‘Never stopped moving on’: Kansas leaders remember Dole as embodiment of state motto
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Bob Dole’s legacy
Bob Dole, a Kansan, World War II veteran, lawyer, state representative, U.S. Senator and presidential nominee for the Republican party died Sunday at 98.
Dole entered public service in 1950 at age 27 and in 18 years rose from the Kansas House of Representatives, Russell County attorney and the U.S. House to the Senate. In 1976, he joined the GOP ticket as a vice presidential candidate, then ran twice unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination before becoming his party’s presidential nominee in 1996, at age 73.
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Current and former Kansas leaders lauded Bob Dole Saturday as the late U.S. Senator returned to the building where he first held elected office, the Kansas Statehouse.
From surviving Nazi fire in Italy to leading the U.S. Senate as majority leader and earning the Republican nomination for president in 1996, Kansas Democrats and Republicans said Dole embodied the state’s motto: ad astra per aspera, a Latin phrase meaning to the stars, through difficulty.
“He never stopped moving on,” said former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, who served alongside Dole in the U.S. Senate.
Dole died Dec. 5 at age 98. His body laid in repose at the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka Saturday afternoon in the last stop of the senator’s final return to his home state.
In 1951, he was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives while a student at Washburn University’s law school. He served one term before becoming the county attorney in his hometown and eventually moving on to Congress.
Dole’s family, including wife and former Senator Elizabeth Dole and daughter Robin Dole, entered the first floor rotunda of the capitol just after 4:30 p.m. Saturday as the Washburn University Choir and state leaders sang “Home on the Range.”
Earlier in the day, a memorial was held for Dole at the Catholic Church in his hometown of Russell, Kansas. Gov. Laura Kelly, former Sen. Pat Roberts and Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall spoke at the memorial.
Kelly, Moran and Marshall also spoke in Topeka and were joined by Kassebaum and former U.S. Rep. Jim Slattery.
The service was open to the public and attended by leaders in Kansas politics including members of the State House and Senate, the state’s congressional delegation, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and former Gov. Sam Brownback.
Speakers remembered Dole as Kansan through and through — advising new members of Kansas’ congressional delegation that if they were ever unsure how to vote to return to Kansas and listen to the people.
Despite being a fierce partisan and leader of the Republican party, Dole was remembered for his bipartisan work on major issues including the Americans with Disabilities Act and food stamps.
Kassebaum, a Republican, reflected that she maintained a good relationship with Dole despite often being a “thorn in his side” when she bucked party leadership.
Slattery, a Democrat, said Dole taught him that political opponents could also be friends and allies.
Ten years before Slattery was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, he worked for Dole’s opponent in his 1974 reelection campaign. After Slattery’s election he shared a plane with Dole from Kansas to D.C. and spoke to him about his work for Dole’s opponent.
When Slattery explained his reasons, he said Dole responded with humor.
“He looked at me and he said ‘Jim if I were as young as you were then I may have done the same thing,’” Slattery said. “At that moment I was just thinking how could you ever dislike a man with such a wonderful, self deprecating sense of humor.”
The war hero, former senator and former presidential candidate has been honored at events across D.C. and Kansas since his death. After a funeral at the National Cathedral, Dole’s body was flown back to Kansas. Following the statehouse ceremony Dole’s body was set to be returned to D.C. for burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Throughout the week, current and former officials in Kansas and nationwide have remembered Dole for his good humor and willingness to work across the aisle.
He yielded major influence in Kansas politics even after his retirement from public office with his endorsement carrying major weight in state races. Dole stood beside former Gov. Brownback when he announced his reelection campaign in 2014. Brownback was a member of the state House of Representatives when Dole was in the Senate.
“He had a lot of relationships and I think that was his key to being so successful in the Senate, was he was just very relational and disagreed with people, but still got along with them and that was a real characteristic we could all use more of,” Brownback said in an interview Thursday.
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 7:06 PM.
