Word: doled
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Robert Joseph Dole, the small-town Kansan who rose to become Republican leader in the U.S. Senate, is a remarkable survivor not only of war but of politics. Despite losses in two prior bids for national office, he has steadily been rising in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination. ! Yet he still faces formidable obstacles in the 1988 presidential campaign. He has been known as an acerbic Washington insider, a pragmatic, conservative man for all sessions during his 18 years in the Senate. Can such a candidate project a vision of the country's future that will satisfy both...
...there has been a curious hesitancy about Dole's campaign, raising questions about his managerial skills and decisiveness. A bumbling organizational effort in the 1980 race doomed his run for the nomination before it got off the ground, and this time too he has been slow to establish the kind of political operation that could consolidate his current popularity. He has yet to unveil a timetable for resigning as Senate leader to commit himself full time to the trail or decide what role John Sears, a respected Republican political pro detested by the extreme right, will play in his campaign...
...part, Dole's hesitation stems from his Midwestern reserve. With his vibrant voice, handsome face and extraordinary energy, he can dominate a large room with an aura of apparent self-confidence, but in one-on-one conversations he is surprisingly guarded. He often uses one-liners to deflect questions he does not want to answer. When he forgoes the quips, his replies are carefully phrased to neutralize any hint of boastfulness. He seldom initiates talk about the broken neck and shattered shoulder he suffered in combat with the Germans in Italy's Po Valley in 1945. But if pressed...
...liven his campaign speeches, Dole rattles off jokes, rapid-fire, like a string of firecrackers. But while he maintains that "I use humor to wake people up," he has often used it to cut them up. In 1974 he barely won re- election to the Senate over Dr. William Roy, a Topeka obstetrician, in one of the nastiest campaigns in Kansas history. Says Roy, who shares Dole's flair for vindictive rhetoric: "He was a slasher and a cutter. You almost felt he cut for the pleasure of cutting." Recalling how Dole ranted about "Democrat wars" when he was Gerald...
...criticisms clearly stung. Since 1976 Dole has worked hard to shed the hatchet-man image. "I've done a lot of soul searching," he says. "I think a lot of the criticism was unfounded. I don't dislike people. I'm a very friendly person, not mean or vicious. But you take a look at how you're perceived, and obviously you don't want that perception." Friends agree that since his marriage to Elizabeth, he has mellowed, replacing the hatchet with a stiletto. As often as not these days, he makes himself the butt of his own jokes. Reflecting...