both to go across the aisle on things that were at odds with his party at the time. but his endorsement of the sort of bouncy night for an appropriate and important role for government denial and sort of the right way. >> one of his other great accomplishments that he remains to this day very, very proud of was his salvaging social security. >> i often hear today the notion we need to put together a commission like the greenspan commission that solve social security. but the greenspan commission was about to put out a report that made no recommendation because they couldn't solve the problem. and senator joe was a member of the commission as was senator daniel patrick moynihan from new york and senator moynihan loved the social security program. he was devoted to it and he tea and senator dole got together and senator moynihan said we

can't let this go like this. that is the commission just put out a set of options with no recommendation. and so, day, the two of them, started a dialogue and then i got dave stockman involved in a dialogue to try to hash out a proposal that everybody could agree on, where everybody gave on increasing and accelerating the scheduled tax increases and new tax half of the benefits and benefit cut and greater coverage. and then they sort of got a gang of nine and biltmore consensus around that. but it really started really with the conviction of senator dole and senator moynihan and putting that together, that sort of lifelong bond that they had.

and it was -- they had a remarkable relationship. i remember a couple years later is going on a congressional delegation author asia, which was another work fast of -- >> it became as they begin pathmark. >> we brought one democrat with us and with senator moynihan. otherwise it was all republicans. but that was a singular achievement, that rescued social security. we read a point where was about to go under and we needed to have a next generation of senator dole and senator moynihan to deal with the train wreck that's not too far away. ..

talked with us about sort of the challenges he faced in his family faced one of them was a small issue that had to do with whether or not when you needed a clotting factor, they don't have

a factor so if the injured and are bleeding there is a drug you can use to help the clotting factor but at the time medicare would only pay for it if you were essentially going to a hospital to have the service provided. all the wit was something that could be easily administered at home and would be reasonable for a young man of his age to be able to deal with this issue. a direct result of that young man was the passage of the provision to provide for the administration. the creation of the medicare hospice benefit was a direct result of bob dole. the creation of the coverage for the rural health clinics in rural locations from the country and medicare at all the time of the services and the sort of challenges faced by small rural hospitals was a direct result of bob dole. while we all acknowledge and celebrate the social security salvation cobra there was a whole series of those, there are

also these other things for which he gets little credit but is directly responsible and had enormous impact on people's lives across this country. that is really something. >> i was just going to comment on the bottle and moynihan of relationship and how close that was. i can recall during the primary campaign of 1988 presidential campaign senator moynihan asked senator dole's permission to use his image and words in one of his campaign commercials of new york which he did which i thought was remarkable display of bipartisanship in the sort of illustrates their of the closest of the relationship. >> that relationship repeated itself in a situation similar to the social security situation of the way didn't play out as well. that social security event ochered because the conversation on the senate floor between moynihan and dole. during the debate over health

reform in 1994 through the period of the clinton reform of '93 and '94. a similar conversation occurred and the note passed between lenihan and dole singing isn't it time to step in and make this work. and a whole set of circumstances prevented that from occurring, not the least of which was antipathy between moynihan and the clinton administration. but that opportunity was there for a brief shining moment where we might have been able to get something done. >> we are going to open up to your questions in just a moment before i ask one more. so if you have a question, we have to students who have scored less mics. raise your hand and they will bring the mic to you and you will have the chance to ask your question. my question for all three of you ; how was the senate of bob dole and ted kennedy and robert byrd of 25 and 30 years ago that

we've been talking about tonight, how was that so effective, and how is it different from the samet you see today? >> well, some of the activities that we engaged in in the senate were long debates. i don't think that we have in the debates in consideration today quite like the had then. maybe they don't have the same work ethic like they did then but the windfall profit tax debate in wheat 79 and early 1980 was on the floor for months. i don't know that we debate bills for months today. so people had an opportunity to offer their amendments many times over. there was perhaps greater

collegiality between the members even though there was a very partisan votes xin and a very partisan activities. as i said, the tefra was created in the senate, passed in the senate and really entirely by republicans, and so there were no democrats that chose to join them in that particular bill. there were others that were much more bipartisan. so, i think that it might be the sort of tradition of long friendships, members serve them a long time and worked together across party lines so that even when there were party-line votes

they still could be settled with one another. >> i think we are all struggling to understand why things have become so bitterly partisan. much more obviously than they were in the period of time we served in the senate. there were non-battles that occurred because they were quite pitched at times, and clearly there were partisan -- i mean, senter dole could be very partisan, but also knew when he essentially to reach across the aisle. i think there was a sense of the importance of legislating to a conclusion, that there was -- i can remember senator dole on more than one occasion commenting that he rarely thought it was a win to lose that simply putting something up to force people to vote knowing it was going to lose but try to put people in a corner rarely serves anyone's purpose. the purpose of which is leading

-- in fact he was criticized as a candidate and being too legislative, talking and legislative speak, well, in fact he was. and i think there is less sense of that now. there is more of a sense of sort of blocking people into a corner and forcing them to take positions at odds with where they need to be, less risk taking. i do think there is the history. many of these members served together for a long period of time. there's some who suggest there's a greater presence of house members in the senate now and there's this desire for the senate to operate more like the house. the senate is a messy place. the house is a very structured controlled environment where the majority has absolute iran control. the senate is not a body that functions that we historically. it is a body that largely does its business by consensus. most of the work we were involved and with rare exception got done by consent with the

leaders would essentially agree with the structure was going to be and what you are going to get on the rules you are able to get it done, and at the end of the day you essentially work to try and come to closure. there is less sense of that now. whether it's the nature of the individuals and the body and the lack of sort of history with some of them. i can think of the members that were on the finance committee when rod and i first went on the stuff and they were people like a broker calls and jack hynes was on, chafee, just sort of people that have long histories with the institutions. is that the difference today? i don't honestly know the answer to that but we are all struggling to figure that out. >> let's open up to your questions and answers. if we have a question if he would raise your hand. i know somebody here has a question.

can you get a microphone over here, chelsea? i will threaten everyone i have plenty of other questions if i have to ask. this is your time. >> i understand senator dole and daschle -- [inaudible] >> interestingly enough, president obama has now i think three or four times the last couple of weeks referenced the proposal that dole and daschle and howard baker and mitch mitchell put together. we started working on it over a year ago. we released it last june. it has the support of all four of them also mitchell by that time had gone off to solve the middle east. but it was supported by mitchell but then by daschle, dole and baker. it has elements that are common to both the house and the

senate, but and are both a democrat and republican. they sort of came to the table and put everything on the table. senator negative all agreed to the limitation on the tax treatment of health insurance benefits. he agreed to a number of other professions. no public plan. he agreed to allow insurance to be purchased across state lines. senator dole and baker agreed to require individuals to have coverage but no mandates on business. they agreed to a number of preventive services. they agreed to a variety of things that recently exposed all of them to the opposite points of view but he essentially was a package that would have made major improvements. they did all the insurance reforms, guaranteed issue, no pre-existing conditions, things of that nature. expansion of medicaid, limited changes to the medicare program. both expansions as well as

constraints. again it's been out there. obama has referred to a number of times. they met with people on the house and senate side, republicans and democrats. there's some suggestion, and my guess is the three of the media and op-ed piece on the 25th february sort of suggesting that everybody stand down, stand back and come back together, open-minded to changes whether it is malpractice reform or wherever it happens to be. but the three of them were able to once again across the barriers and come to agreement. >> one of the things that amazes me that i would like to ask you guys about -- i've been here five years, and the thing that just blows my mind come here senator dole is 86 now, and i looking forward to playing golf and stuff like that when i'm 86. but since i've been at the dole institute the last five years, he's gotten the award from west point, he's gotten the french

legion of honor award. he's taken this big role, sheila, you described in the health care debate. he went to normandy with the president this past june. he took the lead on the world war ii memorial and got that dedicated. he was involved in the dole institutes -- >> you know, bill, the thing you talk about the world war ii museum, the things that makes his eyes light up is he goes and needs of veterans. they have these fly phthaleins where they raise money -- >> on our flights. >> that is what motivates him. he will go out on a saturday and meet the speed honor flights. he's at the hospital at the moment so he's not doing that. but if you talk with him that is what causes his eyes to light up. >> and i think he's done 60 of those flights, but then at the memorial and shake their hands. i had the pleasure of going with

him to normandy this time as well as at the 50th anniversary, both of which were remarkable experiences. but i will never forget having gone to the 50th we walked into the amphitheater at normandy and waiting for the heads of state to arrive, and was largely obviously filled with american veterans. some number of thousands of veterans. you could hear as he approached you could hear them respond. you could hear them say sure he is. and i thought, you know, someone had arrived, one of the leaders had arrived and it was dole. and today when we were in normandy this time around you saw the same kind of connection between him and that generation. and robb is right. it is remarkable to see him when he goes to the memorial and greets these veterans and thank

them for their service. it is really quite remarkable. as robb said we salles senator dole on friday. he's been at walter reed for a period of time. and, you know, he's still -- that is still the thing he cares most about is making sure every veteran from world war ii was still alive gets the chance to see the memorial but it's quite remarkable. >> i think on the list of achievements you have referred to the show that his drive for public service is just in a different form than it previously was and less public. but i don't think that it's in the least to the so-called retirement. >> he still wants to talk politics. he sat there on friday and listened to them go to the races. did you hear so and so. it's quite remarkable. >> we have a question right here. if you will wait for a mic. >> trying to connect some of the docks here.

senator dole's military service, we've talked about his empathy, his three natural, authentic empathy with the so-called common man and i wonder if a large part of that goes back to the military service and then having been the beneficiary of so much support from public and private sources and rehabilitation and it seems when we look at the situation today in congress and elsewhere there is no common denominator surface and middle-aged people have shared and what tom brokaw refers to as the greatest generation there is that extraordinary common denominator where bayh is in their 80s and 90s are still going to these reunions of the various units and so on and they are able to

talk across whatever part of the hid has rush limbaugh or keith olberman tips tracking and so on. and i am just wondering if you might comment on what you understand in that respect. perhaps even some sort of government service for all young people whether it's a lottery, peace corps, civilian etc.. >> well, that factor of service particularly world war ii service for a lot of the senators that were of that generation that we salles was a common bond and is less common now. and it was interesting when senator dole was engaged in his search for a vice president and looking at by and large a younger generation he had a preference for people who had

military service but i would say the majority of people who looked didn't have that kind of service. i mean, he was particularly interested in governor ridge who had been a vietnam veteran and lost some of his hearing in vietnam, and governor ridge wasn't ready to be considered at that point. but it was interesting to me when he said i have a preference for somebody in that service and we started looking thinking the candidates that there just wasn't that common bond that you are referring to. but not only did he not have the common bond of a lot of this people who had been in service but there were three members that he served with remarkably who had been in the same hospital, fell apart -- >> daniel inouye --

>> daniel and himself had been in the same veterans hospital, and what are the odds they will become united states senators. >> and played bridge together and take care of one another which is remarkable. and in fact daniel inouye and bob dole still have the special relationship that came out of the common experience, which was really quite remarkable. >> one thing i always found remarkable in the course of his national political campaign particularly the public defense and town meetings is one of the standards that he did is ask every person who in the audience was a veteran to stand up and be recognized and i think that was in many cases one of the few times they publicly recognized by their townspeople so you could see the pride and not only his service but the other people introduced publicly as having served and i always thought i was remarkable recognition of

what they had done before all of their peers and friends. the was a great thing. >> we have a question from former senator thomas eagleton's chief of staff back here. >> i would be interested in your observations particularly sheila on dole's relationship with the other principal leaders in the congress when he was a leader. i think probably jim wright, tom foley and gingrich were speakers. >> and tip. >> and a bird and mitchell. i would be interested in those relationships, how the deferred -- we know about being rich but -- >> let me start in the senate. he and senator byrd who was the democratic leader when senator dole was elected a leader had a remarkably close relationship which wouldn't appear obvious,

remarkably different backgrounds, ages, generations. but both what senator byrd recognized and dole and the same was true for senator dole was the remarkable respect for the institution. they were able to talk with one another. senator byrd is a formal person, felt strongly about the role of members opposed to staff. senator dole was respectful of senator byrd and the history in the senate. one made a mistake to think senator byrd was anything other than a remarkable mastery of the rules of the senate because he was and so their relationship to the point where senator byrd stepped down was quite positive. his relationship with mitchell who was different and much younger, much more aggressive and outspoken leader for the democrats at the time was also a

remarkably strong. they had tefra made the agreement as i noted a very early on that they would never supplies one another, and we had literally weekly if not more frequent meetings where we quietly, senator dole would gather in senator mitchell's office and that was a very interesting indication. dole would always go to someone else's office. it was never one of these come to me i'm in charge. he would always make the effort to go to someone else's office. so we went down to senator mitchell's office, and his counterpart and senator mitchell's office was a woman by the name of martha pope, and the four of us would sit there and the two of them would go through where are you having problems, who in your caucus is going to give too difficult? can we get these things done? dole would occasionally go to the cloakroom -- each party as a cloak room that manages the floor for them and dole -- there were recordings where the staff would essentially say the following bills are going to be

considered. if you have objections or, you know, any particular issues, and every once in awhile dole would make the recording himself and you can see the lights, the phones light up because dole is on the phone telling people this is what we are going to do and would be because he and mitchell decided these are the things we need to get done as was indicated where he would go to the floor and make it happen. so the two of them had a good relationship. tom daschle, the ultimately became partners together a law firm and worked well together. they were not together a long period of time but again, respectful. both could be partisan where the need to be that both very respectful of one another in a very open and i think candid relationship. with the house side little experience with jim wright and not a long experience with tip o'neill. but again, similarly senator dole would go to the other side where we needed to. we did in dewey very often. you know, we had enough to say

grace over in our own body without having to manage the other body. but again, it was a distant kind of respectful relationship. he recognized tip o'neill for their remarkable politician he was. remarkably skillful. certainly he had great respect for bob michael, similar generation. they'd known one another in the house. but michael had been in the minority for so long. it was very challenging for the republicans in the house during that period of time. he and gingrich had a certainly challenging relationship. very different personalities. there was a clear change in the house during the gingrich revolution. i remember we were on the receiving end of the contract with america where they were shipping bills over to the

senate many of which never got out of the senate and a very different approaches, very different approaches. it was the sort of young turks coming up out of the house, very different body much more aggressive. but again there was tension in the house because they had been in the minority for so long and there was a sort of backlash has that changed with both sides i think coming to a new reality. but again, i think in every case senator dole had cordial and i think productive relationships with all of those members. some were more challenging than others but with his senate colleagues they were quite candid and open. but again where they needed to be he and mitchell could go at it on the floor. but personally they had a remarkable and still do have a very good relationship.

>> i.t. we have time for one last question here please. >> you made reference to senator dole being on walter reed. i wondered a lot in the last few months the status of his health. >> we saw him on friday and we spent a lot of time talking about politics. he had knee surgery and was having problems with both of his knees. he had knee surgery which was quite successful. he was going to work every day. he'd gotten back to work after having the surgery but then had infections and so they've been managing that at walter reed. i think they are quite hopeful he's making great progress and will get that, again. he still wants to go back to work and i expect him to be back in his office. but you have to remind him that

he is not 25 anymore and so the recovery from this series of things he had dealt with are not quick and easy but he was in great spirits when we saw him and i think we will be back at work fairly soon i would think. >> sheila, rob, mike, thank you for the wonderful discussion. we really appreciate it. [applause] >> thank all of you for joining and next tuesday night we will have the former speaker of the california assembly, former mayor of san francisco willie brown who will be a fascinating program. we invite you back for that and then a couple of -- week after that we will have richard baker the recently retired historian of the senate. thanks for your support. have a good evening. ..