Bob Dole’s miracle recovery from war wounds helped him keep perspective

Hearing that Bob Dole had died at 98, I thought of “Bless his heart,” words my mom might have said, meaning respect for Dole and his service to the nation in combat during World War II and in Congress.

Mom was an ardent Republican regarding national politics, so she would have included Dole’s campaigns for president. He sought, unsuccessfully, the Republican presidential nomination in 1980 (Ronald Reagan won the presidency) and in 1988 (George H. W. Bush was elected after being Reagan’s vice president).

Dole won the nomination in 1996, but the third time was not a charm. Bill Clinton was re-elected by a big margin.

SENSE OF HUMOR

Shortly after the loss, Dole was on the David Letterman Show, presidential historian Richard Norton Smith recalled. Dole displayed a sense of humor “and they were flooded with mail afterwards from people who said, `I had no idea he was so funny.’

Smith, a former director of the Gerald Ford Presidential Library, said “as long as I knew him, and we were friends for over 40 years, people were saying the same thing,” that they had not been aware of Dole’s sense of humor.

In 1945, the young Army officer was seriously wounded as he led his platoon in charging a German position in Italy. Dole was hit by a shell fragment that paralyzed his arms and legs. He was in hospitals for three years, and doctors did not expect him to survive.

Smith, also a former speechwriter for Dole, said he had one miracle after another in his life – including living to the age of 98. Dole did not regain the use of his right arm. He held a pen in his right hand, and offered his left to shake hands, to avoid embarrassment for folks wanting to shake the right hand.

PERSPECTIVE

After all he had endured, Dole kept things in perspective. Political leaders, both Republican and Democratic, praised Dole’s bipartisanship when he was the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, back in the day, when political leaders instinctively put the country’s best interests above the party’s.

Contrast the leadership of Dole, Sen. Everett Dirksen of Illinois, or Lyndon Johnson of Texas as a Democratic majority leader, with present Senate leaders.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader for now, has agreed with Chuck Schumer that the Democrats can pass a debt ceiling increase on their 50 votes plus the tie-breaking vote of the Democratic vice president.

McConnell praised Dole’s “big bipartisan achievements.” These included agricultural programs, as one might expect from a Kansan. He also was involved in federal tax policy, foreign policy, and he worked for passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

BIPARTISAN

On Saturdays, Dole was typically at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall. Associated Press writer John Hanna described Dole as a “driving force in its creation.” Dole was a key speaker at the 2004 dedication of the memorial ‑ six decades after war’s end in Europe and in the Pacific.

In tributes at the U.S. Capitol, Dole was described as part of a tradition that has faded away, as the venerable presidential observer David Gergen put it.

Congress and at times state and other branches of government are caught in mind-boggling partisan politics. The nation needs more Democrats and Republicans working together – for the good of the country.

We need another “Greatest Generation” like the one Bob Dole represented, men and women of decency who put others above self.