was in terrible trouble. president reagan started a commission and ronald reagan and tip o'neil. you can't get further on the political extremes than that. bob dole was a key member. they saved social security and kept it solvent and he worked together with a lot of democrats to pass the americans for disabilities act which of course he felt very personally his disabilities he suffered as war wounds in world war ii. and also expanding food stamps, which was very good for america, also good for the farmers in kansas that he worked on very hard with a liberal democrat george mcgovern. it was an old-fashioned democrat who understood if you don't compromise and legislate you don't get things done. we don't see nearly enough of that in washington right now. one other quick thing i would like to add. i don't know if somebody said it already this morning. i didn't realize it was there at the national cathedral, the beautiful cathedral on mount st. all bin that bob dole married elizabeth in this church in 1975. and the thoughts that must be going through senator elizabeth dole 's mind now this is where they got married and help pay tribute to her husband today. >> what a life they shared in public and an intense love story for the two of them. in terms of the bipartisanship and i want to play a great sound bite from your interview. he just wrote an op-ed a couple of days ago the last message he sent to us and to the country. he said we must remember that bipartisanship is the minimum we should expect from ourselves in government and here is part of the interview that you did with senator dole back in 2013 about his service in world war ii. let's watch that. >> was world war ii the defining event in your life? >> no doubt about it. it was -- changed my life. >> when you think back to that terrible injury. you were 21 years old, it put you in the hospital for three years, what do you think about that now, that experience? >> i have think i learned a lot about patience. some things take a long time and you have to be patient. and i like to get things done yesterday. but i learned in the hospital it's not possible. >> do you think you became bob dole in spite of your injury or in a funny way because of your injury because it made you the man who you were? >> i think the second description. >> because of it. >> i never tried to use my disability, but i can't hide it. you know, i've gone through the bitter stage where you kind of feel sorry for yourself, but then you look around and find somebody who is in real trouble and it changes your perspective about who is disabled and who is not. >> what do you think? >> oh boy, that tugs at my heart strings. what a warrior. this is something that wasn't -- he wouldn't have wanted it talked about but i don't think it has been emphasized enough how severe his disability was. here is a politician and he basically had no use of his right arm and so he used to hold a pen in his right hand because people naturally politician you want to shake his hand but he couldn't use his right hand so he would put a pen in there to try to discourage them from doing that but then press the flesh with his left hand and richard kramer wrote a great book about the campaign. what it takes. it was about what it takes to run for president and one of the things he talked about is the struggle for bob dole to button his shirt. the struggle for bob dole to tie his tie. and he didn't often eat on the rubber chicken banquet circuit because he couldn't cut his own food and didn't want people to see that in public. this is a guy who dealt with considerable disabilities that would have put lesser men and women -- had them hiding in the corner and he pressed on without it. never asked for a bit of sympathy and led such a magnificent life and didn't let it slow him down one bit. >> looking back at his time in world war ii he was injured a couple weeks before the end of the war in europe in northern italy southwest of bologna. he pulled a radio man hit to safety and he was hit with shrapnel from the germans. he talked about going back to russell, kansas and the outpouring of the people in his hometown and he had a hard time even discussing it without literally breaking down in tears to the point where sometimes he couldn't recover himself. i was reading about this last night and said some of the folks who were handling him during his many campaigns used to put references to that in his speeches but sometimes had to skip over it because he knew he would choke up and it would be too difficult for him to talk about, you know. and as you asked him i can't imagine anything that is more defining, something that continues to touch you so deeply throughout the course of your life. >> well, and what people don't know and there was a quick picture of it in that interview that you just ran, a clip of, he was a -- here are the president and mrs. biden coming in. but just brief life he was a huge high school athlete and track star and football star and all kinds of things. he was a big, strong, strapping man. he goes into the service in the final days of the war and he spent 39 months, three plus years in a hospital. and came out and was so -- he was concerned he would be a beggar. he might have to stand at the corner and sell pencils and he ended up rising to the heights of american power so that all of america's leaders, a couple of presidents, all of the power of washington is all here right now paying tribute to a man who so richly deserves it. >> we see the president entering and the first lady joe biden next to them, vice president harris and her husband and we see as we always do in these moments american leadership. bill clinton is in the front row as well vice president cheney and vice president pence and vice president dan quayle. he saw them talking and sharing a moment together. bob dole really wanted to see that kind of unity. >> absolutely. this was the watch word. let's not downplay it. he was a partisan warrior, fierce conservative and believed strongly in his principles but he also understood that principles alone aren't enough and here is elizabeth dole and what this is 1975 she got married in this church and now she is here for a memorial service for her husband. >> we see robin dole, senator dole's daughter. very close small family and let's listen to some of the music as we get underway here in the funeral service for senator robert j. dole. ♪♪♪ [choir singing] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ [bell tolls] [bell ringing] >> i am the resurrection and i am life, says the lord. whoever has faith in me shall have life. even though they die. and everyone who has life and has committed himself to me in faith shall not die forever. as for me, i know that my redeemer lives. and that at the last he will stand upon the earth. after my waking, he will raise me up. and in my body, i shall see god. i myself shall see and my eyes behold him who is my friend and not a stranger. for none of us live to himself and no one becomes his own master when he dies. for if we have life, we are alive in the lord. and if we die, we die in the lord. so then whether we live or die, we are the lord's possession. happy from now on are those who die in the lord. so it is as the spirit, for they rest from their labors. >> good morning, i'm randy, the dean of washington national cathedral. on behalf of the bishop of the diocese of washington and the presiding bishop of the episcopal church, welcome to this house of prayer for all people. we are honored to host this service for senator dole, yet we recognize that we are gathering yet again to lay to rest a great american only five weeks after saying farewell to another icon in our nation colin powell. we have indeed seen too much loss in recent days. to elizabeth, robin and the entire dole family, please know that this cathedral and this nation grieves with you and you are in our prayers. bob dole was one of the greatest of the greatest generation, a patriot who always placed country above partisanship and politics. while we mourn his loss, we gather this morning to give thanks for and to celebrate his extraordinary life. though senator dole has gone from us, he is not lost. the same god who raised jesus from the dead will raise bob dole as well. that's the good news. our faith tells us that we will meet again in a place where there is no death, no sorrow, and pain are no more, where there is only life everlasting. this then isn't goodbye, because in god's story, death never has the last word. for now, it is enough to say on behalf of a grateful nation well done, good and faithful servant, well done. thank you. [organ playing] ♪♪♪ [congregation singing] ♪ ♪♪♪ >> the lord be with you. >> and also with you. >> let us pray. o god whose mercies cannot be numbered, accept our prayers on behalf of your servant, bob, and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy in the fellowship of your saints through jesus christ, our lord, who lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit, one god, now and forever, amen. >> a reading from the prophet isaiah. do you not know, have you not heard, the lord is the everlasting god, the creator of the ends of the earth. he will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom. he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. even youth grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall. but those who wait upon the lord will renew their strength. they will soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not faint. the word of the lord. >> president biden: reverend clergy, distinguished guests. among the many memories of 50 years of friendship it captures what bob dole was as a man and in my view as a patriot. we were on our way to the 50th anniversary of d-day in normandy and then italy. much has been written about his time in italy but to be there with him felt significantly different. he was on a mission in the mountains, nazi gunfire and mortar fire was thick. men were dying. facing a hail of bullets, second lieutenant robert joseph dole hurled a grenade into an empty gun nest trying to help a fallen comrade, his radio man, when everything changed. and i mean everything changed. his spine was damaged because fire tore across the hills shattering his body. grievously wounded, he was paralyzed, dragged behind a wall, bob would pass in and out of consciousness dreaming of home as he lay bleeding in the foxhole for nearly nine hours. he was 21 years old. decades on we gather here in a world far different from the mountainous battlefield in 1945, but there is something that connects that past and present, wartime and peace, then and now. the courage, the grit, the goodness, and the grace of second lieutenant named bob dole who became congressman dole, senator dole, statesman, husband, father, friend, colleague, and a word often overused, a genuine hero, bob dole. dean and the clergy officiating today's service, president clinton, vice president harris, vice president pence and cheney and quail, speaker pelosi, leader schumer and leader mcconnell. members of congress of both parties past and present and members of the cabinet. the leaders of our military and distinguished guests, most of all the dole family, elizabeth, it's been said that memory is the power to gather roses in winter. bob left you with 45 years worth of roses on a life built and a love shared that will guide you through the difficult days ahead. jill and i will always be there for you as many others in this church will be. as you and bob were always there for us in ways nobody knows. and robin, you carry your father's pride, grace, and character. he will always be with you. as the old saying goes you are your father's daughter. you are your father's daughter. bob dole's story is a very american one. born and raised in the three-room house through the dust bowl of the great depression, shipped out as a young man in world war ii, wounded in battle, on the same weekend that franklin delano roosevelt was being mourned by millions, bob came home, rebuilt his life, painful hour by painful day by painful week by painful month and by painful year. he and danny, who was wounded on the mountain not far from where he was, talk about the recovery they spent together for all those literally several years. astounding. god, what courage bob dole had. he then went to school on the g.i. bill. came to washington with a new frontier, bravely voted for civil rights and voting rights in the years of the kennedys, lyndon johnson, and martin luther king junior. ran for president with gerald ford, and through the ages of nixon, carter, reagan, bush the elder and clinton, bob was literally the master of the senate. we served together for 25 years. we disagreed but we were never disagreeable wianother, not one time that i can think of. i found bob to be a man of principle, pragmatism, and enormous integrity. he came into the arena with certain guiding principles. to begin with, devotion to country, to fair play, to decency, to dignity, to honor. literally attempting to find the common good. that's how he worked with george mcgovern to fight hunger in america particularly as it affected children and around the world. he worked with teddy kennedy and tom harkin to bring down the barriers of americans living with disabilities, a profound change, a profound act of grace. he worked with daniel patrick moynihan to literally save social security because bob believed every american deserved to grow old with their basic dignity, basic dignity intact. and over the opposition of many in his own party, and some in mine, he managed to build and create a federal holiday in the name of martin luther king, junior. bob dole, bob dole did that. he never forgot where he came from and i never forgot what he said to our colleagues about the effort for the king holiday. i will quote. he said no first class democracy can treat people like second-class citizens. no first class democracy can treat people like second-class citizens. bob didn't hate government. he knew the people most in need. he wanted government to work, to work for folks like him, who came up the hard way. just give everybody a chance, joe, just a chance. during the depression, bob's parents moved into the basement of their three-room -- not three bedroom, their three-room home in russell, kansas, so they could rent out the upstairs. bob understood hardship. he had known hardship. he never forgot it. he never forgot the people as well who sent him to washington people from russell and from kansas. bob was a man who always did his duty, who lived bay code of honor. almost seems strange to say that today but he lived by a code of honor and he meant it. just as his colleagues, republican and democrat, looked at him i think they saw him the same way i did. just ask any who served with him at the time. bob dole to fit my dad's description, you must be a man of your word. without your word without a man. bob dole was a man of his word. he loved his country which he served his whole life. the bible tells us to much is given, much is expected. and bob dole, for all his hardship, believed he had been given the greatest gift of all, he was an american. he was an american. and he felt it. let's be honest, bob dole was always honest, sometimes to a fault. he once endured the wrath of his fellow republicans when there was a legitimate fight going on to defund amtrak. i have traveled over a,200,000 miles on amtrak because i commuted every day. came time for the deciding of the deciding vote whether to defund amtrak and he cast the vote against his party deciding to keep funding amtrak. and he was asked why would you do that? he said it's the best way to get joe biden the hell out of here at night so he isn't here in the morning. excuse my language. true story. absolutely true story. god, i loved the guy. he was always honest. but bob relished a good political fight, much as anybody i've ever served with in the 36 years i was in the senate. and bob gave as good or better than he got. he was a proud republican. he chaired his party. he led his caucus in the united states senate and he bore the banner as nominee for vice president and president of the united states. he could be partisan and that was fine. americans have been partisan since jefferson and hamilton squared off in george washington's cabinet. but like them, bob dole was a patriot. he was a patriot. and here is what his patriotism teaches us in my view, as bob dole himself wrote at the end of his life, and i quote him. i cannot pretend that i have not been a loyal champion of my party but i have always served my country best when i did so first and foremost as an american. end of quote. first and foremost as an american. that was bob dole. that was your husband, that was your dad. always as an american. he understood that we are all part of something much bigger than ourselves, he really did, i felt. he really understood it. and a compromise isn't a dirty word. it's the cornerstone of democracy. consensus is required in a democracy to get anything done. that's how you get things done. again, listen to bob dole's words, not mine. i'm quoting him again. i learned that as difficult to get anything done unless you can compromise. not your principles, but your willingness to see the other side. those who suggest that compromise is a sign of weakness misunderstand the fundamental strength of democracy, end of quote. in his final days bob made it clear that he was deeply concerned about the threat to american democracy, not from foreign nations, or from the division tearing us apart from within. and this reminded us and i quote, too many of us have sacrificed too much in the defending freedom from foreign adversaries to allow our democracy to crumble in a -- under a state of infighting that grows more unacceptable day-by-day. grows more unacceptable day-by-day. he have wrote this when he knew his days were numbered in small numbers. my fellow americans, taps is now sounding for this soldier of america. forged in war, tested by adversity, taps is now sounding for this patriot, driven by a sense of mission to give back to the land that gave everything to him from which he nearly gave his all. taps is now sounding for this giant of our time and of all time. we are bidding this great american farewell, but we know as long as we keep his spirit alive, as long as we see each other not as enemies but as neighbors and colleagues, as long as we remember that we are here not to tear down but to build up, as long as we remember that, then taps will never sound for bob dole. for bob will be with us always cracking a joke, moving a bill, finding common ground. his final message to the nation bob said that whenever he started a new journey, the first thing he would do, and i quote, is sit back and watch for a few days, then start standing up for what he thought was right, end of quote. bob is taking his final journey. he is sitting back now watching us. now it's our job to start standing up for what's right for america. i salute you, my friend. your nation salutes you. and i believe the words of the poet when he described heroism. better for you than anyone i know. the poet wrote the following. when the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor skorns a compromise with death, that is herroism. in flights of angels sing me to thy rest, bob, god bless bob dole, god bless america, and may god protect our troops. [choir singing] ♪♪♪ ♪ >> mr. president, let's try that again. mr. president, madam vice president, distinguished guests all, elizabeth and robin, bob dole was a kansas native son. he along with his hero, dwight david eisenhower, are kansas's favorite sons and they represent the vision and the promise of america. life in our state molded bob and ike, open prairies, wind, always the wind, wheat fields, agriculture, where man is at the mercy of chance and weather but can still be confident in the diy of his labors. bob's early life in russell, kansas, where the population hovered around 2,000, included the dust bowl and the great depression. bob characterized russell when addressing the russell high school graduating class of 1986. he said there are two kinds of education in this world, there is one where you give yourself and another you get from others. you can get an education on the farm or in a factory or in a science lab, in a church pew, most of all, if you are from russell, you can get an education just by looking at life around you. when i was a boy, i doubt we knew the names of our congressmen or senators, but we were blessed to have friends and neighbors who knew and cared for one another. when times were tough, people were tougher. when the winds howled and part of the prairie itself was blown away, i could barely see to deliver the newspapers an my paper route, but because i came from russell, because i came from kansas, i was granted a special vision, one which has seen me all the years since, one which you can rely on just the same, and he defined this kansas vision by saying my friends, i hope that you will never stop looking at the stars. i hope you will never forget our state motto, to the stars through difficulties. i hope you will never stop believing in things you cannot see. i hope that your future is as hospitable and beckoning as mine was when i stood on the platform more than 40 years ago. i hope that in the making of life for yourselves, you won't neglect serving your country. most of all, i hope that wherever you go, and whatever you do, russell will go with you and for then i know you will be well guided. and well-guided he was in attaining his vision and emotion -- embodying america. when we lost bob on sunday there was a pause throughout the state of kansas as people from all walks of life stopped to reflect. bob dole was a person who meant something to everyone. in the coffee shop, the campaign trail, the halls of congress. whether we were in top eke yeah, abilene, wichita, or dodge city, i saw bob dole connect with kansas people on the personal level. he would share with them this vision, this promise and he would help them to achieve it. just like the folks in russell did in supporting him. now as a young staffer and later a member of the house of representatives, following in senator dole's footsteps, i certainly understood bob dole's influence and power. on a thursday in 1983 he would be fighting to protect social security with president reagan, senator moynihan and others in the white house and then on saturday he would be listening to thelma in kansas telling him that social security meant to her daily life and pocketbook. and when he returned to washington with that empathy of his and knowing kansas and knowing thelma, it enabled him to win the victories he did for the disabled, for veterans, for the hungry, or for any of the issues of the day that needed negotiations, steady compromise and the vision of america's promise. bob never lost his common sense and famous wit. it was embedded in his nature to deliver that punch line dead pan knowing -- waiting for the room to light up, which it always did. for the barriers to come down, letting the air out of the partisan balloons. dole's manner and influence were so strong that if i were for something people thought bob was for something. and i never informed them or bob otherwise. [laughter] while the work we did was serious, it was a different time. there were light hearted times, too. i would call up his chief of staff and say where is my speech? and the -- they eventually figured it out it was roberts again and i made sure my staff didn't take calls from dole's office for the rest of the week. when his official public service came to an end, bob could have faded away with his dear elizabeth telling stories, remembering the good old days, but that was not his nature. there was still so much vision and promise and so much he could do for his fellow veterans and for his nation. let everyone know, without bob dole there would not be a world war ii memorial. bob also stressed at the time that there should also be a memorial to ike so that veterans could salute and thank their commanding general. that effort took 24 years and again with bob's help we dedicated the eisenhower memorial last year. bob dole understood it was just not recognition that this greatest generation deserved. it was reflection and renewal, and it was for the greatest generation to inspire the next generation. there is no better display of the vision and promise of america than every weekend when the honor flights would roll up to the world war ii memorial, kansas veterans, escorted by kansas high school students, would visit their memorial to reflect on their fight to preserve a free world. and there was bob, shaking every hand, posing for every picture, listening to all the stories, and the thanks, the thanks of a still grateful nation. when elizabeth told us he passed in his sleep and we all knew that an era had come to an end, my first reaction was one of sadness and grief losing a dear friend and mentor. but then thinking about it, i think the good lord touched bob's hand and told him it was time to come home, see his folks. that there are quite a few world war ii veterans and some from north korea and vietnam looking forward to thanking him, as well as folks who were disabled, quite a few dog and cat lovers, and quite a few folks from farm country still upset about something, and a whole lot of folks from kansas and all over, a lot of them republicans who say they voted for him, and some democrats who say they should have. and then he said don't worry, bob, our heavenly gates are guarded by united states marines. so thank you, lord, for enabling us to live in such a time and space that gave us the opportunity and privilege to know bob dole, a kansas star who truly shined through difficulty.