The Legacy of Senator Bob Dole

• Jurisdiction: Kansas,United States
• Citation: Vol. 91 No. 1 Pg. 21
• Pages: 21
• Publication year: 2022

The Legacy of Senator Bob DoleNo. 91 J. Kan. Bar Assn 1, 21 (2022)Kansas Bar JournalFebruary, 2022

January 2022

Thoughts on the Legacy of Senator Bob Dole

By Amanda Stanley

Note from KBA: Robert J. Dole became a member of the Kansa Bar Association in January of 1952 and held a lifetime status. The KBA awarded him the Phil Lewis Medal of Distinction in 1986 and the Courageous Attorney Award in 2019. Dole was a Fellow Silver in the Kansas Bar Foundation.

You can't grow up in Kansas and not know the name Bob Dole. I was 11 when he ran for President in 1996. I do not remember much from that election, but I do vaguely remember my dad dressing up as Dole for Halloween The latter fact is disputed in my family since my mother swears that was the year my lawyer father dressed up as an "attorney."

I recently had the opportunity to attend Senator Dole's memorial service at the Kansas Capitol. It was a moving ceremony, full of stories of a fierce partisan who also was a pragmatist with a sharp wit. While Dole had many numerous accomplishments, I want to take a moment and reflect on what he did for disabled Kansans like myself.

In 1945, Robert Dole was severely wounded in combat.^[1] As his biography on his memorial website explains, "His right arm was shredded, and his collarbone crushed. Paralyzed from the neck down, Dole lay where he fell for 10 hours... Ahead of him stretched 39 months of hospitalization, progress and setback...