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 Fairy tales show children how to behave growing up and how to
get along with others. They learn good societal behavior from adult role models.
As adults, we need heroic role models as well. Heroes reveal qualities we need
for communion with others. They educate by example, give us hope when we are
down, show us a better way. Above all, heroes teach us how to become better
citizens.
Last week, America lost one its most "uncelebrated" heroes, long-time statesmen,
politician, soldier and most importantly, citizen, Bob Dole, at age 98. A
disabled veteran, state and federal senator, and Republican nominee for
president in 1996, he served America faithfully for almost eight decades. Bob
Dole was a citizen who did all of the things a good citizen should do for his
country and more.
Capitol Hill icon and former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., is best remembered as
the Republican Leader of the Senate for 11 years, and three terms as Senate
Majority Leader. His colleagues remember him as a leader who stood by his
principles and his party. He was a man who never abandoned his convictions, yet
was able to "cross the aisle" and broker major accomplishments when others
refused to budge.
Bob Dole's passion for public service began when he was attending the University
of Kansas on an athletic scholarship taking pre-med classes. He played
basketball, football and he was a track star also. But during his second year in
college, with America at war, Dole abruptly quit school to join the army and
fight in WWII. And this decision changed the direction of his life and future
forever.
Serving as a lieutenant in the 10th Mountain Division, in April 1945, while
engaged in combat near Bologna, Italy, Dole was seriously wounded by a German
shell that shattered his collarbone and spine. Dole recalled, "I was face down
in the dirt, and thought my arms and legs were missing."
Dole nearly died from his injuries. It took three years of surgeries and
physical therapy for him to be able to dress, eat or even walk. He lost the use
of his right arm and hand and his left hand was totally numb. He received two
Purple Hearts and the Star Of Valor for attempting to save a fellow soldier.
Bob Dole spent a career in public service when others would have felt that they
had done enough. Determined to complete college and return to public service, he
earned an undergraduate and a graduate degree in law. And in 1950, Dole was
elected to serve in the Kansas State Legislature.
“I lived by this theory, if I can’t use my hands, well, I better learn to use my
head.” – Bob Dole
Dole was elected to Congress in 1969 and served for 36 years. He was the GOP
Senate Leader for 11 years and three years as Senate Majority Leader. Dole said
he reminded himself everyday that his job was, "Not to vote no against all the
hard things and then vote yes for all the easy things. Too many politicians do
that. Then they go out and make speeches about how tough they are.”
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World War Two veteran and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole attends
Memorial Day services at the World War II Memorial in Washington, U.S., November
11, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
As President Gerald's Ford vice presidential running mate in 1976 after they
lost to Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale, Dole analyzed their presidential
campaign this way: “President Ford was supposed to take the high road, and I was
supposed to go after the jugular. Well, I did. I went after my own.”
At age 73, in May 1996, Dole resigned as Senate Majority Leader to run for
president. Dole faced questions about his age, and his potential inability to
serve a full term due to his war injuries. When he fell off the stage and into
the dirt in Chino, California, he was ridiculed by media and Bill Clinton
supporters.
With his poll numbers slipping, Dole launched a round-the-clock marathon of
events over the final 96-hour stretch before Election Day 1996. When one
reporter asked him if he had enough clean clothes to continue at that pace, Dole
quipped back, “We’re going to stop at an underwear factory.”
Dole played a pivotal role in creating the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
He told opponents: “To those who would worry about cost, I suggest they go back
to their pocket calculators and estimate the cost of 300 years of slavery!”
President Reagan signed the bill into law on Nov. 2, 1983.
In 2012, Dole returned to Washington in support of the U.N. Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Dole created the Dole Foundation for the
employment of people with disabilities.
Dole was the driving force behind the construction of the World War II Memorial
on the National Mall. In 2004, in failing health, from his wheel chair, he stood
up speaking to tens of thousands of 80 and 90 year old veterans: “Physical and
moral courage makes heroes out of all of us boys.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell told Congress, "While Dole championed
Republican ideals; he remained committed to caring for the vulnerable, from
veterans to people with disabilities."
The virtues that led Bob Dole to raise his right hand, enlist in the Army, and
fight until he could not raise that hand again are the same values that
compelled him to raise his left hand for every cause he believed in while in
Congress and after leaving government, during sickness and health. He will be
remembered as a true public servant and American hero.
"Americans of every generation have laid down their lives for people they never
knew or will ever see again. That's America!" – Bob Dole |
