“Bob Dole, who overcame disabling war wounds to become a sharp-tongued Senate leader from Kansas, a Republican presidential candidate and then a symbol and celebrant of his dwindling generation of World War II veterans, died Sunday. He was 98.” (AP News)
Both sides praise Dole’s record of public service and ability to work across the aisle:
"When mourners gather this week to share stories about Bob Dole, what a feast they will have as they reminisce about the venerated politician's friendships, humor and, above all, his commitment to country. One of the GOP's longest-serving leaders, Dole could be a partisan. (He'd blamed his opponents, for example, for causing ‘Democrat wars.’) But like the relationship between Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan, Dole might joust with an opposing president by day and call a truce by night if it was in service of the American people. He had many adversaries in Washington, but few enemies."
David Gergen, CNN
“Dole could play hardball with the best of them. But he understood that America’s constitutional democracy, with its elegant system of checks and balances, requires our leaders to form a new majority on each issue. And he worked endlessly to find those majorities at a time when both parties still believed in compromise too…
“In the 1970s, he teamed up with George McGovern to establish the school lunch program. In the 1980s, he and Patrick Moynihan joined forces to put Social Security on a sound financial footing for another generation. In 1990, he worked with Democratic Majority Leader George Mitchell to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act. Long after leaving the Senate, he worked with former adversary Tom Daschle to promote health care reform that could win bipartisan support.”
Scott Reed, The Dispatch
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