Former Senator Bob Dole Announces Stage 4 Lung Cancer Diagnosis | Oldies 93.5

Former U.S. Republican Senator Bob Dole, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 1996, said on Thursday that he has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and will undergo treatment beginning next week.

"Recently, I was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer", the 97-year-old former senator from Kansas said in a tweet. He would not leave that body until resigning in 1996 to focus on his presidential campaign, a race he eventually lost to Bill Clinton. "We join all of Kansas in praying for God's comfort and His healing hand, and peace for you, for Elizabeth, for Robin, and for your entire family during this hard time".

Dole served as a USA senator from Kansas from 1969 to 1996 and also served as both the Senate majority and minority leader during his long career.

Dole was a driving force behind the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, speaking poignantly at its 2004 dedication before tens of thousands of fellow veterans in their 80s and 90s, calling it "our final reunion". His political career spanned almost five decades. He also received two Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars for his military service. During that time, he served as Senate Majority Leader and was the longest-serving Republican leader. He represented Kansas in the House from 1961 to 1969, followed by a 27-year tenure as a senator.