cite web |title=Bob Dole – Kansapedia – Kansas Historical Society |url=https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/bob-dole/16876 |website=kshs.org |publisher=The Kansas Historical Society |access-date=December 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019043305/http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/bob-dole/16876 |archive-date=October 19, 2011}}

During his tenure in the House, Dole voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968,{{cite journal|title=House – February 10, 1964|journal=Congressional Record|volume=110|issue=2|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=2804–2805|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt2/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt2-10-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}{{cite journal|title=House – July 2, 1964|journal=Congressional Record|volume=110|issue=12|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=15897|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt12-4-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}{{cite journal|title=House – August 16, 1967|journal=Congressional Record|volume=113|issue=17|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=22778|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt17/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt17-5-1.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}{{cite journal|title=House – April 10, 1968|journal=Congressional Record|volume=114|issue=8|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=9621|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1968-pt8/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1968-pt8-1-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}} as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.{{cite journal|title=House – August 27, 1962|journal=Congressional Record|volume=108|issue=13|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=17670|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1962-pt13/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1962-pt13-7-1.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}{{cite journal|title=House – July 9, 1965|journal=Congressional Record|volume=111|issue=12|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=16285–16286|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt12-3-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}{{cite journal|title=House – August 3, 1965|journal=Congressional Record|volume=111|issue=14|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=19201|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14-5-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}

In 1968, Dole defeated former Kansas Governor William H. Avery for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate to succeed retiring Senator Frank Carlson. He subsequently won the seat in the general election. Dole was re-elected in 1974, 1980, 1986, and 1992, before resigning on June 11, 1996, to focus on his presidential campaign.{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2009/06/dole-resigns-from-senate-to-focus-on-presidential-bid-june-11-1996-023593|title=Dole resigns from Senate to focus on presidential bid|date= June 11, 1996|work=Politico|access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en}}

While in the Senate, Dole served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1971 to 1973, the ranking Republican on the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry from 1975 to 1978, and the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Finance from 1981 to 1985.{{Cite web|url=https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/senator-roberts-makes-history-becoming-top-republican-on-senate-agriculture-committee|title=Senator Roberts Makes History, Becoming Top Republican on Senate Agriculture Committee {{!}} The United States Senate Committee On Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry|website=www.agriculture.senate.gov|date=February 2011 |language=en|access-date=June 6, 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-eisele/bob-dole-interview_b_1260703.html|title=Bob Dole: Still a Man to be Reckoned With|last=Eisele|first=Al|date=February 7, 2012|website=HuffPost|language=en-US|access-date=June 6, 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/bob-dole-elected-as-senate-republican-leader-nov-28-1984-216193|title=Bob Dole elected Senate Republican leader, Nov. 28, 1984|work=Politico|access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en}} In November 1984, Dole was elected Senate Majority Leader, defeating Ted Stevens 28–25, in the fourth round of balloting.{{Cite web|title=CQ Almanac Online Edition|url=https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/login.php?requested=%2Fcqalmanac%2Fdocument.php%3Fid%3Dcqal84-1151429|access-date=November 10, 2021|website=library.cqpress.com}}

File:U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS ROBERT DOLE, STANDS ON A PICK-UP TRUCK BED WHICH IS ONE OF THE PARADE UNITS IN COTTONWOOD... - NARA - 557059.jpg, 1974. Photo by Patricia DuBose Duncan.]]

The continuing war in Vietnam was the dominant source of political division on Capitol Hill in the early 1970s; in 1970 Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota took the Senate floor and condemned the role of the deliberative assembly in maintaining the U.S. presence in Vietnam, saying the Senate chamber "reeks of blood", soon followed by freshman Republican senator Dole on the floor, who vociferously attacked McGovern. Dole was appointed chair of the Republican National Committee the next year.{{cite book |last1=Mann |first1=Thomas E. |last2=Ornstein |first2=Norman J. |title=The Broken Branch: How Congress is Failing America and how to Get it Back on Track |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-536871-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIE8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 |language=en}} Over time in the Senate, Dole was seen by some as having a moderate voting record.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/slideshow/soldier-statesman-bob-dole-s-life-public-service-n837896|title=From soldier to statesman: Bob Dole's life of public service|publisher=NBC News|access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en-US}} During the following years of the 1970s, Dole and McGovern worked together on the Senate Hunger and Human Needs Committee. They partnered to help pass legislation making food stamps and school lunches more accessible,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/opinion/food-stamp-politics.html|title=Opinion {{!}} Food Stamp Politics|last=Samuels|first=Dorothy|date=May 20, 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite book |author1=C.Q. Researcher |title=Issues in News and Reporting: Selections from CQ Researcher |date=2017 |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-1-5443-2226-1 |page=162 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udBEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA162 |language=en}} and fraud more difficult. They expanded the school lunch program and helped establish the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), a federal assistance program for low-income pregnant women, breast-feeding women and children under the age of five.{{cite news |last1=Henneberger |first1=Melinda |title=Bob Dole honored for work in helping to feed the poor |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bob-dole-honored-for-work-in-helping-to-feed-the-poor/2013/12/12/667b36ac-635c-11e3-aa81-e1dab1360323_story.html |access-date=12 December 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=12 December 2013}}

Dole served on congressional agriculture committees throughout the course of his political career, and became the Republican Party's chief spokesman on farm policy and nutrition issues in the Senate. When Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, Dole held the chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture Committee's Nutrition Subcommittee and the Senate Finance Committee. Together with McGovern, Dole spearheaded the elimination of the purchase requirement to receive food stamp benefits{{cite book |last1=Schuldes |first1=Martin |title=Retrenchment in the American Welfare State: The Reagan and Clinton Administrations in Comparative Perspective |date=2011 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-643-90153-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8beGZfORDgIC&pg=PA528 |page=528 |language=en}} and the simplification of eligibility requirements.{{cite web |url=https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/CAT87202100/PDF |title=A Guide To Understanding The 1977 Food And Agricultural Legislation, by Thomas A. Stucker and WUliam T. Boehm; National Economic Analysis Division; Economics, Statistics, and Cooperatives Service; U.S.Department of Agriculture. AER-411. |page=2 |access-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025002246/https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/CAT87202100/PDF |url-status=dead }}

Facing a reluctant President and Congress as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in 1982, Dole was the driving force behind a large tax increase, promoting it as a reform measure to collect money owed by tax cheats and under-taxed businesses.{{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Timothy B. |title=THE CLOUT OF THE 'NEW' BOB DOLE |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/12/magazine/the-clout-of-the-new-bob-dole.html |access-date=12 December 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=12 December 1982}} In December of that year, The New York Times referred to Dole as changing from "hard-line conservative" to "mainstream Republicanism".{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/12/magazine/the-clout-of-the-new-bob-dole.html|title=The Clout of the 'New' Bob Dole|date=December 12, 1982|last=Clark|first=Timothy B.|newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en}} He became Senate Majority leader in 1985 initially serving in that position for two years. Democrats took control of the Senate following the 1986 United States Senate elections, and Dole became Senate Minority Leader for the next eight years. Dole was a major supporter and advocate of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The Republicans took control of both the Senate and House of Representatives in the 1994 midterm elections, due to the fallout from President Bill Clinton's policies including his health care plan, and Dole became Senate Majority Leader for the second time. In October 1995, a year before the presidential election, Dole and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich led the Republican-controlled Congress to pass a spending bill that President Clinton vetoed, leading to the federal government shutdown from 1995 to 1996. On November 13, Republican and Democratic leaders, including Vice President Al Gore, Dick Armey, and Dole, met to try to resolve the budget and were unable to reach an agreement.

{{cite book|last=Clinton|first=Bill|title=My Life|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|year=2004|isbn=0-375-41457-6|url=https://archive.org/details/mylifeclin00clin/page/n718 |pages=680–684|quote=Armey replied gruffly that if I didn't give in to them, they would shut the government down and my presidency would be over. I shot back, saying I would never allow their budget to become law, 'even if I drop to 5 percent in the polls. If you want your budget, you'll have to get someone else to sit in this chair!' Not surprisingly, we didn't make a deal.}} By January 1996, Dole was more open to compromise to end the shutdown (as he was campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination), 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/us/politics/03boehner.html|work=The New York Times|first=Jennifer|last=Steinhauer|title=John Boehner, New House Speaker, Will Face Tough Challenges|date=November 3, 2010}} Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos cited the shutdown as having a role in Clinton's successful re-election campaign.Stephanopoulos, George. All Too Human Back Bay Books, 2000, pp. 406–407. {{ISBN|978-0316930161}} 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.{{cite web|title=Remarks on the Impact of the Budget Impasse and an Exchange With Reporters|url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PPP-1996-book1/html/PPP-1996-book1-doc-pg2.htm|date=January 3, 1996|first=Bill|last=Clinton|author-link=Bill Clinton|publisher=Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States}}

From 1992 to 1996, Dole played a major role in mobilizing support for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Senate, and pressuring the Clinton administration and NATO to resolve the war there.Hamza Karčić, "Saving Bosnia on Capitol Hill: the case of Senator Bob Dole." Journal of Transatlantic Studies 13.1 (2015): 20-39.

In 1996, Dole was the first sitting Senate Party Leader to receive his party's nomination for president. 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. Dole resigned his seat on June 11, 1996, to focus on the campaign, saying he had "nowhere to go but the White House or home".{{cite news|last=Berke|first=Richard L.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/16/us/politics-overview-dole-says-he-will-leave-senate-focus-presidential-race.html|title=Dole says he will leave Senate to focus on presidential race|work=The New York Times|date=May 16, 1996|access-date=June 17, 2010}}

Dole ran unsuccessfully for vice president on a ticket headed by President Gerald Ford in 1976. Incumbent Vice President Nelson Rockefeller had announced the previous November his retirement from politics, opting against a run for a full term as vice president, and Dole was chosen as Ford's running mate. Dole was known for his sarcastic one-liner comments, often directed against himself,{{cite news |last1=Astor |first1=Maggie |title=A Chicken-Fried McGovern, Newt's Good Ideas and the Senate Zoo: A Dole One-Liner Sampler |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/us/politics/bob-dole-humor.html |access-date=December 6, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=December 5, 2021}} and during the vice presidential debate replied to Walter Mondale concerning the issues of Watergate scandal and the Pardon of Richard Nixon, "It is an appropriate topic, I guess, but it's not a very good issue any more than the war in Vietnam would be or World War II or World War I or the war in Korea—all Democrat wars, all in this century. I figured 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."{{cite book |title=The Presidential Campaign 1976 |date=1978 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4bqBAzYSIwC&pg=PA175 |volume=3 |language=en}} Many voters felt that Dole's criticism was unfairly harsh, and that his dispassionate delivery made him seem cold. Years later, Dole would remark that he regretted the comment, believing that it had hurt the Republican ticket.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130211010115/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/debatingourdestiny/interviews/dole.html Bob Dole interview], November 10, 1999. PBS.org.

File:1976 Republican National Convention.jpg in Kansas City with (from left) Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, President Gerald Ford, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Susan Ford and Betty Ford|187x187px]]

Dole ran for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, eventually won by Ronald Reagan. Despite Dole's national exposure from the '76 campaign, he finished behind Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and four others in Iowa and New Hampshire, receiving only 2.5% and 0.4% of votes cast in those contests, respectively.{{Cite news|url=http://www.unionleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/news0605/110509963|title=1980: Reagan begins his sweep {{!}} New Hampshire|work=UnionLeader.com|access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en|archive-date=June 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619140101/http://www.unionleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F99999999%2FNEWS0605%2F110509963|url-status=dead}} Dole ceased campaigning after the New Hampshire results and announced his formal withdrawal from the race on March 15, instead being re-elected to his third term as Senator that year.{{Cite news|last=Clark|first=Timothy B.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/12/magazine/the-clout-of-the-new-bob-dole.html|title=The Clout of the 'New' Bob Dole|date=December 12, 1982|work=The New York Times Magazine|access-date=April 22, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

Dole made another attempt for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, formally announcing his candidacy in his hometown of Russell, Kansas, on November 9, 1987.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/10/us/dole-makes-his-presidential-bid-official.html|work=The New York Times|title=Dole Makes His Presidential Bid Official|first=Bernard|last=Weinraub|date=November 10, 1987|access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en}} At the ceremony, Dole was presented by the VFW with a cigar box, similar to the one he had used to collect donations for his war-related medical expenses, containing more than $7,000 in campaign donations.{{cite news |last1=Brownstein |first1=Ronald |title=Dole's Hometown Folks Turn Out to Rally for 'Their Boy' : Campaign: Russell residents, who helped the Kansas Republican in his darkest hours after WWII, present him with a new cigar box of contributions. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-15-mn-55030-story.html |access-date=December 6, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 15, 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206021153/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-15-mn-55030-story.html |archive-date=December 6, 2021}} Dole started out strongly by defeating Vice President George H. W. Bush in the Iowa caucus—Bush finished third, behind television evangelist Pat Robertson.{{Cite news|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/09/us/dole-wins-in-iowa-with-robertson-next.html|title=Dole Wins in Iowa, With Robertson Next|first=E. J. Jr.|last=Dionne|access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en|date=February 9, 1988}}

[[File:1988RepublicanPresidentialPrimaries.svg|thumb|During the 1988 primaries Dole won Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming and his home state of Kansas.

{{legend|#a59400|George H. W. Bush}}

{{legend|#73638c|Bob Dole}}

{{legend|#668c63|Pat Robertson}}]]

Bush defeated Dole in the New Hampshire primary a week later. After the returns had come in on the night of that primary, Dole appeared to lose his temper in a television interview with Tom Brokaw, saying Bush should "stop lying about my record", in response to a Bush commercial which accused Dole of "straddling" on taxes.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/17/us/bush-vs-dole-behind-the-turnaround.html|title=Bush vs. Dole: Behind the Turnaround|author1=Gerald M. Boyd|author2=E. J. Dionne Jr.|author3=Bernard Weinraub |work=The New York Times|date=March 17, 1988 |access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en}}

Despite a key endorsement by Senator Strom Thurmond, 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. This was followed by another loss in Illinois, which persuaded Dole to withdraw from the race.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/30/us/bush-nomination-seems-assured-as-dole-leaves-republican-race.html|title=Bush Nomination Seems Assured As Dole Leaves Republican Race|first=Bernard|last=Weinraub|date=March 30, 1988|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 6, 2018|language=en}}

File:Senators Faircloth, Dole, Helms, and Thurmond show their enthusiasm for the Carolinas' new football team -- The Carolina Panthers.jpg, Jesse Helms, and Strom Thurmond show their enthusiasm for the Carolinas' new football team, 1993 – The Carolina Panthers]]

{{Main|Bob Dole 1996 presidential campaign}}

{{Further|1996 Republican Party presidential primaries|1996 United States presidential election}}

Despite the 1994 elections, President Clinton's popularity soared due to a booming economy and public opinion polls supporting him in the 1995 budget shutdown. As a result, Clinton and Vice President Al Gore faced no serious opposition in the Democratic primaries.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/history/2016/08/bob_dole_backs_donald_trump_bu.html|title=Bob Dole backs Donald Trump, but 20 years ago his campaign rejected embryonic Trumpism|first=Douglas |last=Perry |date=August 25, 2016|website=The Oregonian}} A few months before his death in April 1994, Richard Nixon warned Dole, "If the economy's good, you're not going to beat Clinton."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bob-dole-on-life-after-losing-the-1996-presidential-election/2012/09/28/eaef4102-f78e-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html|title=Bob Dole on life after losing the 1996 presidential election|first=Bob|last=Dole|date=September 30, 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post}} Dole was the early front runner for the GOP nomination in the 1996 presidential race. At least eight candidates ran for the nomination. Dole 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. Pat Buchanan upset Dole in the early New Hampshire primary, however, with Dole finishing second and former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander finishing third. Speechwriter Kerry Tymchuk observed, "Dole was on the ropes because he wasn't conservative enough."

Dole eventually won the nomination, becoming the oldest first-time presidential nominee at the age of 73 years, 1 month (President Ronald Reagan was 73 years, 6 months in 1984, for his second presidential nomination). If elected, he would have become the oldest president to take office and the first Kansas native to become president (as Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Texas). Dole found the initial draft of the nomination acceptance speech written by Mark Helprin too hardline, so Kerry Tymchuk, who was part of the "'Let Dole be Dole' crowd", revised the speech to cover the themes of honor, decency, and straight talk. It included the following line, a gibe at the all-or-nothing rookie Republicans who had ridden the 1994 midterm GOP wave into Congress: "In politics honorable compromise is no sin. It is what protects us from absolutism and intolerance"'.

In his acceptance speech, Dole stated, "Let me be the bridge to an America that only the unknowing call myth. Let me be the bridge to a time of tranquility, faith, and confidence in action,"{{cite web|url=http://www.portlandpublishinghouse.com/bridge.html|title=1996 Bob Dole acceptance speech|publisher=Portlandpublishinghouse.com|access-date=June 17, 2010}} to which incumbent president Bill Clinton responded, "We do not need to build a bridge to the past, we need to build a bridge to the future."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/31/opinion/mr-clinton-s-bridge.html|title=Mr. Clinton's Bridge|work=The New York Times|date=August 31, 1996|access-date=June 17, 2010}}

As told in the Doles' joint biography, Unlimited Partners, speechwriter and biographer Kerry Tymchuk wrote "that he was going to make a statement. He was going to risk it all for the White House. He knew his time as leader was over. It would have been tough to come back [to the Senate as leader] if he lost in November. He knew it was time to move up or move out."

File:Dole-Kemp Rally at UB 1, 1996.jpg]]

Dole promised a 15% across-the-board reduction in income tax rates and made former U.S. representative and supply-side economics advocate Jack Kemp of New York his running mate for vice president. Dole 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 Human Life Amendment. Clinton framed the narrative against Dole early, painting him as a mere clone of unpopular then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, warning America that 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".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/07/us/clinton-and-dole-face-to-face-spar-over-medicare-and-taxes.html|work=The New York Times|title=Clinton And Dole, Face To Face, Spar Over Medicare And Taxes|first=Richard L.|last=Berke|date=October 7, 1996|access-date=April 26, 2010}} Dole's tax-cut plan found itself under attack from the White House, who said it would "blow a hole in the deficit".{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/1996/36/b34915.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970628211536/http://www.businessweek.com/1996/36/b34915.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 28, 1997|title=Medicare, taxes and Dole: a talk with the president|work=Bloomberg BusinessWeek|date=June 14, 1997|access-date=June 17, 2010}}

During the infancy of the Internet, Dole-Kemp was the first presidential campaign to have a website, which was set up by Arizona State college students Rob Kubasko and Vince Salvato, and edged out Clinton-Gore. The Dole-Kemp presidential campaign page is still live as of 2025.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/02/1996/470106/|title=The First Campaign Websites|last=LaFrance|first=Adrienne|date=February 19, 2016|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=February 15, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.dolekemp96.org/|title=Dole Kemp 96 Web Site|website=dolekemp96.org}}

Concerns over Dole's age and lagging campaign were exemplified by an incident on September 18, 1996. At a rally in Chico, California, he was reaching down to shake the hand of a supporter, when the railing on the stage gave way and he tumbled {{convert|4|ft|abbr=on}}. While only slightly injured in the fall, "the televised image of his painful grimace underscored the age difference between him and Clinton" and proved an ominous sign for Republican hopes of retaking the White House.{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1996/09/19/dole-falls-off-stage-at-rally-bounces-back/|title=Dole Falls Off Stage At Rally, Bounces Back|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=September 18, 1996|access-date=November 22, 2016|archive-date=February 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201013638/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1996-09-19/news/9609181328_1_bob-dole-grand-canyon-slogan|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11576072/Thought-Ed-Milibands-stumble-was-bad-These-politicians-had-much-worse-falls.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11576072/Thought-Ed-Milibands-stumble-was-bad-These-politicians-had-much-worse-falls.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Thought Ed Miliband's stumble was bad? These politicians had much worse falls|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=April 30, 2015|access-date=July 23, 2017}}{{cbignore}}

During the latter half of October 1996, Dole made a campaign appearance with Heather Whitestone, the first deaf Miss America, where both of them signed "I love you" to the crowd. Around that time, Dole and his advisers knew that they would lose the election, but in the last four days of the campaign they went on the "96-hour victory tour" to help Republican House candidates.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/05/politics/crowley-losing-side/index.html|title=Crowley: It's the losing campaigns I remember most|publisher=CNN|date=November 5, 2012}}

Dole lost, as pundits had long expected, to incumbent President Bill 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%.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/elections/natl.exit.poll/index1.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=April 26, 2010|title=Presidential Election Exit Poll Results – Part 1}} As Nixon had predicted, Clinton was able to ride a booming economy to a second term in the White House.

[[File:1996prescountymap2.PNG|thumb|right|Election results by county

{{legend|#1560BD|Bill Clinton|border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}

{{legend|#E32636|Bob Dole|border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}]]

Dole was the first losing vice presidential nominee to be nominated since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dole's loss makes him the only person to lose elections for both the vice presidency and the presidency in the history of the United States.{{cite web |title=United States Presidential Election Results |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/index.html |website=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |access-date=16 September 2018}} Dole was the last World War II veteran to have been the presidential nominee of a major party.{{cite web |last1=Schieffer |first1=Bob |title=Bob Dole, World War II veteran, senator and presidential nominee, has died at 98 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bob-dole-dies-age-98-senator-presidential-nominee/ |publisher=CBS News |access-date=December 5, 2021 |date=December 5, 2021}} During the campaign, Dole's advanced age was brought up, with critics stating that he was too old to be president.{{cite web |last1=Genovese |first1=Michael A. |title=PERSPECTIVES ON CAMPAIGN '96 : Is Dole Too Old to Be President? |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-13-me-3600-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=December 5, 2021 |date=May 13, 1996}}

In his election night concession speech, Dole remarked "I was thinking on the way down in the elevator – tomorrow will be the first time in my life I don't have anything to do." Dole later wrote "I was wrong. Seventy-two hours after conceding the election, I was swapping wisecracks with David Letterman on his late-night show." During the immediate aftermath of his 1996 loss to Clinton, Dole recalled that his critics thought that "I didn't loosen up enough, I didn't show enough leg. They said I was too serious . . . It takes several months to stop fretting about it and move on. But I did." Dole remarked that his decisive defeat to Clinton made it easier for him to be "magnanimous". On his decision to leave politics for good after the 1996 presidential election campaign, despite his guaranteed stature as a former Senate leader, Dole stated, "People were urging [me] to be a hatchet man against Clinton for the next four years. I couldn't see the point. Maybe after all those partisan fights, you look for more friendships. One of the nice things I've discovered is that when you're out of politics, you have more credibility with the other side . . . And you're out among all kinds of people, and that just doesn't happen often for an ex-president; he doesn't have the same freedom. So it hasn't been all bad."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27100-2005Feb15.html|title=What Might Have Been|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 20, 2005}}

The 1996 presidential election, despite ending in a loss, opened up numerous opportunities for Dole owing in part to his sense of humor. He engaged in a career of writing, consulting, public speaking, and television appearances. Dole was the first defeated presidential nominee to become a political celebrity.

In November 1996, Dole appeared on Late Show with David Letterman and also made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live, parodying himself (shortly after losing the presidential election). He guest-starred as himself on NBC's Brooke Shields sitcom Suddenly Susan in January 1997.

Dole became a television commercial spokesman for such products as Viagra, Visa Inc, Dunkin' Donuts, and Pepsi (with Britney Spears). He was an occasional political commentator on the interview program Larry King Live, and was a guest a number of times on Comedy Central's satirical news program, The Daily Show. Dole was, for a short time in 2003, a commentator opposite Bill Clinton on CBS's 60 Minutes.

File:Bill Clinton and officials on Air Force One.jpg, Senator (and future President) Joe Biden and other officials on a December 1997 trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina]]

After leaving office, Dole joined the Washington, D.C. firm Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, where he was a registered lobbyist on behalf of foreign governments (including those of Kosovo, Taiwan, and Slovenia); the American Society of Anesthesiologists; Tyco International; and the Chocolate Industry Coalition.{{Cite news|last=Sarasohn|first=Judy|date=February 12, 2003|title=Dole to Join Law Firm Based in Atlanta|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/02/12/dole-to-join-law-firm-based-in-atlanta/ed69d160-6218-46f9-93b3-00c40d13b5f0/|access-date=December 7, 2021|issn=0190-8286}} In 2003, after Verner, Liipfert was acquired by DLA Piper,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2003/02/10/daily33.html|access-date=December 7, 2021|work=The Business Journals|title = Bob Dole to join Alston & Bird|date = February 10, 2003}} Dole joined the Washington, D.C. law and lobbying firm Alston & Bird, where he continued his lobbying career.{{Cite news|title=Bob Dole Lobbied Trump Team On Outreach To Taiwan|language=en|publisher=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/12/07/504723698/bob-dole-lobbied-trump-team-on-outreach-to-taiwan|last=Overby|first=Peter|date=2016-12-07|access-date=December 7, 2021}}{{Cite news|last1=Davis|first1=Julie Hirschfeld|last2=Lipton|first2=Eric|date=December 6, 2016|title=Bob Dole Worked Behind the Scenes on Trump-Taiwan Call|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/us/politics/bob-dole-taiwan-lobby-trump.html|access-date=December 7, 2021|issn=0362-4331}} While working for Alston & Bird, Dole was registered as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in order to represent the government of the Republic of China in Washington.

Dole was head of the Federal City Council, a group of business, civic, education, and other leaders interested in economic development in Washington, D.C., from 1998 to 2002.{{cite news|last=Roman|first=Dave|title=Dole Remains a Winner Despite Most-Notable Loss|work=Florida Times-Union|date=December 3, 1997|access-date=December 10, 2013|url=http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120397/2b1Roman.html|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|last=Trescott|first=Jacqueline|title=Music Museum Proposed for D.C.|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 9, 1998|page=B1|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|last=Resnick|first=Amy B.|title=D.C. Mayor-Elect Williams Chooses Politically Connected Transition Team|work=The Bond Buyer|date=November 13, 1998|page=3|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|last1=Woodlee|first1=Yolanda|last2=Hsu|first2=Spencer|last3=Thomas-Lester|first3=Avis|title=Transition Grumbling|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=November 19, 1998|page=DC1|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|last=Clymer|first=Adam|title=Senator and Delegate Back Plan to Reopen Pennsylvania Avenue|work=The New York Times|date=September 26, 2000|access-date=November 27, 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/26/us/senator-and-delegate-back-plan-to-reopen-pennsylvania-avenue.html}}

Dole was also involved in many volunteer activities. He served as national chairman of the World War II Memorial Campaign, which raised funds for the building of the World War II Memorial. After being built, he visited the memorial on a weekly basis for many years to greet visitors and remember those who served.{{cite news |last=Hendrix |first=Steve |date=June 18, 2018 |title=Bob Dole's final mission |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bob-doles-final-mission/2018/06/18/93962908-6fff-11e8-afd5-778aca903bbe_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 5, 2021}}

Dole also teamed up with his former political rival, Bill Clinton, in 2001 on the Families of Freedom Foundation, a scholarship fund campaign to pay for the college educations for the families of 9/11 victims.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=126665&page=1.html|work=ABC News|title=Dole and Clinton on Scholarship Fund|date=January 6, 2006}} It helped raise more than $100 million.

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 notable speakers as former President Bill Clinton, and awarded the inaugural Dole Leadership Prize to Rudy Giuliani for his leadership as the Mayor of New York City during the September 11 attacks in 2001.{{cite web |title=Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City |url=https://doleinstitute.org/event/rudy-giuliani-former-mayor-of-new-york-city/ |website=Dole Institute |access-date=December 5, 2021 |language=en |date=October 27, 2021}}

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, and along with former Senator George McGovern (D-South Dakota), Dole created an international school lunch program through the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which, funded largely through the Congress, helps fight child hunger and poverty by providing nutritious meals to children in schools in developing countries.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/23/us/public-lives-a-mcgovern-liberal-who-s-content-to-stick-to-the-label.html | title=Public Lives: A McGovern Liberal Who's Content to Stick to the Label | author=Becker, Elizabeth | newspaper=The New York Times | date=July 23, 2001 | author-link=Elizabeth Becker (journalist)}}{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7YIfAAAAIBAJ&pg=4712,1934808 | title=Bush asks McGovern to keep post | newspaper=The Tuscaloosa News | date=January 12, 2001 | page=2A}} This internationally popular program would go on to provide more than 22 million meals to children in 41 countries in its first eight years.{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XwRSAAAAIBAJ&pg=4958,1198025 | title=Farm bill has little aid for needy children abroad | agency=Associated Press | newspaper=Lodi News-Sentinel | date=May 14, 2008 | page=18}}{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-10-14-world-food-prize_N.htm | title=Dole, McGovern school program awarded World Food Prize | author=Jackson, Henry C. | agency=Associated Press | newspaper=USA Today | date=October 14, 2008}} It 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.

Dole offered the inaugural lecture to dedicate the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service on September 18, 2004. During the lecture, he chronicled his life as a public servant and discussed the importance of public service related to defense, civil rights, the economy and daily life.{{cite web |url=http://www.clintonschoolspeakers.com |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729082052/http://www.clintonschoolspeakers.com/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 29, 2012 |title=Clinton School Speakers |publisher=Clinton School Speakers |access-date=June 17, 2010}} Dole also gave the lecture as part Robert C. Vance Distinguished Lecture Series at Central Connecticut State University in 2008.Fillo, Maryellen (April 10, 2008). "A Republican Luminary in Spotlight at CCSU". Hartford Courant.

Dole wrote 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. Dole released his autobiography, One Soldier's Story: A Memoir, on April 12, 2005. The book chronicles his World War II experiences and his battle to survive his war injuries.{{cite book |last1=Dole |first1=Robert J. |title=One Soldier's Story: A Memoir |date=2005 |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |location=New York |isbn=0-06-076341-8 |edition=1st}}

File:Bob Dole VE Day 60th Anniversary.jpg, 2005]]

After the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998, Dole urged his party to practice "restraint" in their reaction to the scandal.{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Phil |title=Dole Advises GOP Restraint |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-13-me-22494-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=20 December 2022 |date=13 September 1998}} After the resulting late-1998 impeachment of President Clinton, Dole proposed that, instead of holding an impeachment trial, the Senate instead censure Clinton and then have Clinton sign the censure himself in the presence of congressional leaders, the Vice President, Cabinet members, and the justices of the Supreme Court.{{Cite news |last=Mackinnon |first=Douglas |date=October 12, 2019 |title=A way around our impeachment debacle: Bob Dole's 'censure' solution |url=https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/465244-a-way-around-our-impeachment-debacle-bob-doles-censure-solution/ |access-date=May 28, 2024 |work=The Hill}} Some Democratic senators came to support the notion of having a censure motion instead of holding an impeachment trial.{{cite news |last1=Dewar |first1=Helen |title=Dole Offers Censure Plan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/dole121698.htm |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=20 December 2022 |date=December 16, 1998}}{{cite web |last1=Berke |first1=Richard L. |title=Impeachment: The Senate; If Vote Is Yes, Senators Say, Trial Is Likely |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/16/us/impeachment-the-senate-if-vote-is-yes-senators-say-trial-is-likely.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=20 December 2022 |date=16 December 1998}}{{cite web |last1=Espo |first1=David |title=Clinton Losing Moderate Republicans |url=https://apnews.com/article/b8878675c59e217c63ef93ec7dd23f48 |work=Associated Press News |access-date=20 December 2022 |language=en |date=December 15, 1998}} However, the Republican-controlled Senate instead held an impeachment trial in which Clinton was acquitted.{{cite web |title=President Clinton's impeachment trial begins |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/clinton-impeachment-trial-begins |website=History |access-date=20 December 2022 |language=en |date=February 9, 2010}}

President George W. Bush appointed Dole and Donna Shalala, former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, as co-chairs of the commission to investigate problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007.{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/06/walter.reed/index.html | publisher=CNN | title=Dole, Shalala to investigate Walter Reed problems | access-date=April 26, 2010}}{{cite news|title=Bush Appoints Dole and Shalala to Head Inquiry on Military Health Care|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/washington/07medical.html|work=The New York Times|date=March 7, 2007}} That same year, Dole joined fellow former Senate majority leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, and George J. Mitchell to found the Bipartisan Policy Center, a non-profit think-tank that works to develop policies suitable for bipartisan support.{{cite web|url=http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/about |title=About BPC | Bipartisan Policy Center |publisher=Bipartisanpolicy.org |access-date=March 5, 2016}} Dole also served as a director for the Asia Universal Bank, a bank domiciled in Kyrgyzstan during the discredited Kurmanbek Bakiyev presidential regime which was subsequently shut down owing to its involvement in money laundering.{{cite magazine| url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/03/paul-manafort-and-the-kyrgyz-connection/ | magazine=The Diplomat | title=Paul Manafort and the Kyrgyz Connection | access-date=August 27, 2018}}

Dole issued a letter critical of Newt Gingrich, focusing on Dole and Gingrich's time working together on Capitol Hill, on January 26, 2012.{{cite news | title = Bob Dole blasts Newt Gingrich in letter |newspaper=The Washington Post | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/bob-dole-blasts-newt-gingrich-in-letter/2012/01/26/gIQAfJMsTQ_blog.html | date = January 26, 2012| access-date=February 3, 2012 | first=Rachel | last=Weiner}} The letter was issued immediately before the 2012 Florida primary. Dole endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination.{{cite web | title = Dole stands by Gingrich criticism |work=The Hill |date=February 3, 2012 |department=Ballot Box | url = https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presidential-primary/104882-dole-stands-by-gingrich-criticism/ | access-date=February 3, 2012 }} Dole cited the association made between himself and Gingrich as fellow Congressional leaders in Democratic advertisements as a key factor for his 1996 presidential defeat.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/if-ties-werent-chilly-before-gingrich-dole-put-relationship-on-ice|title=If ties weren't chilly before, Gingrich, Dole put relationship on ice|first=Joy|last=Lin|date=March 25, 2015|publisher=Fox News}}

Dole appeared on the Senate floor to advocate ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on December 4, 2012. Democratic U.S. senator John Kerry of Massachusetts explained: "Bob Dole is here because he wants to know that other countries will come to treat the disabled as we do." The Senate rejected the treaty by a vote of 61–38, less than the 66 required for ratification. Many Republican senators voted against the bill, fearing it would interfere with American sovereignty.{{cite news|last=Jennifer|first=Steinhauer|title=Dole Appears, but G.O.P. Rejects a Disabilities Treaty|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/us/despite-doles-wish-gop-rejects-disabilities-treaty.html |access-date=December 6, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 4, 2012}} Dole began a reunion tour of his home state of Kansas in early 2014, seeking to visit each of the state's 105 counties. At each stop he spent approximately an hour speaking with old friends and well-wishers.{{cite web |url=http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article345695/Touring-Kansas-former-Sen.-Bob-Dole-to-make-three-stops-in-KC-area.html |title=Touring Kansas, former Sen. Bob Dole to make three stops in KC area|work=kansascity}} Dole endorsed and campaigned for incumbent Kansas Senator Pat Roberts during the latter's 2014 re-election bid.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/02/pat-roberts-unleases-his-secret-weapon-bob-dole/ |title=Pat Roberts unleashes his secret weapon: Bob Dole|author=Nia-Malika Henderson|date=October 2, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post}}

In 2015, Dole endorsed former Florida governor Jeb Bush in his presidential campaign. After Bush ended his campaign following the South Carolina primary, Dole endorsed Florida senator Marco Rubio's campaign.{{cite web|title = Bob Dole Endorses Marco Rubio in 2016 Race|url = https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-bob-dole-endorses-marco-rubio-2016-race/story?id=37117597|work = ABC News|date = February 22, 2016|access-date=February 22, 2016}} During the campaign, Dole criticized Texas senator Ted Cruz, stating that he "question[ed] his allegiance to the party" and that there would be "wholesale losses" if he were to win the Republican nomination.{{cite web|author=Maggie Haberman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/20/bob-dole-warns-of-cataclysmic-losses-with-ted-cruz-and-says-donald-trump-would-do-better/ |title=Bob Dole Warns of 'Cataclysmic' Losses With Ted Cruz, and Says Donald Trump Would Do Better |work=The New York Times |date=January 20, 2016 |access-date=February 9, 2017}} Dole endorsed Donald Trump after the latter clinched the Republican nomination,{{cite web |url=http://www.vnews.com/home/20848986-95/column-at-92-bob-dole-still-talks-tough-about-his-party |title=Column: At 92, Bob Dole Still Talks Tough — About His Party |publisher=Valley News |date=February 7, 2016 |access-date=March 5, 2016}} while all other then-living Republican presidential nominees, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney refused to do so,{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36214738|title=Former Republican presidents will not endorse Trump|work=BBC News|date=May 5, 2016}} and became the lone former nominee to attend the 2016 Republican National Convention.{{cite news|last1=Costa|first1=Robert|last2=Rucker|first2=Philip|title=Trump's campaign is a resurrection — and second chance — for Dole alumni|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-campaign-is-a-resurrection--and-second-chance--for-dole-alumni/2016/07/18/b75965c0-4b90-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html |access-date=July 19, 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 18, 2016}} Dole had attended every GOP convention since 1964, and did not consider skipping the 2016 edition even though Trump's politics were closer to that of Dole's 1996 primary rival Pat Buchanan.

File:Pences sit with Bob Dole at 2016 RNC.jpg and Karen Pence at the 2016 Republican National Convention.]]

Former Dole advisers, including Paul Manafort, played a major role in Trump's presidential campaign. Following Trump's electoral victory, Dole coordinated with the Trump campaign and presidential transition team to set up a series of meetings between Trump's staff and Taiwanese officials as well as assisting in successful efforts to include favorable language towards Taiwan in the 2016 Republican Party platform.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/us/politics/bob-dole-taiwan-lobby-trump.html|title=Bob Dole Worked Behind the Scenes on Trump-Taiwan Call|author1=Davis, Julie Hirschfeld|author2=Lipton, Eric|work=The New York Times|date=December 6, 2016|access-date=December 15, 2017}} In February 2016 Dole donated $20,000 to help pay for a camp for children with cancer in central Kansas.{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/4/bob-dole-donate-20k-to-cancer-camp-in-central-kans/|title=Bob Dole donate $20K to cancer camp in central Kansas|newspaper=The Washington Times|access-date=March 5, 2016}}

File:Congressional Gold Medal recipient Senator Bob Dole (39052831604).jpg, January 2018]]

Dole was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his service to the nation as a "soldier, legislator and statesman" in January 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/01/17/578568074/sen-bob-dole-to-receive-congressional-gold-medal|title=Bob Dole To Receive Congressional Gold Medal|publisher=NPR|access-date=January 17, 2018|language=en}} Despite being immobile, Dole signaled to an aide to assist him in standing for the U.S. national anthem prior to the ceremony.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/18/politics/bob-dole-national-anthem-stand-trnd/index.html|title=Bob Dole rises to his feet from wheelchair for National Anthem|author=Willingham, AJ|publisher=CNN|access-date=January 18, 2018}}

Dole, at age 95 and in a wheelchair, stood up with the help of an aide at the Death and state funeral of George H. W. Bush in the United States Capitol rotunda on December 4, 2018, and saluted to pay his respects to the late president and fellow World War II veteran.{{Cite web|title=See the moment Bob Dole, 95, rose from his wheelchair to salute George H.W. Bush|url=https://www.today.com/news/bob-dole-95-rises-wheelchair-salute-george-h-w-bush-t144500|access-date=December 7, 2021|website=TODAY.com|date=December 4, 2018 |language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Hafner|first=Josh|title=Bob Dole, with help, stands for final salute to George HW Bush at US Capitol|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/12/04/bob-dole-salutes-george-h-w-bush-standing-wheelchair-capitol/2205448002/|date=2018-12-04 |access-date=December 7, 2021|website=USA Today|language=en-US}}

Dole expressed concern the Commission on Presidential Debates were biased against President Trump and his reelection campaign in a public statement on October 9, 2020, saying how he knew all the Republicans on the commission and feared that "none of them support[ed]" the president.{{cite news|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/520442-bob-dole-claims-no-republicans-on-debate-commission-support-trump/|title=Bob Dole claims no Republicans on debate commission support Trump|first=Jordan|last=Williams|work=The Hill|date=October 9, 2020|access-date=October 9, 2020}}

While he endorsed Trump in both 2016 and 2020, in an interview with USA Today conducted for his 98th birthday, Dole said he was "Trumped out", and that Trump had lost the 2020 election despite his attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election. He further stated, "He lost the election, and I regret that he did, but they did", adding that Trump "had Rudy Giuliani running all over the country, claiming fraud. He never had one bit of fraud in all those lawsuits he filed and statements he made." At one point during the conversation Dole said, "I'm a Trumper", and added at another, "I'm sort of Trumped out, though."{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/07/22/98-bob-dole-reckons-legacy-trump-ponders-future-gop/7995412002/|title=At 98 and facing cancer, Bob Dole reckons with legacy of Trump and ponders future of GOP|last=Page|first=Susan|newspaper=USA Today|date=July 22, 2021|accessdate=July 25, 2021}}

Dole was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Ronald Reagan on January 18, 1989.{{cite web |title=Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Citizens Medal |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-presentation-ceremony-presidential-citizens-medal |website=Reagan Library |publisher=National Archives |access-date=December 5, 2021 |date=January 18, 1989}}

Senator Dole was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton on January 17, 1997, for service to his country in the military and in his political career. In his acceptance remarks in the East Room of the White House, Dole remarked "I had a dream that I would be here this historic week receiving something from the president — but I thought it would be the front-door key".

Dole received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards, in 1997.{{cite web |url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |title=Jefferson Awards FoundationNational – Jefferson Awards Foundation |publisher=Jeffersonawards.org |access-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124043935/http://jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |archive-date=November 24, 2010 |url-status=dead }}

Dole received the American Patriot Award from the National Defense University in 2004 for his lifelong dedication to the United States and his service in World War II.{{cite web |title=American Patriot Award |url=https://ndufoundation.org/programs/american-patriot-award |website=ndufoundation.org |access-date=December 5, 2021}}

On September 30, 2015, the National Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial (NCAGC) honored Senator Dole with the organization's Survivor's Gratitude Award in the category of "Hero of Responsibility and Principle" for his tireless efforts in raising attention to the Armenian genocide and its victims.{{cite web|author=Hairenik |url=http://armenianweekly.com/2015/10/09/bob-dole-honored/ |title=Bob Dole Honored As 'Hero Of Responsibility And Principle' By NCAGC |work=Armenian Weekly |date=October 9, 2015 |access-date=March 5, 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Roig-Franzia |first1=Manuel |title='The unparalleled champion': Bob Dole's forgotten fight to get Washington to recognize the Armenian genocide |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-unparalleled-champion-bob-doles-forgotten-fight-to-get-washington-to-recognize-the-armenian-genocide/2021/06/04/cc023cb8-b4c7-11eb-9059-d8176b9e3798_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 5, 2021 |date=June 7, 2021}}

For his lobbying efforts on behalf of Kosovo Albanians before, during, and after the Kosovo War, Albanian President Bujar Nishani awarded Dole Albania's highest civilian honor, the National Flag Decoration medal, at a May 2017 ceremony in Washington, D.C.{{cite news|title=Albanian president honors former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole|url=http://www.tiranatimes.com/?p=132680|work=Tirana Times|date=June 2, 2017}}

Dole was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his service to the nation as a "soldier, legislator and statesman" on January 17, 2018.See {{USPL|115|60}}

The U.S. Congress unanimously passed a bill promoting the 95-year-old Dole from captain to colonel for his service during World War II in 2019.{{cite web|url=https://marshall.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-unanimously-passes-bill-promote-sen-dole-army-colonel|title=House Unanimously Passes Bill to Promote Sen. Dole to Army Colonel|publisher=U.S House of Representatives|access-date=March 27, 2019|archive-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327171058/https://marshall.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-unanimously-passes-bill-promote-sen-dole-army-colonel|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |last1=Wagner |first1=John |title=Trump signs bill raising Bob Dole's military rank to colonel |url=https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/trump-signs-bill-raising-bob-dole-s-military-rank-to-colonel-1.576202 |access-date=May 11, 2019 |work=Stars and Stripes |date=April 8, 2019 |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511191707/https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/trump-signs-bill-raising-bob-dole-s-military-rank-to-colonel-1.576202 |url-status=dead }} "I've had a great life and this is sort of icing on the cake. It's not that I have to be a colonel; I was happy being a captain and it pays the same," Dole said, jokingly.{{cite web |last1=Kimmons |first1=Sean |title=Former Sen. Dole, a decorated WWII veteran, promoted to colonel |url=https://www.army.mil/article/221973/former_sen_dole_a_decorated_wwii_veteran_promoted_to_colonel |website=US Army |access-date=December 5, 2021 |date=October 8, 2019}}

File:Bob & Elizabeth Dole (3747376113).jpg]]

Dole married Phyllis Holden, an occupational therapist at a veterans hospital, in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1948, three months after they met. They had one daughter, Robin. Dole and Holden divorced on January 11, 1972.{{cite news|title=Washington Post profile, Dole's Ex-Wife Still Puzzled by Divorce|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/campaign/dole/exwife.htm|date=August 7, 1996}}

Dole met his second wife, Elizabeth Dole, in 1972. The couple was married on December 6, 1975.{{cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Allan C. |title=Conjugal America: On the Public Purposes of Marriage |year=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-52662-3 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktwzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT12 |language=en}}

Dole was a Freemason and a member of Russell Lodge No. 177, Russell, Kansas. In 1975, Dole was elevated to the 33rd degree of the Scottish Rite.{{cite book|title= Freemasonry in American History|year=1992|location=Lists of Lodges|isbn=978-0880530781|pages=408–410| author=Allen E. Roberts}}{{cite web|url=http://scottishrite.org/development/giving/donor-recognition/hall-of-honor/hall-of-honor-portrait-gallery/#nogo|website=The Scottish Rite of Freemasonry|title=Hall of Honor Portrait Gallery|access-date=September 16, 2015}}{{Cite book|title=Character Counts: Freemasonry Is a National Treasure and a Source of Our Founders' Constitutional Original Intent|first=Michael Glenn|last=Maness|page=259|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1teq1iZmc0C&pg=PA259|publisher=AuthorHouse|year=2010|isbn=9781456714383}}

Dole was raised Methodist.{{cite news|url = https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2021/12/10/your-nation-salutes-you-bob-dole-honored-at-washington-national-cathedral-funeral/|title = 'Your nation salutes you': Bob Dole honored at Washington National Cathedral funeral|last = Paulsen|first = David|work = Episcopal News Service|date = December 10, 2021|accessdate = August 31, 2024}} For years, he and his wife regularly worshipped at Foundry United Methodist Church, but left in 1995, due to the more liberal leanings of its pastor, J. Philip Wogaman, as well as the attendance of the Clinton family at services.{{cite news|url = https://www.baltimoresun.com/1996/10/13/for-dole-faith-without-fanfare-candidate-described-as-devout-but-wary-of-public-piety-campaign-1996/|title = For Dole, faith without fanfare Candidate described as devout but wary of public piety; CAMPAIGN 1996|last = Thompson|first = Ginger|date = October 13, 1996|accessdate = August 31, 2024|newspaper = The Baltimore Sun}} They subsequently began attending the National Presbyterian Church. However, Dole was largely private about his personal religious views.

Dole often referred to himself in the third person in conversation.{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bob-dole-honored-for-work-in-helping-to-feed-the-poor/2013/12/12/667b36ac-635c-11e3-aa81-e1dab1360323_story.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=Melinda | last=Henneberger | title=Bob Dole honored for work in helping to feed the poor | date=December 12, 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-eisele/bob-dole-interview_b_1260703.html |first=Al |last=Eisele |title=Bob Dole: Still a Man to be Reckoned With |date=February 7, 2012 |access-date=May 21, 2013 |work=HuffPost}} In a 1996 appearance on Saturday Night Live, he jokingly refuted the habit to Norm Macdonald, saying: "That's not something Bob Dole does. That's not something Bob Dole has ever done, or that Bob Dole will ever do."{{Cite web|url=https://www.deseret.com/1996/11/17/19277252/dole-pokes-fun-at-bob-dole-on-tv-comedy-show|title=Dole Pokes Fun At Bob Dole On TV Comedy Show|author=|date=November 17, 1996|website=Deseret News|agency=Reuters}} He had no relation to the Dole plc or its namesake James Dole,{{cite news |last1=Sanger |first1=David E. |title=Dole at Forefront of Trade Battle To Aid Donor's Banana Empire |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/05/us/dole-at-forefront-of-trade-battle-to-aid-donor-s-banana-empire.html |access-date=March 8, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=December 5, 1995}}{{cite news |title=Mayor Says Yes, We Have No Bananas, Thanks to Mr. Dole |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Mayor-Says-Yes-We-Have-No-Bananas-Thanks-to-Mr-3043262.php |access-date=March 8, 2021 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |agency=Associated Press |year=1995}} although confusion between the two did lead Burhanettin Ozfatura, the mayor of İzmir, Turkey, to ban the sale of Dole bananas in the city in February 1995.

Dole had surgery for prostate cancer in 1991. 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.{{cite news |title=Bob Dole: Guinea Pig For Viagra |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bob-dole-guinea-pig-for-viagra/ |access-date=December 6, 2021 |publisher=CBS News |date=May 8, 1998}} He then became a paid spokesman for Viagra. He also starred in a parody of his Viagra commercials for "the little blue can" of Pepsi.{{cite news |title=Bob Dole, longtime GOP senator and 1996 presidential nominee, dies |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/12/05/123981928/bob-dole-dies-at-98 |access-date=December 6, 2021 |publisher=NPR |date=December 5, 2021}}

In 2001, Dole, at age 77, was treated successfully for an abdominal aortic aneurysm by vascular surgeon Kenneth Ouriel.{{cite news

| title = Bob Dole has surgery to treat aneurysm

| publisher = USA Today via Associated Press

| date = June 27, 2001

| url = https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/june01/2001-06-27-dole.htm

| access-date=September 22, 2009

}}

Dole underwent a hip replacement operation that required him to receive blood thinners in December 2004. One month after the surgery, doctors determined that he was bleeding inside his head. 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.{{cite news |last1=Seelye |first1=Katharine Q. |title=Dole Discloses Emergency That Nearly Took His Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/10/politics/dole-discloses-emergency-that-nearly-took-his-life.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 10, 2005}}

In 2009, Dole was hospitalized for an elevated heart rate and sore legs for which he underwent a successful skin grafting procedure. He was hospitalized with pneumonia in February 2010 after undergoing knee surgery. Dole spent ten months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center recovering from the surgery and experienced three bouts with pneumonia. He was released from the hospital in November 2010. Dole was readmitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in January 2011 and spent about six days there being treated for a fever and a minor infection.{{cite news |title=Bob Dole released from hospital |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/14/Bob-Dole-released-from-hospital/79161295010777/ |access-date=December 5, 2021 |work=United Press International |date=January 14, 2011 |language=en}}

Dole was hospitalized in November 2012 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, according to then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.{{cite web|title=Bob Dole Hospitalized|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/11/bob-dole-hospitalized/|work=ABC News|access-date=November 28, 2012}}

Dole was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for hypotension on September 13, 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bob-dole-hospitalized-at-walter-reed|title=Bob Dole hospitalized at Walter Reed|first=Brooke|last=Singman|date=September 22, 2017|publisher=Fox News|access-date=November 13, 2017}} He stayed for 24 hours before returning home.{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bob-dole-released-hospital-reunited-dogs-ready-cocktail/story?id=50318326|title=Bob Dole released from hospital: Reunited with his dogs and ready for a cocktail|date=October 6, 2017|website=ABC News}}

File:President Joe Biden honors Bob Dole.jpg

File:Senator Robert Dole received Military Funeral Honors with Funeral Escort at Arlington National Cemetery on February 2, 2022 23.jpg, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented the U.S. flag for Dole's funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery to Dole's spouse, former Sen. Elizabeth Dole (February 2, 2022)]]

In February 2021, Dole announced that he had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer,{{Cite web|last=Hanna|first=John|date=February 18, 2021|title=Former U.S. senator Bob Dole says he's been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/former-u-s-senator-bob-dole-says-he-s-been-diagnosed-with-stage-4-lung-cancer-1.5314369|access-date=February 18, 2021|website=CTVNews|language=en}} and subsequently underwent immunotherapy, forgoing chemotherapy due to its negative effect on his body. He died of complications from the disease in his sleep at his home in Washington, D.C., on the morning of December 5, 2021, at age 98.{{cite news|title=Bob Dole to lie in state in the Capitol on Thursday|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bob-dole-lie-in-state-capitol-thursday/|publisher=CBS News|date = December 7, 2021|access-date=December 7, 2021|language=en-US|last = Watson|first = Kathryn}}{{Cite news|last=Seelye|first=Katharine Q.|date=December 5, 2021|title=Bob Dole, Old Soldier and Stalwart of the Senate, Dies at 98|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/us/politics/bob-dole-dead.html|access-date=December 5, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}

Numerous politicians paid tribute to Dole after his death, including President Joe Biden and former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.{{Cite web|title=Presidents Bush, Obama and more remember Bob Dole in emotional tributes|url=https://www.today.com/news/bob-dole-remembered-emotional-tributes-after-death-98-t242103|access-date=December 7, 2021|website=TODAY.com|date=December 6, 2021 |language=en}} President Biden issued an order for flags to be flown at half-staff through December 11, 2021,{{cite web |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/584436-honoring-dole-biden-orders-flags-be-flown-at-half-staff-through-dec-9/ |title=Biden orders flags be flown at half-staff through Dec. 9 to honor Dole|website=The Hill |date=December 5, 2021|access-date=December 7, 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Motter |first1=Sarah |title=Flags to be flown half-staff through Saturday in honor of late Sen. Dole |date=December 9, 2021 |url=https://www.wibw.com/2021/12/09/flags-be-flown-half-staff-through-saturday-honor-late-sen-dole/ |publisher=WBIW |access-date=9 December 2021}} with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announcing that Dole would lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on December 9.{{cite news|url = https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/09/politics/bob-dole-lies-in-state-us-capitol/index.html|title = Biden and congressional leaders honor the late Sen. Bob Dole at US Capitol|publisher = CNN|last = Sullivan|first = Kate|date = December 9, 2021|accessdate = December 9, 2021}}

A funeral service was held at Washington National Cathedral on December 10, 2021, and was attended by President Biden with First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris with her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, former president and opponent in the 1996 election Bill Clinton, former vice presidents Mike Pence, Dick Cheney and Dan Quayle, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and former senators Pat Roberts and Tom Daschle, among others. Later that same day, a memorial ceremony was held at the National World War II Memorial where Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, actor Tom Hanks and Today Show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie were among those who spoke.{{cite news|url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/12/10/bob-dole-funeral-national-cathedral-world-war-ii-memorial/6451158001/|title = Bob Dole hailed as war hero and 'Kansas' favorite son' at Washington funeral service |work = USA Today|last = King|first = Ledyard|date = December 10, 2021|accessdate = December 10, 2021}}{{cite news|url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/12/10/bob-dole-funeral-biden-daschle-tom-hanks-among-those-who-attended/6439011001/|title = Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Tom Hanks attended Bob Dole's funeral. Who else was there? |work = USA Today|last = Cox|first = Chelsey|date = December 10, 2021|accessdate = December 10, 2021}}

Dole's casket then returned to Kansas where a memorial service was held at the Catholic Church in his boyhood home of Russell on December 11. The service was open to the public. Speakers included Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall and former Senator Pat Roberts.{{cite news|url = https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article256493556.html|title = 'Never stopped moving on': Kansas leaders remember Dole as embodiment of state motto|work = The Kansas City Star|date = December 12, 2021|accessdate = December 15, 2021|last = Bernard|first = Katie}} His casket then went to lie in repose at the Kansas State Capitol. Following that, the casket returned to Washington and Dole was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.{{cite news|url = https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article256459761.html|title = Bob Dole's final resting place announced ahead of services in Washington and Kansas|work = The Kansas City Star|date = December 9, 2021|accessdate = December 9, 2021|last = Desrochers|first = Daniel}}

{{Main|Electoral history of Bob Dole}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Dole |first=Bob |author2=Elizabeth Dole |author3=Richard Norton Smith |author3-link=Richard Norton Smith |title=The Doles: Unlimited Partners |year=1988 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=0-671-60202-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/dolesunlimitedpa00dole }} The book was first released during Bob Dole's 1988 presidential run. Re-released as Unlimited Partners: Our American Story. Simon & Schuster, 1996. {{ISBN|0-684-83401-4}}.
• {{cite book |last=Dole |first=Bob |author2=Jack Kemp |title=Trusting the People: The Dole-Kemp Plan to Free the Economy and Create a Better America |year=1996 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0-06-101153-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/trustingpeopledo00dole }}
• {{cite book |last=Dole |first=Bob |title=Great Political Wit: Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House |year=1998 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=0-38-549347-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/greatpoliticalwi00dole }}
• {{cite book |last=Dole |first=Bob |author-mask=1 |title=Great Presidential Wit: A Collection of Humorous Anecdotes and Quotations |year=2001 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |isbn=0-74-320392-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/greatpresidentia00dole }}
• {{cite book |last=Dole |first=Bob |author-mask=1 |title=One Soldier's Story: A Memoir |url=https://archive.org/details/onesoldiersstory00dole |url-access=registration |year=2005 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0-06-076341-8 }}

{{refend}}

Dole was awarded several honorary degrees. These include:

• Kemp Commission
• List of Freemasons
• List of members of the American Legion
• List of people from Kansas

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{Bioguide|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000401|article=DOLE, Robert Joseph}}

{{refbegin}}

• Abrams, Herbert L., and Richard Brody. "Bob Dole's age and health in the 1996 election: Did the media let us down?." Political Science Quarterly 113.3 (1998): 471-491 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2658077 online].
• {{cite book |first1=James W. |last1=Ceaser |first2=Andrew E. |last2=Busch |title=Losing to Win: The 1996 Elections and American Politics |year=1997 |location=Lanham |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=0-8476-8405-9 }}
• {{cite book |last=Clinton |first=Bill |title=My Life |year=2005 |location=New York |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=1-4000-3003-X |title-link=My Life (Clinton autobiography) }}
• {{cite book |first=Robert E. Jr. |last=Denton |title=The 1996 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Perspective |year=1998 |location=Westport |publisher=Praeger |isbn=0-275-95681-4 }}
• {{cite journal |last=Elovitz |first=Paul |title=Work, Laughter and Tears: Bob Dole's Childhood, War Injury, the Conservative Republicans and the 1996 Election |journal=Journal of Psychohistory |year=1996 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=147–162 |issn=0145-3378 }}
• Immelman, Aubrey. "The political personalities of 1996 U.S. presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Bob Dole." Leadership Quarterly 9.3 (1998): 335–366. [http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=psychology_pubs online]
• Karčić, Hamza. "Saving Bosnia on Capitol Hill: the case of Senator Bob Dole." Journal of Transatlantic Studies 13.1 (2015): 20–39.
• {{cite magazine |first=Joshua Wolf |last=Shenk |title=The Best and Worst of Bob Dole |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000373070 |magazine=Washington Monthly |volume=28 |date=July 1996 |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628223201/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000373070 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite book |first1=Kerry |last1=Tymchuk |first2=Molly Meijer |last2=Wertheimer |first3=Nichola D. |last3=Gutgold |title=Elizabeth Hanford Dole: Speaking from the Heart |year=2004 |location=Westport |publisher=Praeger |isbn=0-275-98378-1 }}

; Film

• Bob Dole discussing Lee Atwater in the film Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

{{refend}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050207162240/http://www.ur.ku.edu/News/03N/JulyNews/July22/doleremarks.html Bob Dole's remarks at the dedication of the Dole Institute of Politics] at the University of Kansas
• [http://www.dolekemp96.org/main.htm Bob Dole's 1996 campaign website]
• [http://www.doleinstitute.org/ The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080211200524/http://www.alston.com/bob_dole/ Bob Dole's biography on Alston & Bird's website]
• [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/republican/dole/early.life/index.shtml CNN AllPolitics review of Bob Dole's early life]
• {{IMDb name|id=0230909|name=Bob Dole}}
• {{C-SPAN|112}}

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