Biden pays tribute to ‘American giant’ Bob Dole as ‘a man of extraordinary courage’

“A lot of Americans remember Bob Dole as a presidential candidate, but for families he represented across the border — he represented Kansas for 36 years — and for those like me, who had the honor of calling him a friend, Bob Dole was an American giant, a man of extraordinary courage, both physical and moral courage,” the President said.

Dole, a former Senate majority leader and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, died on Sunday at age 98. He had announced in February that he was being treated for advanced lung cancer.

Arriving in Washington at the dawn of the Kennedy administration, Dole served for 27 years as a US senator from Kansas, including two stints as the Senate majority leader, though he might be best known for his unsuccessful run as the Republican presidential nominee against Bill Clinton in 1996, his third attempt at the White House. He also served as President Gerald Ford’s running mate in 1976 after Nelson Rockefeller declined to stay on as vice president. 

The President’s remarks on Wednesday build on his statement mourning Dole following news of his passing. “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 Sunday.

“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.”

Dole will lie in state in the US Capitol Rotunda on Thursday.

Trump’s absence means there won’t be a full meeting of the so-called presidents club, though it remains to be seen if the other former living presidents will attend.