Bob Dole’s death at age 98 after a battle with lung cancer reminds us of how much people can contribute in their 80s and beyond. A disabled veteran, Dole served as national chairman of a campaign that raised funds for the building of the National World War II Memorial. Until recently, Dole frequently spent mornings in his wheelchair at the entrance to the memorial greeting visiting veterans. He also was active as a lobbyist, established a public-policy institute in his native Kansas, and wrote his autobiography.
But all of that service came after Dole left public office following his loss, at age 73, to Bill Clinton in the 1996 presidential race. Dole stepped down as Senate majority leader and resigned his Senate seat to make way for someone else to represent Kansas. He later said that, with perfect hindsight, he saw that he might have been a little too old to serve two terms if he had been elected president and very well might have served only one.
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