Former Senate majority leader, presidential candidate and World War II veteran Bob Dole will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday so lawmakers can pay tribute to the late Kansas senator.
Dole, who died over the weekend at age 98, will be honored by lawmakers for his valor in combat and his 36-year career on Capitol Hill.
The ceremony will include a formal arrival and departure.
“Senator Dole was an extraordinary patriot, who devoted his entire life to serving our nation with dignity and integrity,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. “Putting his life on the line to defend our nation, he was awarded two Purple Hearts for his valor and sacrifice on the battlefield – and, when he came home, served as an inspiration to millions of Americans living with disabilities.”
“From the Well of the House to the Floor of the Senate, as a presidential candidate and as an elder statesman, he was one of the foremost advocates for our Servicemembers, veterans and military families,” she continued. “May it be a comfort to his loving wife, his dear daughter and all his loved ones that a grateful nation joins them in mourning during this sad time.”
“Senator Dole exemplified the greatest generation, and while I never had the pleasure of serving in the Senate with him, his reputation and his achievements, and most of all his character preceded him,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “I always admired his steadfast advocacy for veterans and for Americans with disabilities and his love for his country. Rest in peace, Senator Dole.”
“Whatever their politics, anyone who saw Bob Dole in action had to admire his character and his profound patriotism,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said. “Those of us who were lucky to know Bob well ourselves admired him even more. A bright light of patriotic good cheer burned all the way from Bob’s teenage combat heroics through his whole career in Washington and through the years since. We look forward to honoring his life and legacy at the Capitol.”
Speaking in Dole’s home state of Kansas on Wednesday at an event touting the recently passed infrastructure bill, President Joe Biden called the late lawmaker an “American giant” and a “war hero who sacrificed beyond measure.”
“We didn’t agree on everything but I always admired and respected him,” Biden, who served in the Senate with Dole, said. “And his willingness to work with anyone.”
“Our nation owes Bob Dole a debt of gratitude for his remarkable service and a life well lived,” the president added.
Dole was first elected to represent Kansas in Congress in 1960, the beginning of a 36-year career on Capitol Hill which ended with him leading the Republican party in the Senate and becoming one of the most powerful and influential Congressional leaders of his era, forging bipartisan compromises
Dole first represented a House district in the western part of Kansas, where he voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, despite his opposition to much of then-President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” domestic programs.
He shaped tax policy, foreign policy, farm and nutrition programs and rights for the disabled, enshrining protections against discrimination in employment, education and public services in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
He thrice sought the presidency, most recently in 1996, when he won the Republican nomination only to see President Bill Clinton re-elected. He sought his party’s presidential nomination in 1980 and 1988 and was the 1976 GOP vice presidential candidate on the losing ticket with President Gerald Ford.
In February, Dole announced that he was battling Stage IV lung cancer and would begin undergoing treatment.
“While I certainly have some hurdles ahead, I also know that I join millions of Americans who face significant challenges of their own,” Dole, then 97, wrote in a statement at the time.
Dole is survived by his wife, former North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, and his daughter, Robin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
