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UNITED STATES. — Bob Dole, a five-term US senator and the Republican Party’s 1996 presidential nominee, died yesterday. He was 98.
He overcame disabling World War Two wounds to become a pre-eminent figure in US politics representing Kansas in the Congress for 35 years.
Dole, known for a wit that ranged from self-deprecating to caustic, died in his sleep, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation said.
The veteran US politician announced in February that he had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and would begin treatment.
“It is with heavy hearts we announce that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning,” the foundation said in a statement on Twitter. “He had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years.” Dole sought the presidency three times and was the Republican Party’s nominee in 1996 but lost to Democratic incumbent Bill Clinton.
The Republican leader was his party’s vice presidential nominee in 1976 on a ticket headed by incumbent President Gerald Ford but they lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter and his running mate Walter Mondale. Dole, known for referring to himself in the third person, made a classic American journey from the poverty of the Great Depression of the 1930s, through World War Two battlefields to the corridors of power with a stoic Midwestern dignity.
He represented Kansas in Congress for 35 years: 1961 to 1969 in the House of Representatives and 1969 to 1996 in the Senate. — Al-Jazeera
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