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The former candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Bob Dole, died this Sunday, December 5. The former Republican senator is remembered for having been a preeminent figure in American politics.
“The United States has lost one of its heroes; our family has lost its rock ”, were the words of Bob Dole’s family through a statement issued this Sunday, December 5.
The American politician died in the morning hours while he slept. “With his death at the age of 98, he has served the United States faithfully for 79 years,” the text said.
Dole, who suffered combat injuries during World War II, was a pre-eminent figure in American politics for nearly eight decades. He stood out as a Republican senator from Kansas, his home state, and was a failed presidential candidate for his party in 1996, when he was defeated by the re-elected Democrat, Bill Clinton.
In February this year he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and has been under treatment ever since.
A war hero
Bob Dole “embodied integrity, humor, compassion and a limitless work ethic (…) He was a powerful voice for pragmatic conservatism,” the family of the deceased said in the statement.
The Republican represented the state of Kansas in Congress for 35 years: from 1961 to 1969 in the House of Representatives and from 1969 to 1996 in the Senate. He was a linchpin during Republican Ronald Reagan’s administration helping guide his legislative agenda in the 1980s.
Before this, in 1976, he was a vice presidential candidate alongside Republican Gerald Ford, a contest he lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter. In addition, he participated in the Second World War, where he was seriously wounded and lost the use of his right arm when he was hit with a projectile that destroyed his shoulder.
Perhaps because of this war wound, he became an advocate for people with disabilities and worked to increase financial aid from the Social Security retirement program.
In 1990, Dole was instrumental in passing the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public facilities, and transportation. In addition, he was behind the construction of a monument honoring Americans who served in World War II on the National Mall in Washington.
In his passing, a poignant picture of #BobDole saluting Bush’s casket.
Why the left hand salute?
Fighting in WW2, Dole tried to take out Nazi machine gunners was hit in the back w/ an exploding shell.
The damage to his arms & hands was irreversible.
A servant of the Republic. pic.twitter.com/nM89wchwk8
— Gregg Favre (@GreggFavre) December 5, 2021
The Republican Democrats Remember
In a statement, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, remembered Bob Dole with appreciation. “As if it were yesterday when we were sharing a laugh in the Senate dining room or debating the big issues of the day, often among ourselves, on the Senate floor,” said the president.
“Although we often disagreed, he never hesitated to work with me or other Democrats when it mattered most,” added Biden.
For her part, the president of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, ordered this Sunday to lower the flags of the Capitol to half-mast as a sign of respect.
With Reuters, EFE and AP
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