Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole (born July 22, 1923-December 5, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who represented Kansas in the United States House of Representatives from 1961 to 1969, and in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996 was the Republican Party presidential nominee in the presidential election of 1996, the same year he resigned from the Senate to focus on the campaign, but lost to Democrat incumbent Bill Clinton. A prominent issue of the 1996 election was Dole's age (he was 73 and Clinton was 50).
Dole served in World War II, which he was seriously injured in but survived after treatment.
Dole was born on July 22, 1923 in Russell, Kansas. Before serving in the U.S. Senate, Dole was a U.S. Representative, the Russell County attorney, and a member of the Kansas House of Representatives. He was Gerald Ford's running mate in the 1976 Presidential Election, but the ticket lost to Jimmy Carter and his running mate Walter Mondale. He was also an unsussessful Presidential candidate in 1980 and 1992.
On Saturday Night Live, he has been impersonated by Norm Macdonald twenty-five times from September 30, 1995 to February 15, 1997 and by Dan Aykroyd five times from February 13, 1988 to March 25, 1995 and from February 7, 1998 to March 8, 2003. Dole himself also made a cameo with his wife Elizabeth Hanford on November 16, 1996 during the "Dole Impression" cold opening sketch, where he also started the show by uttering the famous line, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!," and also appeared during the Weekend Update segment.
After many years of failing health, Dole died on December 5, 2021 after a brief battle with lung cancer. He was 98. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth and his daughter Robin (which he had from his first marriage).
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