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Biden to pay tribute to ‘American giant’ Bob Dole at Capitol

The Associated Press

December 9, 2021, 12:06 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bob Dole will lie in state Thursday at the U.S. Capitol, as the president and others gather to pay tribute to an “American giant” who served the country in war and in politics with pragmatism, self-deprecating wit and a bygone era’s sense of common civility.

President Joe Biden is expected to offer remarks at the morning ceremony with invited guests and congressional leaders in the Capitol Rotunda for the former Republican senator and presidential contender. Dole, who served nearly 36 years in Congress, died Sunday at the age of 98.

“For those like me who had the honor of calling him a friend, Bob Dole was an American giant,” President Joe Biden said in a Wednesday speech in Kansas City, Mo.

Biden, a Democrat, called Dole, a Republican, “a man of extraordinary courage, both physical and moral courage. A war hero, who sacrificed beyond measure. Who nearly gave his life for our country in World War II. Among the greatest of the great generation.”

The service will be the first of several in Washington commemorating Dole’s life and legacy. Thursday’s event at the Capitol and Friday’s funeral at the Washington National Cathedral are closed to the public. But Dole’s funeral will be livestreamed Friday at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, and his motorcade is are expected to stop by later at an event with actor Tom Hanks honoring his life and military service before the casket travels to his Kansas hometown and the state capital.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Dole was a “patriot from the start” and an “exemplary person to serve with in Congress.”

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