Bob Dole Former Senate Majority Leader And GOP Presidential Candidate Dies At 98
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Bob Dole faithfully served his country for 79 years and died peacefully in his sleep announced the Elizabeth Dole Foundation.
The 98-year old World War II veteran had revealed earlier this year that he was being treated for Stage 4 lung cancer.
Dole is survived by his wife, former North Carolina GOP Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who is 85.
Dole, the former Kansas senator, was a World War II veteran who lost the use of his right arm on the battlefield in Italy. As former national chairman of the World War II Memorial Commission, he helped raise nearly $200 million for a WWII memorial on the National Mall, which was completed in 2004.
Dole was the Republican Party’s 1996 presidential nominee and had a political career spanning nearly four decades. Former President Bill Clinton presented Dole with the Presidential Medal of Freedom months after winning the election against him.
Source: Fox News
It is with heavy hearts we announce that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning in his sleep. At his death, at age 98, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years. More information coming soon. #RememberingBobDole pic.twitter.com/57NtGfqtmL
— Elizabeth Dole Foundation (@DoleFoundation) December 5, 2021
Fox News posted a beautiful video tribute to Bob Dole narrated by Bret Baier.
Bob Dole remembered: Longtime senator, Republican Presidential candidate dies at 98https://t.co/zWQCtjcnmJ pic.twitter.com/I4rtXds2ew
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 5, 2021
Dole will be remembered for a lot of things, but it was the way he spoke about himself in the third person, along with his one-liners and the monotone delivery that made him truly memorable.
The New York Times printed a collection of some of Dole’s best one-liners in tribute.
“I once called Carter a chicken-fried McGovern,” Mr. Dole said, referring to the former Democratic nominee George McGovern. “And I take that back because I’ve come to respect McGovern.”
Much like Mr. McGovern’s 1972 general election campaign, Mr. Dole’s 1980 primary campaign crashed and burned. He won just 607 votes in New Hampshire.
The next day, he “slept like a baby,” Mr. Dole said afterward. “Every two hours I woke up and cried.”…
…In 1982, as members of the Senate Finance Committee worked late on a bill to eliminate billions in tax breaks, Mr. Dole declared that lobbyists and lawyers “may be wearing Guccis tonight, but they’ll be barefoot by morning.”…
…According to The Tampa Bay Times, Senator John McCain of Arizona liked to tell a story about a dinner Senate Republicans had with President Bill Clinton. Someone asked Mr. Clinton if he had read a murder mystery written by a Republican senator, and the president said yes, noting, “It’s a Democratic senator who gets murdered.”
“Yeah,” Mr. Dole said. “It has a happy ending.”…
…“I remember one day on the floor, I said, ‘Now, gentlemen, let me tax your memories,’” he said in one of his presidential debates with Mr. Clinton, name-checking Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts. “And Kennedy jumped up and said, ‘Why haven’t we thought of that before?’”
Source: New York Times
Dole could dish it out, but he could also take it. He was often parodied by comedians and seemed to be genuinely amused by it.
Legendary comedian Dan Aykroyd was a spot-on Bob Dole back in the 90s.
But it was the late, great Norm McDonald’s impersonations of Dole that are infinitely memorable.
Here is a brief clip of McDonald impersonating Bob Dole… right next to Bob Dole.
This clip of Bob Dole and Norm Macdonald a week after Dole lost in 1996 is so great and it’s beyond sad to lose both of them this year.pic.twitter.com/gUa2B9Dnfg
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) December 5, 2021
Here’s something you won’t see on Late Night shows in 2021 — a Republican Senator getting a warm welcome and even some laughs at his jokes.
But this moment, back in 2018, is one that will never be forgotten. Even in his 90s, Dole wanted to properly honor President George H.W. Bush, a fellow WWII vet.
WWII Army vet Bob Dole saluting WWII Navy vet George H.W. Bush in the U.S. Capitol in 2018. R.I.P. to both & thank God for those who won the war against German fascism & Japanese imperialism. So few of this generation are left among the living. Honor them.pic.twitter.com/OJtqzkruG6
— Jerry Christmas ??? (@JerryDunleavy) December 5, 2021
Bob Dole will be remembered as a hero who served his country in World War II, a politician who was respected on both sides of the aisle, and a man with a sharp wit and acerbic one-liners.
Rest in Peace, Bob Dole, an absolute legend of the Republican Party.