of another. reporter: finally, in 1996 dole won the republican nomination. i accept your nomination to lead our party once again [cheers and applause] reporter: on the campaign trail [inaudible conversations] looking good. reporter: 73-year-old dole s boundless energy overshadowed his age. i think the i have my strengths, and i think the best thing going for bob dole and that the bob dole keeps his word. reporter: ultimately though, americans chose to reelect bill clinton. i m out of work. i watch the senate a lot. [laughter] reporter: he spent his time helping his wife elizabeth winning a senate race and accepting an appointment to co-chair a commission on problems at a military hospital. senator dole, who is himself a veteran and a wounded veteran at that, former distinguished senator, a man who knows washington well. but more importantly, knows the kind of questions to ask. reporter: he continued to push for answers on capitol hill
that had not been checked and to put all of his energy in trying to beat bill clinton in 1996. one of the most touching stories, i related this to howard kurtz, that i ve ever seen is when daniel inouye passed away. he was lying in state in the capitol rotunda and they met when they were both convalescing from war injuries in italy, they were wounded one hillside away. bob dole basically did not have use of his right arm, daniel inouye had his arm shot off. he want todd be a doctor and realized the dreams were dashed. dole said you ought to think about getting into politics, the type of thing i want to do when i get back to the states and get my health back. even though they served across the aisle, they worked together on many, many things and this is
this makes the moment far less the closing of one chapter than the opening of another. reporter: in 1996 dole won the republican nomination. i accept your nomination to lead our party once again to the presidency of the united states. reporter: on the campaign trail we re going to win today, senator. looking good. reporter: 73-year-old dole s boundless energy overshadowed his age. i think i have my strengths. i think the best thing going for bob dole is that bob dole keeps his word. reporter: ultimately, though, americans chose to reelect bill clinton. after the election, dole remained prominent in more ways than one. he lent his image to big name products like viagra and pepsi. i feel like a kid again. reporter: he wrote several books including an auto biography. shortly after dole s loss to clinton he visited the white house where he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom. no one can be claim to be
1996 at a time when he was the senate majority leader of course, he famously ran against bill clinton during the 1996 presidential election, a special report anchor bret baier right now takes a look back at the life and legacy of bob dole. i ve never been prouder in my life than to have been the republican nominee for president of the united states. reporter: as the 1996 republican nominee, bob dole came as close as he ever would to winning the presidency. a dream he chased three times. he made his concession speech in kansas, to the people who had known him since his birth there in 1923. world war ii took dole from kansas to italy and just before the end of the war, nazi machine gunfire shattered his upper body and destroyed his right shoulder. it was 11 months before i could feed myself. i think i could have done a frankly to be honest about it
nomination and would become the republican nominee 20 years later running against bill clinton in 1996. idaho republican senator james rischd us earlier this afternoon praising senator dole as a patriot and proud american. he was always on message, he was always on point. he, he believed in the exceptionalism of america, and he believed that. he believed that in his heart, in his soul, and he acted like it. arthel: david spunt begins our coverage this hour from the white house. david. reporter: a lot of tributes and memories coming in about senator bob dole. president biden and the first lady, dr. jill biden, personally spoke to elizabeth dole, senator elizabeth dole, this morning to express their condolences. joe biden and bob dole had a relationship that lasted almost half a century. they first began working together in the united states senate when then the young senator from delaware, joe