Photo: Getty Images
President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders paid tribute to the late Senator Bob Dole in a ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday (December 9).
Dole, who died over the weekend at the age of 98, is the 33rd person to lie in state the Capitol Rotunda and the sixth person to be given that honor since 2000. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was granted the honor in 2020, but her casket was placed in Statuary Hall instead of the Rotunda.
A military honor guard carried Dole's casket, which was draped with an American flag up the Capitol steps, and placed it on the Lincoln catafalque in the Rotunda. The honor guard will hold a standing vigil over the casket throughout the day.
Biden honored Dole during the ceremony, saying, "America has lost one of its greatest patriots."
"Like many of us here, we disagreed on a number of things, but not on any of the fundamental things. We still found a way to work together," Biden said. "We genuinely respected one another as colleagues, as fellow Americans. It was real. It wasn't fake."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Dole was an "incredible American statesman" who "redefined and elevated what it means to serve country."
"To pay tribute to Senator Bob Dole is to honor someone who redefined and elevated what it means to serve country. By 21, Bob had given more of himself than most of us give in a lifetime, and then he kept going for 77 years after that," Schumer said.
"A wounded warrior who spent decades carrying fellow veterans and Americans with disabilities on his shoulders -- Bob was the last of the greatest generation to run for president, but he was never stuck in the past. His roots ran deep, but he was always looking to new horizons," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
"The real engine behind Bob's 98 remarkable years was his love. His love for Elizabeth and for Robin, for public service, for Kansas and for America," McConnell added.
Dole's casket will remain in the Capitol Rotunda until 10 a.m. on Friday. There will be a live-streamed memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral, where Biden, former senators Pat Roberts and Tom Daschle, and Dole's daughter, Robin Dole, will pay tribute to the former Senate Majority Leader.