Bob Dole, giant of the Senate and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, dies

[George II]

Source: CNN

(CNN)Bob Dole, a Republican Party stalwart and presidential hopeful who espoused a brand of plain-spoken conservativism as one of Washington's most recognizable political figures throughout the latter half of the 20th century, died Sunday.

"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," according to a statement from his family.

He had announced in February that he was being treated for advanced lung cancer.

Dole, who was seriously wounded during World War II, had suffered a series of health ailments in previous years. In 1991, he received surgery for prostate cancer, received abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery in 2001, was hospitalized in 2005 after a fall in his home and was treated for a leg infection in 2009.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/05/politics/bob-dole-dies/index.html

[jimfields33]

1. RIP

[hlthe2b]

2. He was definitely a tough one...

Of all the old school R's, I'd hoped he would be one to denounce any support for Trump, but alas...

Still, a war hero, and I memorialize his service.

RIP, sir.

[George II]

3. I suspect his mind wasn't in any condition to even understand what's been going on in recent years..

If he was 20 years younger, my guess is he would have spoken out.

One of the last of the "good" republicans. Different from us ideologically, but still an American.

[SouthBayDem]

12. From the Washington Post

Despite the harsh turn his party took under Trump, he said in an interview in July with USA Today that he regretted the former president’s loss in November but broke with him over claims of election fraud and was “sort of Trumped out.”

Link

[hlthe2b]

13. Sounds like he maintained mental reasoning to the end..

[beaglelover]

4. Rest In Peace Mr. Dole.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Bob Dole and streptomycin

World War II and recovery

In 1942, Dole joined the United States Army's Enlisted Reserve Corps to fight in World War II, becoming a second lieutenant in the Army's 10th Mountain Division. In April 1945, while engaged in combat near Castel d'Aiano in the Apennine mountains southwest of Bologna, Italy, Dole was seriously wounded by a German shell, being struck in his upper back and right arm, shattering his collarbone and part of his spine. "I lay face down in the dirt," Dole said. "I could not see or move my arms. I thought they were missing." As Lee Sandlin describes, when fellow soldiers saw the extent of his injuries, all they thought they could do was to "give him the largest dose of morphine they dared and write an 'M' for 'morphine' on his forehead in his own blood, so that nobody else who found him would give him a second, fatal dose."

Dole was paralyzed from the neck down and transported to a military hospital near Kansas, expected to die. Suffering blood clots, a life-threatening infection and a fever of almost 109 degrees; after large doses of penicillin were not successful, he overcame the infection with the administration of streptomycin, which at the time was still an experimental drug. He remained despondent, "not ready to accept the fact that my life would be changed forever". He was encouraged to see Hampar Kelikian, an orthopedist in Chicago who had been working with veterans returning from war. Although during their first meeting Kelikian told Dole that he would never be able to recover fully, the encounter changed Dole's outlook on life, who years later wrote of Kelikian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide, "Kelikian inspired me to focus on what I had left and what I could do with it, rather than complaining what had been lost." Dr. K, as Dole later came to affectionately call him, operated on him seven times, free of charge, and had, in Dole's words, "an impact on my life second only to my family".

Dole recovered from his wounds at the Percy Jones Army Hospital. This complex of federal buildings, no longer a hospital, is now named Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in honor of three patients who became United States Senators: Dole, Philip Hart and Daniel Inouye. Dole was decorated three times, receiving two Purple Hearts for his injuries, and the Bronze Star with "V" Device for valor for his attempt to assist a downed radioman. The injuries left him with limited mobility in his right arm and numbness in his left arm. He minimizes the effect in public by keeping a pen in his right hand, and learned to write with his left hand. In 1947, he was medically discharged from the Army as a captain.

Fri Oct 19, 2018: Happy 75th anniversary, the first isolation of streptomycin.

[quaint]

6. Easy boy...

(start around 1:15 if you're not into Brit.)

[Polybius]

31. That commercial was amazing, one of my all-time favorites

A tad controversial, but true. Pepsi made great commercials back then, and didn't worry about who didn't like it. Here's another:

[quaint]

33. Good one, and as you noted, not PC.

I really thought BobDole said, "Down boy" not "Easy Boy". Neither would make it to screen today.

[deurbano]

7. In the early 90s, when my daughter was a student at Berkeley, she was selected as one of nine

(I think) "Young Scholars" with a disability (from across the country) by the Dole Foundation. When we went to Washington so she could participate in related events, I had to remind her to take the "Dole is a Pineapple" button off her wheelchair backpack! (RIP)

[mcar]

8. May he rest in peace

Condolences to his family.

[Sapient Donkey]

9. I thought he passed away a few years ago for some reason

I remember seeing him a lot when I was a kid, but by the time I started being more interested in politics, he was mostly out of the spotlight.

[Slammer]

17. Mandela

Obviously you're suffering from the Mandela Effect.

[Sapient Donkey]

18. Very likely something like that.

I still think sinbad played a genie in something, but the powers that be don’t want us to remember

[paleotn]

10. Condolences. But lest we forget....

Dole was considered Nixon's hatchet man and tried to shutdown live TV for the Watergate hearings. A tricky Dick apologist to the last.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. A man who gave everything he had to America until science returned most of it & he lived. . . nt

[SouthBayDem]

14. I was five years old in 1996.

I remember my kindergarten teacher held a mock "Clinton vs. Dole" poll in class. Many people of my generation are more familiar with the name Bob Dole because of Tupac's song "How Do U Want It" where he dissed both 1996 presidential candidates: "Bill Clinton, Mr. Bob Dole / You're too old to understand the way the game's told."

[Sapient Donkey]

19. I didn't know DU had any members under the age 38

I’m only partly joking. Now I am curious about the age breakdown of active users

[Elessar Zappa]

20. I'm 37!

I’ll be 38 in three days.

[electric_blue68]

24. 👍 ...

... and a LOTR fan?

[Sapient Donkey]

26. I was like 18 or 19 when DU was new...

I wish I could remember what username I went by, because I think they have some pretty good archives of all the posts. Probably for the best, though. I was an annoying little troll back then. I mean, I suppose I still am, but slightly less annoying.

Despite it being 20 years now, I still feel like the young kid on here at times.

[Elessar Zappa]

32. I was 20 when I first signed up.

I too had a different username. I thought at the time that I was the youngest. When people would set up age polls, it seemed like everyone was 50+ except for me.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

21. 74 years old and still going strong.

[andym]

15. Great Debate moments with Mondale in 1976 where Dole complained about "Democrat Wars"

Dole: "If we added up the killed and wounded in Democrat wars in this century, it would be ... enough to fill the city of Detroit."

He had his head handed to him, when "Mondale responded coolly, "Senator Dole has richly earned his reputation as a hatchet man." and then:
“Does he really mean to suggest to the American people that there was a partisan difference over our involvement in the war to fight Nazi Germany? I don’t think any reasonable American would accept that. Does he really mean to suggest that it was only partisanship that got us into the war in Korea?”

The reaction was so poor that he spent effort countering his blunder.
An article from that era:
https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/28/archives/dole-denies-talking-of-democrat-wars-says-he-never-used-phrase-that.html


RIP

[SouthBayDem]

28. Nowadays that's acceptable speech in right wing media

"Democrat this, Democrat that"

[58Sunliner]

16. I won't pretend I respect him in death.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

22. I respect him for his military service to this country during WWII,

I don't respect him for his political service to this country.

[electric_blue68]

25. Condolences to his family and this sounds right to me esp...

I did political cartoon back in the sort of early B Clinton Presidency days (relatively) -

it was Rushbo with his mike, Bill & Hillary in a drawing tacked to the wall, a window outside with anti Clinton chanting, rabid wolves, and Bob Dole raiding his arm with a "coin" that he (as a top) R Senator was "raising the ante", and while I don't remember what - it was against some the Dems wanted and the Repugs didn't.


(what a harrowing WWIi ordeal in the hospital!)

[iluvtennis]

23. May Bob Dole Rest in Peace and His Memeory be a Blessing. n/t

[Roy Rolling]

27. What did Bob Dole do?

After losing a contentious and bitter election to Bill Clinton, what did Bob Dole do?

He appeared on Saturday Night Live. He was gracious and funny.

That is the image of courage that Bob Dole represents. Todays Republicans are no Bob Dole.

[MustLoveBeagles]

29. RIP

[Polybius]

30. I actually voted for Bob Dole in 1996

Back then I was a newly registered young voter (so don't be too hard on me), and even worked on his team. I always thought that he was an honorable man though, and was probably the best Republican presidential nominee in 50 years. In any event, RIP sir, I salute you.