Dole, Robert J. 1923–

(Bob Dole, Robert Joseph Dole)

PERSONAL: Born July 22, 1923, in Russell, KS; son of Doran (operator of a cream and egg waystation) and Bina (a salesperson and sewing instructor; maiden name, Talbott) Dole; married Phyllis Holden, June, 1948 (divorced, 1972); married Elizabeth Hanford, December, 1975; children: (first marriage) Robin. Education: Attended universities of Kansas and Arizona; Washburn University, A.B. and LL.B., 1952. Politics: Republican. Religion: Methodist.

ADDRESSES: Office—Office of Senator Dole, c/o Alston & Bird, North Building, 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20004.

CAREER: Politician, lawyer, and writer. Member of Kansas House of Representatives, 1951–53; in law practice, 1953–61; Russell County, KS, attorney, 1953–61; elected to U.S. House of Representatives, 1960–68; elected to U.S. senate, 1969–96, majority leader, 1985–87, 1995–96, minority leader, 1987–95, chairman of Senate Finance Committee, 1984–86, 1995–96; Republican National Committee, chairman, 1971–73; Republican vice-presidential candidate, 1976; presidential candidate, 1980, 1988, 1996; Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand (law firm), lobbyist, 1997; NATO peace negotiator in Kosovo, 1999; Bob Dole Enterprises, Inc., founder; Alston & Bird (law firm), special counsel; APCO, Washington, DC, senior counsel, 2004–. Chairman of National World War II Memorial until 2004; chairman of International Commission on Missing Persons in Bosnia. President of Federal City Council; honorary co-chair of President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, 2003–; member of board of directors of numerous charitable foundations. Frequent television commentator and public speaker. Military service: U.S. Army Enlisted Reserve Corps, served during World War II; awarded two Purple Hearts and Bronze Star with cluster.

AWARDS, HONORS: Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1996; Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at University of Kansas, named in his honor, 2003; Spirit of Philanthropy Award, Foundation for Physical Therapy, 2005.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION; AS BOB DOLE

(With Elizabeth Dole and Richard Norton Smith) The Doles: Unlimited Partners, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1988, revised edition (with Kerry Tymchuk and Richard Norton Smith) published as Unlimited Partners: Our American Story, 1996.

Historical Almanac of the United States Senate: A Series of "Bicentennial Minutes" Presented to the to the Senate during the 100th Congress, foreword by Robert C. Byrd, edited by Wendy Wolff and Richard A. Baker, United States G.P.O. (Washington, DC), 1989.

(With John Margolis) The Quotable Bob Dole: Witty, Wise, and Otherwise, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1996.

(With Jack Kemp) Trusting the People: The Dole-Kemp Plan to Free the Economy and Create a Better America: Balance the Budget, Cut Taxes Fifteen Percent, Raise Wages, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

Great Political Wit: Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House, Nan A. Talese (New York, NY), 1998.

Great Presidential Wit: I Wish I Was in This Book, Scribner (New York, NY), 2001.

One Soldier's Story: A Memoir, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

(With George S. McGovern and Donald E. Messer) Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

Contributor to newspapers and magazines.

Author's speeches, debates, and interviews are stored at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ADAPTATIONS: One Soldier's Story was adapted as an audiobook, HarperAudio, 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: At his departure in 1996, Senator Robert J. Dole was the longest-serving Republican leader in the history of the U.S. Senate. Since his unsuccessful third bid for the presidency, he has retired from politics, but not from political sponsorship and work with the Republican Party. In addition to his work as a politician, Dole has also penned several books, including the bestselling Great Political Wit: Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House and Great Presidential Wit: I Wish I Was in This Book, as well as the joint autobiography Unlimited Partners: Our American Story, cowritten with his wife, Elizabeth Dole.

Dole provides readers with autobiographical insight in his 2005 title, One Soldier's Story: A Memoir. Here Dole recounts his experiences in the U.S. Army during World War II. Enlisting at age nineteen while a student at the University of Kansas, Dole served in the European theater of operations in Italy. During the last month of war, on April 14, 1945, Dole was injured by shell fragments and left temporarily paralyzed below the neck. As a result of his injuries, he lost a kidney and his right arm was left withered, while his left arm and hand had minimal sensation. Despite subsequent surgery, he never regained full mobility or improved sensation in his arms. After the war, Dole spent a painful and arduous year of recovery and therapy at an army hospital and then returned to his hometown of Russell, Kansas, and another two years of convalescence. After regaining partial use of both arms and the ability to function in the world physically, he developed a new focus and purpose in life, eager to forge a path for himself. Dole credits his war experiences with giving him the will to enter politics.

A Kirkus Reviews critic felt that in One Soldier's Story Dole "writes movingly" of his experiences, and employs "grace and economy." The bulk of Dole's book deals with his years of recuperation, and a reviewer for Publishers Weekly found this a "restrained but poignant account." The same contributor commended the entire memoir as "affecting." Aram Bakshian, Jr., reviewing One Soldier's Story in the Weekly Standard, had further praise for the book, calling it a "stirring tale," and Karl Helicher concluded in Library Journal that "Dole has produced a journal of hope and recovery that will resonate with its readers."

In 2005 Dole published Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith, written with former U.S. Senator George McGovern and Donald E. Messer, a theologian. The book includes a group of brief essays that describe the scope of global hunger and suggests means by which to solve the problem. The book is intended "to foster discussion and action within congregations," according to a contributor for Publishers Weekly, and "will motivate congregants of all persuasions to engage this heartbreaking problem."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Dole, Bob, with Elizabeth Dole and Richard Norton Smith, The Doles: Unlimited Partners, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1988, revised edition with Kerry Tymchuk and Richard Norton Smith published as Unlimited Partners: Our American Story, 1996.

Dole, Bob, One Soldier's Story: A Memoir, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd edition, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998.

Newsmakers 1994, Issue 4, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1994.

PERIODICALS

Ascribe Higher Education News Service, March 16, 2003, "Robert J. Dole Institute Dedication This Summer Will Be 'Greatest Generation's Greatest Celebration.'"

Capper's, August 19, 2003, "Dole Dedication," p. 2.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2005, review of One Soldier's Story, p. 329.

Library Journal, May 15, 2005, Karl Helicher, review of One Soldier's Story, p. 126.

M2 Presswire, June 10, 2003, "Remarkable Gathering of War Heroes to Tell Their Stories at Robert Dole Institute of Politics Dedication in July."

PR Newswire, January 26, 2005, "Foundation for Physical Therapy Presents Senator Robert Dole with First-Ever Spirit of Philanthropy Award."

PR Week, December 13, 2004, "Former-Sen. Dole Joining APCO as Senior Counselor," p. 2.

Publishers Weekly, March 28, 2005, review of One Soldier's Story, p. 70; July 11, 2005, review of Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith, p. 85.

Weekly Standard, May 16, 2005, Aram Bakshian, Jr., "Bob Dole's War: A Wounded Soldier Rebuilds His Life," review of One Soldier's Story, p. 35.

ONLINE

Bob Dole Home Page, http://www.bobdole.org (September 17, 2005).

Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans Web site, http://www.horatioalger.com/ (September 17, 2005), "Robert J. Dole."

Kansan.com, http://www.kansan.com/ (September 17, 2005), Jason Shaad, "Robert J. Dole: Humble Beginnings Shape an American Icon."