Bob Dole’s remains arrived at the Capitol Thursday morning as the late senator lies in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
President Joe Biden, first lady Jill, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attended a private ceremony for Dole on Thursday with invited members of Congress and Dole’s family.
The program notes that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will make remarks at the ceremony.
In the past, congressional tributes for those who lie in state are open to the public. For Dole’s arrangements, only invited guests were allowed to attend the ceremony due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dole’s widow Elizabeth, 85, and daughter Robin, 67, were at the private ceremony with the first and second couple and congressional leadership.
Also on the guest list are an array of former lawmakers who served with Dole when he was a senator as well as close aides and friends.
President Joe Biden, firs lady Jill, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attend a private ceremony for Bob Dole at the Capitol on Thursday morning
Former Republican Senator Bob Dole’s casket arrives at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday
Dole’s remains will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda Thursday in a private ceremony with the first and second couples, congressional leaders and Dole’s widow Elizabeth and daughter Robin
Invited guests stand with their hands over their hearts to honor Dole as his casket arrived for a private ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday, December 9, 2021
Dole’s widow Elizabeth (second left) and daughter Robin (right) are ushered by Chairman o the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley (left) as the remains arrive at the Capitol for a private ceremony
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill stand together as they arrive for the congressional ceremony honoring Dole
Dole, known as a pragmatic conservative willing to engage with opposition Democrats, died in his sleep at age 98 nearly a year after announcing he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.
He will join the likes of U.S. presidents, judges, military leaders and other officials who have lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda since 1852. Such tributes in recent years have gone to former President George H.W. Bush, former Senator John McCain and most recently Representative John Lewis, a civil rights icon.
Dole attended the ceremony at the Capitol for Bush Sr. in December 2018. At the time of the ceremony, the elderly, wheelchair-ridden Republican stood, assisted, to salute his friend and former president.
On Friday, Biden will join former presidents, current and former congressional leaders and Dole’s family and friends for a private memorial service for the late senator at the Washington National Cathedral on Friday.
Following the Memorial Service, Dole’s casket will travel to the World War II Memorial on the National Mall for a more public ceremony.
The program will feature remarks from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and from actor Tom Hanks. Savannah Guthrie will commence.
Members of each service branch carried Dole’s casket up the front stairs of the Capitol on Thursday
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who serves in a role once held by Dole, delivers remarks during a ceremony honoring the late Republican senator
An aerial view shows Dole’s casket in the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday
Dole is survived by his wife, former Senator and Bush Sr.’s Secretary of Labor Elizabeth, and his daughter Robin.
He served in the U.S. Senate representing Kansas for 27 years, in which time he served as chairman of the Republican National Committee, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, leader of the Senate Republican Conference and the Senate Minority and Majority leader.
He ended his political career as the Republican presidential nominee in 1996, losing to incumbent President Bill Clinton.
Before that, President Gerald Ford chose Dole as his running mate in the 1976 election after Vice President Nelson Rockefeller withdrew from seeking a full term. Ford was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter in the general election.
Dole served in the Army Reserves in WWII. He deployed to Italy and was nearly killed in 1945 by a German explosive. He had multiple surgeries and three years of rehabilitation but never fully regained function in his right arm
Dole also sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1980, but quickly dropped out of the race he was also defeated in the 1988 Republican primaries by Vice President George H. W. Bush.
First entering politics as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives in 1951, Dole then served as a County Attorney there before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Born in Russell, Kansas in 1923, Dole joined thousands of young men in his time by signing up to fight in World War II as part of the Army Reserves.
He was deployed to Italy as a second lieutenant in 1944. He was nearly killed in 1945 by a German explosive when leading the assault near Castel D’Aiano and was struck just as he was helping a fallen soldier.
Dole underwent multiple surgeries back in the U.S. and three years of rehabilitation. He never fully regained function in his right arm, only able to move his fingers.
For the rest of his public life he carried a pen in that hand to make it appear more normal and deter people from shaking hands with him on that side.
Dole pictured on December 4, 2018 standing and saluting the casket of George H.W. Bush as it lied in state at the Capitol