Five highlights from Bob Dole’s decades of public service in Washington

When Bob Dole, a former Kansas senator and presidential candidate, died Sunday at 98, he left behind a long legacy of achievement.

Dole entered public service in 1950 at age 27 and in 18 years rose from the Kansas House of Representatives, Russell County attorney and the U.S. House to the Senate. In 1976, he joined the GOP ticket as a vice presidential candidate, then ran twice unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination.

In 1996, at age 73, Dole became the Republican presidential nominee. He lost to Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Here are five key aspects of his storied political career:

Civil Rights

Dole supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In 1982, Dole crafted the compromise for a 25-year extension of the Voting Rights Act. A year later, he co-authored legislation designating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as a national holiday.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Dole was instrumental in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. A year earlier, he started the Dole Foundation, which helped individuals with disabilities find employment.

“This historic civil rights legislation seeks to end the unjustified segregation and exclusion of persons with disabilities from the mainstream of American life,” Dole said at the signing ceremony.

Dole continued to advocate for individuals with disabilities after leaving office. Despite his best efforts to sway his former colleagues, a majority of Republicans in the Senate opposed a United Nations treaty on disability rights in 2012. He continued to push unsuccessfully for the treaty’s ratification.

World War II Memorial

Dole sustained severe injuries in World War II while serving as a platoon leader in the Tenth Mountain Division in Italy.

Decades later, he traveled the United States helping to raise millions for the national World War II memorial in Washington. The memorial was dedicated on April 29, 2004.

Dole was national chairman for the WWII Memorial Commission. He ultimately helped raise nearly $200 million in cash and pledges.

Senate Republican Leader

Dole led Senate Republicans from 1985 until 1996. He built a reputation as a conservative, but pragmatic, dealmaker.

In 1991, Dole persuaded President George H. W. Bush to formally seek congressional approval to go to war against Iraq. Just days after the high-wire endorsement, Bush launched a successful bombardment that eventually drove Iraqi soldiers out of Kuwait.

Over time, Dole found himself increasingly out of step with newer senators who adopted a harder ideological brand of conservatism. After a bout with prostate cancer in late 1991, he considered retiring, but ultimately remained in the Senate until he left to run for president 1996.

Gold Medal

Congress in 2017 recognized Dole’s decades of public service by awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal, its highest civilian honor.

He received the medal in 2018 at a ceremony in the Capitol’s rotunda, where President Donald Trump praised him for his work with veterans and lauded him as “a patriot, a hero, a leader.”