The Heartbreaking Death Of Bob Dole

Bob Dole, the former United States Senator from Kansas, died at the age of 98, CNN reported. Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential candidate, began treatment for advanced lung cancer in February 2021. During his political career, Dole served in the Senate from 1969 to 1996. 

Former Senator Dole's family released a statement about his passing. "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," it read. 

A World War II hero, Fox News, reported that Dole experienced temporary paralysis from a bullet that shattered his shoulder and damaged his spine. He incurred the injury while trying to rescue his platoon's radioman. Previously, Dole received treatment for various health concerns, including prostate cancer surgery in 1991 and abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery in 2001. He also stayed in the hospital after a fall in his home in 2005 and received treatment for a leg infection in 2009. 

Dole is survived by his wife of more than four decades, former Senator Elizabeth Dole, and his daughter Robin Dole.

President Joe Biden, who arrived in the Senate four years after Bob Dole, released a statement on the passing of the former senator. "Bob was an American statesman like few in our history. A war hero and among the greatest of the Greatest Generation. And to me, he was also a friend whom I could look to for trusted guidance or a humorous line at just the right moment to settle frayed nerves," Biden said (via Associated Press). "I will miss my friend. But I am grateful for the times we shared, and for the friendship Jill and I and our family have built with Liddy and the entire Dole family." 

Biden's statement continued, "Bob was a man to be admired by Americans. He had an unerring sense of integrity and honor. May God bless him, and may our nation draw upon his legacy of decency, dignity, good humor, and patriotism for all time."

Former presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump also released statements honoring Dole after his passing (via Fox News). Each former president spoke of the senator's military service to the United States and his political statesmanship. In addition, many other political leaders, including Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Former Vice President Dick Cheney, released statements honoring Dole's military and public service to the United States.