Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery Wednesday, nearly two months after his death at age 98. As this private ceremony occurs, many across the country will reflect on Dole’s legacy, both as a senator and as a leader from Kansas.
Eudora Community Library Director Carol Wohlford has personal stories about Dole, as her husband, Bill, worked with him in the 1970s as a legislative assistant, campaign manager and administrative assistant.
After Bill was drafted into the Army and served four years, he decided to finish his law degree at American University in Washington, D.C., while Carol worked for the Smithsonian as a Slavic librarian.
While getting his law degree, Bill applied for an internship with Dole’s Senate office. He became a legislative assistant, and after Bill obtained his law degree, Dole kept him on staff.
During a brief move back to Kansas, Bill worked as campaign manager for Dole’s 1974 Senate campaign. Carol recalled Bill working long days and nights in the Topeka office.
“Bob Dole would call any time, day or night, almost always around 2 o’clock in the morning, and almost always woke up my brand new baby girl,” Carol said. “One night, I don’t know why it got to me, and I told him, ‘Senator Dole, it is 2 o’clock in the morning, you’ve woken up my baby daughter. Did you know that Bill is living at the office? Do not call here again.’ Every time [Dole] would see me after that he would just laugh at me and that story and he thought that was pretty funny.”
After Dole was reelected in 1974 following a tight race with Democrat William Roy, Bill became Dole’s administrative assistant, where he was responsible for the entire Senate office.
Carol said in the time that Bill and Dole worked together, they learned a lot from each other.
“I think Bill learned from Bob Dole to put his family first,” Carol said. “That sounds funny, because we did go many years when Bill wasn’t with us but at some point, right before we decided to move to Wichita, Bob Dole had a talk with him. He told him, ‘I made a lot of these mistakes and I don’t want to see you make those mistakes, so make sure you make time for your family.’”
Even when they stopped working together, Bill and Dole did not stop being involved in each other’s lives. Bill was even part of a Frontline documentary on the 1996 presidential election between Bill Clinton and Dole called “The Choice ‘96.”
In the interview with Frontline, Bill described what the environment in Dole’s Senate office was like.
“The Dole organization was always exciting and something to behold,” Bill said. “The staff organization was not something you’d expect. Certainly not something that you’d find in a textbook anywhere.”
After moving back to Wichita, Bill worked as an attorney for about 30 years before his death in 2004. Dole came to Wichita to deliver a eulogy for Bill, in which Dole said Bill was “pure Kansas” and reflected on Bill’s work and his character, which he admired.
While individuals across Kansas and the country reflect on Dole’s life, there are spaces where people can learn more about Dole, including at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics.
The institute offers educational opportunities for those in the Lawrence area. Community members can visit the institute, where there are exhibits about Dole and his career. There are also monthly events, lectures and discussion groups where groups talk about anything from leadership to civic engagement.
Institute Director Audrey Coleman reflected on Dole and the lessons he left behind, and said he will be remembered as a leader who put his country above party.
“We don’t have many examples today of folks who are willing to break with party ideology, who are willing to talk civilly with someone who’s in a different political party than they are, and it’s too bad because the problems in our country are not defined by the Republican or Democratic parties or philosophies. They’re defined by people of all political beliefs,” Coleman said. “We’re really losing opportunities to do a lot of good for a lot of people.”
Coleman said Dole did a lot of important work in the national sphere of politics, but his work for Kansans should not be forgotten.
“It’s important to think of him as a leader who represented Kansas and Kansans and was dedicated to our state, really wanting to make life better for people in Kansas, and that was really his life’s work,” Coleman said.
Reach reporter Abby Shepherd at [email protected]
