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Bob Dole Served His Country (And Made Us Laugh, Too)

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“I, Robert J. Dole…”

Pause for laughter. 

Dole continued with the presidential oath of office, then said, “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." That was classic Bob Dole, gracious and self-deprecating in defeat. It was not the presidency he was receiving but the Medal of Freedom, presented by the man who had defeated him, Bill Clinton.

Wounded veteran

Bob Dole, the last of the World War II generation, was an icon of Midwestern values with an abiding belief in the nation's goodness. He was called to serve as a young college student at the University of Kansas. 

Dole was sent to Italy and endured some of the bitterest fighting in Italy. He was severely wounded and shipped back to the State for a long three-year recovery. In his autobiography, On Solider’s Story: A Memoir, he recalls being in a body cast and riding on a train and having passengers use his cast, with him in it, as an ashtray.

After recovering from his wounds, he returned to Kansas. Young Bob Dole had been an all-around multi-sport athlete; veteran Bob Dole was physically disabled because he never regained use of his right arm. Later, after college and law school, he ran for Congress and later was elected to the Senate where he served for more than 30 years.

When urged to run for office because he was a veteran, Dole chose his party “Because there are twice as many Republicans as Democrats in Russell County.” With his dry wit, Dole quipped, “I made a great philosophical decision right there on the spot. I’d learned how to count in the Army.”

Dole as politician

His brand of Republican was that of another era. It was rooted in his Kansas upbringing. Conservativism worked to preserve the best that at the same time allowed for dialogue and discussion with those on the other side. Bob Dole was fiercely Republican, but not so much that he did not work for bipartisanship. He prided himself on that. It is one reason, among many, that his former senate colleague, President Joe Biden, ordered flags flown at half-staff.

“Dole was a wizard at putting together coalitions. It was always the art of the possible with Bob Dole,” said Kenneth M. Duberstein, who, as an aide to President Ronald Reagan, worked with Dole in the Senate.

Not perfect

Dole was not without his flaws. He had a long-running feud with George H.W. Bush that was inevitable since both were running for the same job – the presidency in 1980. Before that, he ran as Vice Presidential candidate for then-President Gerald R. Ford, where the term hatchet man described his role perfectly. He referred to wars in the 20th century as “Democrat wars.”

“One of my heroes was FDR, and I’m a World War II veteran, so it wasn’t my view to run around and say, ‘Well, the Democrats started all the wars in the world.’ ” Later, he admitted, “I went for the jugular — my own.”

In his memoir, Dole reflected on his loss in the presidential race of 1996, “Losing means that at least you were in the race. It means that when the whistle sounded, life did not find you watching from the sidelines.”

By-gone era

Dole was a creature of another era, once telling the Wall Street Journal, “When these political action committees give money, they expect something in return other than good government.” High-rollers first; people second.

Bob Dole served his nation in war and peace, and in doing so, he abided by a standard of respect for others and commitment to the good of the country.

At the ceremony honoring Dole at the White House, President Clinton said that Dole had “turned adversity to advantage and pain to public service, embodying the motto of the state that he loved and went on to serve so well: Ad Astra per Aspera, to the stars through difficulties." And with a smile and joke, too.

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