Former Senate majority leader Bob Dole (R-KS) attends a welcome ceremony in honor of new Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army General Mark Milley at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia, U.S., September 30, 2019.
Kevin Lemarque | Reuters
Bob Dole, a former U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate, died Sunday morning, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation said. He was 98.
Dole was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer earlier this year and said he was starting treatment.
“It is with heavy hearts we announce that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning in his sleep,” the foundation said on Twitter.
Dole served as a U.S. senator for Kansas for nearly 30 years, starting an impressive political run. In 1976, he was Gerald Ford’s vice presidential nominee, though the pair was defeated by President Jimmy Carter and his running mate, Walter Mondale.
He began to test the waters for his own presidential run in 1980. He later clinched the GOP nomination for the presidency in 1996, losing to President Bill Clinton.
Prior to his political career, Dole registered for the Army in 1942 and was a second lieutenant, according to NBC News. While serving, he was seriously injured in World War II. He became temporarily paralyzed from the neck down, and spent years rehabbing at a military hospital. Dole regained much of his movement, but his arms never fully recovered.
Flags at the Capitol will fly at half-staff in honor of Dole, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said Sunday.
