The Last Statesman
Bob Dole, iconic Kansan and American, might well be America's last statesman
Kansas Senator Bob Dole died on Sunday at the age of 98, and the week has been filled with stories about his journey from humble roots to hi long and storied career as a Senator and statesman from Russell, Kansas.
A friend I used to work with in journalism said that newspapers across the country could finally run the stories they had written 20 years ago. It’s true - our newsroom had a Bob Dole file, filled with some of his greatest accomplishments and best quips that could be published at a moments notice, in the very timely event of his death.
And the internets are proving that there was a treasure trove of material on Sen. Bob Dole. The week has been an information waterfall about the well-known and well-loved Senator from the heart of America. And locally, people have been sharing photos and stories of their encounters with Bob Dole.
I don’t have any great stories about Bob Dole. I met him a couple times, but in the way that most people met him - at some local event or at the Kansas State Fair. Shaking hands, a quick photo, and then moving on about our day. Nothing that would make him remember anything about some poor kid from Nickerson, Kansas.
But I remember watching him run for president in 1996, when I voted for him. I voted for Bill Clinton in 1992, but by the time 1996 had rolled around I was solidly behind the local guy, the Kansas guy - Bob Dole. Sure he was old, but he was witty and sharp. And I liked the idea that someone from Kansas might be president in my lifetime.
I also liked his approach to governance. I liked that he was a master at compromise, that he understood how to get things done in a pragmatic way. I was relatively young then, but I appreciated the wisdom of Dole’s understanding about how to get, maybe not all that one wanted, but a good chunk of it. And that pen! I loved that he held that pen in his hand, unafraid and unashamed of his battle scars - and that he didn’t let what harmed him, stop him.
It was Kansas grit, through and through, and I really appreciated that.
There are no shortage of stories about his career. One that spanned nearly four decades, and gave Kansas outsized power as Dole ascended to the Senate Republican leader post. There’s the story about how Dole asked Biden a month or so ago to deliver the eulogy at his funeral. And there are stories about how Dole was a shrewd and pragmatic lawmaker, who was trusted to deliver on his word and broker compromises between competing sides.
He helped usher through the Americans with Disabilities Act - a piece of legislation that has opened up a world of opportunity for people who will be born long after the Kansas Senator is laid to rest this weekend.
In 1982, he helped broker a deal to extend the Voting Rights.
And in 2012, a frail and elderly Bob Dole made his way to the U.S. Senate in an attempt to convince members to support the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He was hopeful that his position as an elder statesmen would convince the newly empowered Tea Party Republicans to support the most basic of measures - a treaty to bring the rest of the world in line with American progress on equality for those with disabilities. Dole failed to the likes of partisan hacks like Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz - who flamed fears that the treaty would somehow threaten American-style freedom. I remember that day, too, and it was sad to watch this venerated figure wheeled out of the chamber in embarrassing defeat.
He was far from perfect. He had his foibles and his missteps, and he was partisan. But he served Kansas well, with dignity and decency. He formed friendships and alliances - in good faith - with his political rivals. (Please read this touching tribute from former Democratic Senator Tom Dashcle). And he was a man who elevated Kansas in a way that few have. I’ll always appreciate that about Bob Dole. And that he had enough humor about himself to appear on Saturday Night Live and razz Norm McDonald’s impersonation of him.
Yet something has been bugging me this week, as I’ve watched people express their gratitude and appreciation for the dedicated effort and determination of one of Kansas’ most storied statesmen.
And I think I’ve settled on this: Despite the accolades, despite the outpouring of appreciation and respect for Sen. Bob Dole, the truth is that Bob Dole would never make it through a Republican primary in 2021. Unless he reinvented himself, unless he put a finger against the political winds, there is - at least in my mind - zero chance that the person so many Republicans now go out of their way to respect and lionize would be able to hold up into today’s toxic election rhetoric.
I could even argue that in today’s environment, Bob Dole would be labeled a Democrat at worst, and a RINO at best. And I see little chance that a man who openly worked across the isle to find honest policy compromise would earn the love, respect, or votes of partisans who, today, would argue that Dole was working to undermine America and her sweet and unique freedoms.
I can argue that with near certainty, because we all see and hear the rhetoric of the past few years. We see who gets elected, and how they get elected. It’s not on good ideas, or on their ability to work with others. In too many cases, it’s because they are good an exploiting fear, at fanning the flames of destructive angst. It’s on the platform of absolutism - that I am right and you are wrong, and therefore, you must be destroyed.
I know it because there were politicians who actively encouraged an insurrection on the nation’s capitol. And there are politicians who have captured that fear and anger and converted it into political capital - and have won elections with the rhetoric of self-destruction.
I know this because just in the week that we’re celebrating the great stateman Bob Dole - we have Republican-on-Republican warfare for the should-be-boring office of Secretary of State.
It’s a scene that has played out far too often in the good state of Kansas.
Current Secretary of State Scott Schwab is a good and decent person. He has restored calm, order, and respect to an office that at it’s core is about managing the state’s elections and paperwork. And he’s not spent his time using the office to generate unfounded fears about fraudulent or “rigged” elections, or attempted to concentrate more power for himself.
Republican or Democrat, there’s not much one can find to support the idea that Schwab hasn’t carried out the duties of his office well, professionally, and with far more integrity than the previous officeholder.
Nevertheless, we have a challenger from the right in Mike Brown - who as Johnson County Commissioner fanned the flames of fear and insurrection by telling people that he could hear the drums of war beating in the distance and encouraged people to take matters into their own hands. In a moment of crisis, he invoked fear. In a moment of pain, he inflicted offered only toxic rhetoric. Now, as he announced his run for Kansas Secretary of State, he’s further undermining America by questioning the integrity of Kansas elections (which it should be noted, were incredibly successful for Republicans up and down the ballot).
“On November 3rd, 2020 and November 2nd, 2021 – shortly after the polls closed – my phone blew up with emails, text messages, voicemails, phone calls, and social media messages over concerns of the integrity of our elections. After multiple attempts to find answers that would address these concerns and return confidence in the integrity of our elections, not only was I left with even more concerns, it became clear that ensuring election integrity has not been a priority for Secretary of State Scott Schwab.” - Mike Brown on announcing his candidacy for Secretary of State.
The Big Lie is just that - a big, gigantic fabrication. But it works in some political circles, and some people decide that their political fortunes are worth more than the fortunes of American stability, peace, and prosperity. Yet somehow, they hope we’ll all believe that they have our best interests above theirs. And to prove it, they try to keep many of us scared and angry.
Statesman, indeed. But he’s not the only one, by a long shot.
More than a man died this week with Bob Dole. The idea of a functional government, rooted in the spirit of compromise and the concept of living in a shared civil society also seems to have passed with him.
This week, as people line up to express their longstanding gratitude and appreciation for the statesman that was Bob Dole, it’s good to remember a man who was fiercely partisan, but put his country’s future above his party, and who understood that compromise with others is how we move forward, and how we get along.
And it’s also good to remember how far we’ve fallen, and to be honest with ourselves about whether what we’re honoring today in our actions and words match the things we say we loved and respected about Sen. Bob Dole.
I hadn't heard the name Mike Brown until your email.
I didn't know Bob Dole was a champion of the ADA either.
I recall the hatred Rush L et al had toward the ADA at the time.
yes, Bob Dole would have been cast as a RINO. they're not making any more of him. sad !
He did, at least, establish a standard which can be used to measure our current day politicians’ actions & words. Thank you for your insightful summary.