Bob Dole Biography

Political Figure

While serving in World War II as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Bob Dole was seriously injured and not expected to survive. Although he recovered, Dole was partially paralyzed and left without the use of his right arm. He went to law school and then entered politics as a Republican. Dole served as a congressman beginning in 1961 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968; in 1976 he was President Gerald Ford's running mate in Ford's unsuccessful run against Jimmy Carter. During the 1980s Dole was a high-profile American politician, the senate's majority leader and a well-known presidential aspirant. He finally won the GOP nomination in 1996 and resigned his senate seat to run for president against Democrat Bill Clinton. After his unsuccessful bid, Dole became a prominent spokesman for Viagra and Pepsi Cola.

Extra credit: Dole is married to Elizabeth Dole, a Republican who ran for president in 2000 and served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina from 2003-2009 (she was elected to fill the seat of retiring senator Jesse Helms).

Bob and Elizabeth Dole appear with John and John Quincy Adams in our loop on Presidents Closely Related.