Seriously wounded during World War II, Dole went on to a long career as a senator for Kansas and a Republican presidential hopeful
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Bob Dole, while running for president in 1996, attends a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan.
Hide Caption
1 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole stands in front of a 1936 Chevrolet in his hometown of Russell, Kansas. Dole studied at the University of Kansas and played for the school’s basketball, football and track teams before World War II broke out.
Hide Caption
2 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole enlisted in the US Army during World War II.
Hide Caption
3 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole was seriously wounded during a battle in Italy in 1945. He spent the following three years recovering from injuries that left his right arm permanently disabled and his left arm minimally functional.
Hide Caption
4 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole is seen between fellow US Reps. Charles A. Halleck and Charles B. Hoeven in 1962. After the war, Dole went into politics. He served in the Kansas House of Representatives before becoming Russell County prosecutor in 1953. In 1960, Dole was elected to the US House of Representatives.
Hide Caption
5 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole became a US senator in 1969 and held the office until 1996. Here, Dole is joined by President Gerald Ford, who was in Wichita, Kansas, to give Dole a re-election boost in 1974. Dole would later become Ford’s running mate in the 1976 presidential election.
Hide Caption
6 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole, right, is congratulated by US Sen. George McGovern after his wedding in 1975. Dole’s wife, Elizabeth, is seen at center.
Hide Caption
7 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole and Ford attend the Republican National Convention in 1976. They would lose the election to Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.
Hide Caption
8 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole and his wife, Elizabeth, enjoy a carnival ride at the Maryland State Fair in 1976.
Hide Caption
9 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole and his daughter, Robin, kiss Dole’s mother, Bina, on Mother’s Day in 1979.
Hide Caption
10 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole takes notes as he watches President Jimmy Carter speak in 1980. Dole was making his first run for president.
Hide Caption
11 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole ran for president again in 1988. Here, he holds a campaign button in front of Lynette Woodard of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Hide Caption
12 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole tosses a balloon for Clarence Fondren to hit back during a campaign stop at the Chicago Rehabilitation Institute in 1988.
Hide Caption
13 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole delivers a eulogy at the funeral of former President Richard Nixon in 1994.
Hide Caption
14 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole appears at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 1995.
Hide Caption
15 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole, running for president once again, speaks to a crowd of firefighters and their families while on the campaign trail in 1996.
Hide Caption
16 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole listens to a technician during a campaign stop at a pharmaceutical company in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1996.
Hide Caption
17 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole takes a look at a $100 bill a supporter wanted signed at a campaign rally in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1996.
Hide Caption
18 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole speaks with US Sen. Connie Mack on the steps of an airplane following a campaign appearance in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1996.
Hide Caption
19 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole works the phones from his office balcony at the US Capitol in 1996.
Hide Caption
20 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole and his wife, Elizabeth, shop at a Florida food market in 1996.
Hide Caption
21 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole talks with a prisoner at the Durango Jail’s “Tent City” during a campaign visit in Phoenix in 1996. The outdoor jail, which housed approximately 1,200 male and 200 female prisoners at the time, was the site of Dole’s speech about crime issues.
Hide Caption
22 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole, his wife and his daughter pose with President Bill Clinton and his family after their first presidential debate in 1996.
Hide Caption
23 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole enjoys a mid-afternoon break at the Village Ice Cream Parlor in Lebanon, Ohio, in 1996.
Hide Caption
24 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole and his wife, Elizabeth, watch election judge Fara Popp place their ballots into the ballot box in Russell, Kansas, in 1996.
Hide Caption
25 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole lost the 1996 election to Clinton, but Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom just a couple of months later.
Hide Caption
26 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole shakes hands with the University of Kansas’ mascot during a basketball game in 1998.
Hide Caption
27 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole sits with Robert Gates, center, and former US Sen. David Boren before Gates’ confirmation hearing in 2006. Gates had been nominated for defense secretary.
Hide Caption
28 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole is honored with a plaque at the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, in 2011.
Hide Caption
29 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole salutes the casket of US Sen. Daniel Inouye as his body lies in state in the US Capitol rotunda in 2012. Dole and Inouye knew each other since they were recovering from their World War II battle wounds.
Hide Caption
30 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole attends a 2015 event in Washington, DC, that commemorated the end of World War II in Europe.
Hide Caption
31 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
President Barack Obama greets Dole after a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in 2015.
Hide Caption
32 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
President Donald Trump greets Dole as House Speaker Paul Ryan holds Dole’s Congressional Gold Medal in 2018. Trump honored Dole, calling the longtime Kansas lawmaker “a true American hero.”
Hide Caption
33 of 34
Bob Dole’s life in pictures
Dole salutes the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush at the US Capitol in 2018.
Hide Caption
34 of 34