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Bob Dole Never Knew I Had a Crush on Him
Remembering the man from Russell, Kansas
When I met Senator Bob Dole at the 1973 Lincoln Day Dinner, I already knew a lot about him. He was the keynote speaker and I had written his bio for the program. Even so, I wasn’t prepared for what he was like in person — warm, charming, and genuine.
I was told by my friend Mary Carol Bird that when Dole read his bio, he looked up and said, “I want to meet the guy who wrote this.” If he was shocked to see that “the guy” was a young woman barely out of her teens doing volunteer work for the Dade County Republican party, he hid it well.
His story can be summed up with only two words: determination and accomplishment. His life is a lesson in courage that all mankind may benefit by learning.
During World War II, when young men went to battle proud to fight for the country and their freedom, young Lt. Dole found himself the recipient of an enemy shell. After a lengthy 39 months in Army hospitals, he was released with his right arm paralyzed and his left hand damaged. Determination? Accomplishment? Formerly right-handed, he learned to write with his left hand, and graduated magna cum laude from the Washington University Law School. And that took courage.
