Obituary: Bob Dole

The World War 2 combat veteran deserves to be remembered as a patriot

American Army soldier Robert J. Dole

“God has a plan for all of us,” Bob Dole, who died this week, once told an interviewer. That’s an apt quote to capture his political philosophy as a United States senator. Dole was pragmatic, supporting every major advancement of the welfare state with few exceptions. Throughout his career as a statesman, Dole formulated, held and practiced no principles. Dole aligned with Obama, Bush, Clinton, Pelosi and every major figure representing today’s status quo. Dole didn’t stand for a single ideal.

Robert Dole of Russell, Kansas imbued an American sense of life, civility and decency. During the 1996 presidential election campaign, Leonard Peikoff captured Dole’s essence in his broadcasting with a general description of Sen. Dole as a kindly old man who’d served the government’s most vital function: military defense. Dole served in the U.S. Army as a young Kansan. Dole was nearly killed by the Nazis.

As a youth, Dole, who met the late Sen. Daniel Inoyue (D…