Former Sen. Bob Dole, a Kansas lawmaker and decorated World War II veteran who never realized his ambitions to win the presidency but left an indelible mark on the nation’s capital and history, died Sunday. He was 98.
Dole died in his sleep, according to an announcement from the Elizabeth Dole Foundation.
US President Joe Biden has led tributes from both sides of America’s political divide to veteran Republican Bob Dole, who has died aged 98.
President Biden said Dole was a “dear friend” and “an American statesman like few in our history”.
Dole was a long-time senator for Kansas who ran as the Republican party’s presidential nominee in 1996, losing to the Democrat Bill Clinton.
Bob Dole, former GOP presidential candidate and longtime senator, dies at 98
Mr. Dole, a son of the Kansas prairie who was left for dead on a World War II battlefield, became one of the longest-serving Republican leaders.
“Bob was an American statesman like few in our history. A war hero and among the greatest of the Greatest Generation. And to me, he was also a friend whom I could look to for trusted guidance, or a humorous line at just the right moment to settle frayed nerves,” Biden said. “I will miss my friend. But I am grateful for the times we shared, and for the friendship Jill and I and our family have built with Liddy and the entire Dole family.”