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Political power couple to speak at Lied Center on Sunday

By Micole Aronowitz

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Former senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole will give a joint interview for the Dole Institute of Politics’ “2009 Dole Lecture: Unlimited Partners,” at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Lied Center.

Jonathan Earle, associate director for programming at the Dole Institute, said he thought the interview would focus on the Doles’ unusual political partnership and how they are one of the few political power couples.

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Earle said the Institute’s goal was to get as many students as possible to attend. He said the Doles were a great example of people who had dedicated their lives to public service.

“The idea is to try and bridge the generation gap and talk about the importance of public service because that really is the glue that holds their relationship together,” Earle said.

Bill Lacy, director of the Dole Institute of Politcs, has known the Doles for more than 20 years. After serving as White House political director to Ronald Reagan, Lacy became the deputy director of Bob Dole’s Political Action Committee in 1986. He said most of the questions that would be asked were personal questions regarding the senators’ lives and careers. Some questions will also be drawn from the couple’s book, “Unlimited Partners.”

Lacy said getting the couple to speak together was actually easier than getting them individually, even though they had done very few joint interviews in their careers.

The Doles said they were looking forward to coming back to the Dole Institute and were excited about the lecture.

“We haven’t done it before so we decided to give it a shot,” Bob Dole said. “There will be a lot of young people there and they’ll have a lot of good questions.”

Bob Dole last visited the University on April 8 for the Pickens Plan presentation given by oil executive T. Boone Pickens. The last time he was on campus for a lecture was in 2005.

Elizabeth Dole said that whenever she was on a college campus, she encouraged young people to think about public service as a noble profession. She said that throughout the years, she and Bob had found public service as an area where they could make a positive difference.

“My mother lived to be 103,” Elizabeth Dole said. “When you’re up in years and you’re looking back over your life, I think the question is, ‘What did I stand for?’”

The Dole Institute opened in July 2003 after a suggestion from Chancellor Hemenway. After Bob Dole lost his presidential campaign in 1996, he agreed to have the University build the Dole Institute.

Lacy said the mission of the Dole Institute was to get students and adults more involved in politics and public service in a bipartisan and philosophically balanced way. The Dole Lecture is held each spring by the Dole Institute and features a prominent figure addressing an aspect of current politics or policy. The idea for the Dole Lecture was to have former presidents, ambassadors and international personalities visit the KU campus.

“I just think it’s great that Kansas has a chance to have these history makers here,” Earle said.

Earle said that this year was the perfect time to honor Bob and Elizabeth Dole together. He said deciding who would speak at the annual Dole lecture was a matter of selecting someone with a real world and global perspective. Past speakers include Bill Clinton, Tom Brokaw and general Richard Meyers.

“For our lecture series, what we are trying to do is to be timely and give the community access to the wider world of politics,” Earle said.

Bob Dole said he was pleased with the Dole Institute and the programs it has put on.

“I’m proud of KU and the people that go there,” Dole said. “It’s been successful, so coming back makes it even more interesting and exciting because it has succeeded.”

— — Edited by Carly Halvorson

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