Dole, Robert Joseph

▪ 1997

      In the election on Nov. 5, 1996, Bob Dole, a longtime leader in the U.S. Senate, lost his bid for the presidency. The Republican candidate was not able to exploit the vulnerabilities of his Democratic opponent, Pres. Bill Clinton (q.v.), and gain a significant number of votes outside the core of his own party; he showed strength only in parts of the South and in the Plains states. Dole took 41% of the total vote but received only 159 of the 538 votes in the electoral college.

      Dole was born on July 22, 1923, in Russell, Kan. He was a high-school athlete and in 1941 entered the University of Kansas as a premed student. He joined the U.S. Army in 1943 and in 1945, during an assault on an enemy position, was hit by an exploding shell. His right shoulder destroyed and his body largely paralyzed from the neck down, Dole spent three years in hospitals undergoing surgery and rehabilitation. Although his right arm remained disabled, he persisted in learning to walk again and to use his damaged left arm and hand. In 1952 he received A.B. and LL.B. degrees from Washburn University, Topeka, Kan.

      Beginning in 1950 Dole won a succession of elective positions, first at the state and local levels. In 1960 he was elected to the first of four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he opposed the spending policies of liberal Democratic administrations. In 1968 he won the first of five terms in the Senate, eventually becoming the Republican head, as both majority (1985-86 and 1995-96) and minority (1987-94) leader. He also chaired the Republican National Committee from 1971 to 1973. Dole generally advocated conservative fiscal policies, but on other issues he took stands that ranged from right of centre to moderate. He supported civil rights and voting rights bills and food stamp programs but voted against proposals for other social programs, including the original bill establishing Medicare. Above all, he developed a reputation as a pragmatic politician and skillful legislative leader.

      Dole was the vice presidential candidate in Pres. Gerald R. Ford's unsuccessful 1976 campaign. After losing his own bids for the presidential nomination in 1980 and 1988, Dole stumbled early in 1996, then quickly won a series of primary victories. Before the Republican national convention, he resigned from the Senate and chose former secretary of housing and urban development Jack Kemp (q.v.) as his running mate. Although the party's platform emphasized the views of Republican social conservatives, the Dole forces carefully managed the convention itself to project a more moderate image. A dramatic speech by Dole's wife, Elizabeth, who herself had held powerful positions in both the public and private sectors, was the highlight of the convention. Despite vigorous campaigning, which included the promise of a 15% tax cut and emphasized themes such as character and honesty, the Dole-Kemp ticket went down to defeat. (ROBERT RAUCH)

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