Former Republican Presidential Nominee Dies At 98

Bob Dole, 1996 Republican presidential nominee and giant of the senate, died on Sunday at the age of 98. He ultimately lost his campaign, capturing 41 percent of the vote compared to Bill Clinton’s 49 percent.

Bob Dole grew up in Kansas during the Great Depression, the son of a farmer. Just a few years into adulthood, he would be called to serve in WWII. An athlete who had been voted best-looking in his high school class and planning to become a surgeon would return from the war in a body cast, mostly paralyzed.

In the early 60s, he would join the US Senate, and was well known for his ability to compromise. Dole noted in a televised debate: “Honorable compromise is no sin. It is what protects us from absolutism and intolerance” (something our senators ought to remember).

The New York Times reports, “With George S. McGovern of South Dakota, he expanded the food stamp program, and with Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, he made school lunches a federal entitlement. Kansas farmers applauded both efforts.”  Humphrey would run for president in ’68 and McGovern would do so in ’72. Both would go on to lose.

Additionally, Dole was well known for his sense of humor, and showed up on SNL to crack jokes about himself diving off a campaign stage (actually happened). After losing the ’96 election, he would go on to appear in television ads for everything from Visa to Viagra. He would even be featured in a Pepsi ad with Britney Spears.

Dole will lie in state at the US Capitol this Thursday.

For more information about the life of former Senator Dole, click HERE.