Word: doled
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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After an hour and a half of secret balloting, a narrow majority of his colleagues followed suit. On the fourth ballot, Dole defeated Alaska's Ted Stevens, his nearest rival, by a vote of 28 to 25. His prize: the powerful post of majority leader, held since 1981 by Tennessee's Howard Baker, who is retiring from the Senate to prepare for a presidential...
...Dole, a self-described moderate conservative, emerged victorious from a field of five contenders. Idaho Conservative James McClure was eliminated on the first ballot. (The election rules required that the candidate receiving the fewest votes on each ballot be dropped from the next round.) Pete Domenici of New Mexico was knocked off on the second ballot, and Richard Lugar of Indiana on the third...
That left Stevens, who as majority whip was Baker's assistant during Reagan's first term, in a face-off with Dole. In Stevens' corner was Barry Goldwater of Arizona, who in an effective, if quirky, nomination speech compared the Senate to the Washington Redskins football team and cast Stevens as a man who had valuable experience playing "backup quarterback." But the elder statesman's plug was not enough. Stevens, known for his combustible temper, lost by three votes, and in a display of characteristic crotchetiness, immediately threatened to renew his challenge to Dole...
...majority leader is one of the most influential figures in Washington. On Capitol Hill, he sets the Senate's agenda and decides what bills come to the floor. Although Dole has often joked that "majority pleader" would be a more appropriate title, many Senators chose him precisely for his ability to forge compromises out of seemingly hopeless deadlocks. Said Senator Slade Gorton of Washington: "We picked the individual with the most experience in managing bills on the floor...
...Dole had something else going for him: backbone. After President Reagan's landslide reelection, there was concern that the White House would try to steamroller the Senate into meekly supporting Administration policies. The 22 Republican Senators up for re-election in 1986 were worried that Reagan might force them into votes that could damage their chances. In Dole the Senators knew they had a stand-up guy. Said Danforth in his nominating speech: "He can work with the Administration-not cave in to the Administration...