Bob Dole, who battled back from severe injuries from the Second World War to become a five-term US senator and the Republican Party’s 1996 presidential nominee, died on Sunday, his family foundation announced. He was 98.
“It is with heavy hearts we announce that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning in his sleep,” the Elizabeth Dole Foundation wrote on Twitter.
“At his death, at age 98, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years.”
Dole was elected to the US Senate in 1968 and was re-elected in 1974, 1980, 1986 and 1992, serving as Senate majority and minority leader over the years.
In 1976, Dole was tapped by Gerald Ford to be his vice presidential candidate but the Republican ticket lost to Democrats Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.
Twenty years later, Dole lost the White House race to Democrat Bill Clinton, making him the only person to lose the presidential and vice presidential elections on a major party ticket.
