News News from America Long­time GOP sen­a­tor and pres­i­den­tial can­di­date Bob Dole dead at 98

Long­time GOP sen­a­tor and pres­i­den­tial can­di­date Bob Dole dead at 98

‘It is with heavy hearts we announce that Sen­a­tor Robert Joseph Dole died ear­ly this morn­ing in his sleep,’ the Eliz­a­beth Dole Foun­da­tion announced.

For­mer Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader Bob Dole died Sun­day morn­ing at age 98, his wife’s foun­da­tion announced.

“It is with heavy hearts we announce that Sen­a­tor Robert Joseph Dole died ear­ly this morn­ing in his sleep,” the Eliz­a­beth Dole Foun­da­tion tweet­ed. “At his death, at age 98, he had served the Unit­ed States of Amer­i­ca faith­ful­ly for 79 years. More infor­ma­tion com­ing soon. #Remem­ber­ing­Bob­Dole”

WWII Foun­da­tion hon­ors for­mer Sen. Bob Dole

French embassy presents Legion of Hon­or award to WWII veterans.

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Former Senator Bob Dole stands up and salutes the casket of the late former President George H.W. Bush as he lies in state at the U.S. Capitol, December 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

For­mer Sen­a­tor Bob Dole stands up and salutes the cas­ket of the late for­mer Pres­i­dent George H.W. Bush as he lies in state at the U.S. Capi­tol, Decem­ber 4, 2018 in Wash­ing­ton, DC. (Pho­to by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) ((Pho­to by Drew Angerer/Getty Images))

Dole announced ear­li­er this year that he was being treat­ed for stage 4 lung can­cer, which prompt­ed a vis­it at the time by Pres­i­dent Biden to his Wash­ing­ton, D.C., home.

Dole is sur­vived by his wife, for­mer North Car­oli­na GOP Sen. Eliz­a­beth Dole, who is 85.

Dole, the for­mer Kansas sen­a­tor, was a World War II vet­er­an who lost the use of his right arm on the bat­tle­field in Italy. As for­mer nation­al chair­man of the World War II Memo­r­i­al Com­mis­sion, he helped raise near­ly $200 mil­lion for a WWII memo­r­i­al on the Nation­al Mall, which was com­plet­ed in 2004.

Dole was the Repub­li­can Par­ty’s 1996 pres­i­den­tial nom­i­nee and had a polit­i­cal career span­ning near­ly four decades. For­mer Pres­i­dent Bill Clin­ton pre­sent­ed Dole with the Pres­i­den­tial Medal of Free­dom months after win­ning the elec­tion against him.

Senator Bob Dole gives the "thumbs up" sign during a presidential rally. Senator Dole won the Republican nomination for president in 1996, but lost the election to Bill Clinton. 

Sen­a­tor Bob Dole gives the “thumbs up” sign dur­ing a pres­i­den­tial ral­ly. Sen­a­tor Dole won the Repub­li­can nom­i­na­tion for pres­i­dent in 1996, but lost the elec­tion to Bill Clin­ton.  ( (Pho­to by © Wal­ly McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Get­ty Images))

For­mer Pres­i­dent George W. Bush issued a state­ment Sun­day say­ing Dole rep­re­sent­ed “the finest of Amer­i­can values.”

“He defend­ed them in uni­form dur­ing World War II,” the state­ment read. “He advanced them in the Unit­ed States Sen­ate. And he lived them out as a father, hus­band, and friend. Our entire fam­i­ly ben­e­fit­ed from that friend­ship, includ­ing my father. I will always remem­ber Bob’s salute to my late dad at the Capi­tol, and now we Bush­es salute Bob and give thanks for his life of prin­ci­pled ser­vice. Lau­ra and I send our heart­felt con­do­lences to Eliz­a­beth and join our fel­low cit­i­zens in prayer for her comfort.”

House Speak­er Nan­cy Pelosi has ordered the flags at the U.S. Capi­tol to fly at half-staff in Dole’s honor.

Source: foxnews​.com