Opinion: Bob Dole: America needs unity to rediscover its greatness.

[elleng]

Bob Dole, who died on Sunday, represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1996, including as Senate majority leader, and was the 1996 Republican nominee for president. This column was drafted early in 2021 to be published around the time of his death.

'Shortly after I was elected Senate majority leader in November 1984, a friend stopped by the Capitol to offer his congratulations. We toured my office, reviewing pictures of past majority leaders and admiring two portraits of personal heroes: Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Something about the place, steeped in such distinguished history, touched a common nerve in us. We fell silent for a time, when a smile crossed my friend’s face. With wonder, he said, “Imagine a kid from Russell, Kansas, having an office like this.”

My home at birth was a three-room house. I grew up during the Dust Bowl, when so many of us helplessly watched our livelihoods blow away with the wind. I have always felt humbled to live in a nation that would allow my unlikely story to unfold.

Many nights during my time as majority leader, I would step out on my office balcony overlooking the National Mall and be reminded of what made my journey possible. Facing me were monuments to our nation’s first commander in chief, the author of our Declaration of Independence, and the president who held our union together. In the distance were the countless graves of those who gave their lives so that we could live free.

That inspiring view came back to me as I watched the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol. I imagined the view of those monuments and headstones obscured by clouds of tear gas. I thought about the symbol of our democracy consumed by anger, hatred and violence.

There has been a lot of talk about what it will take to heal our country. We have heard many of our leaders profess “bipartisanship.” But we must remember that bipartisanship is the minimum we should expect from ourselves.

America has never achieved greatness when Republicans and Democrats simply manage to work together or tolerate each other. We have overcome our biggest challenges only when we focused on our shared values and experiences. These common ties form much stronger bonds than political parties.'>>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/06/bob-dole-op-ed-what-america-needs/?

[Raven123]

1. Odd item to publish posthumously.

Haven’t been attentive to any of Dole’s opining, but it seems this might have been better published while the GOP filibustered and obstructed everything Obama did while it was happening.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

2. You're right

But this kind of stuff makes him look good history-wise.

[dalton99a]

3. "I'm a Trumper... He lost the election, and I regret that he did."

- Bob Dole, July 2021