Elizabeth Dole

Political Figure

A Republican senator from North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole is a former Secretary of Transportation and presidential hopeful, and the wife of former U.S. Senator Bob Dole. She holds government and law degrees from Harvard, and started her political career with a job in Lyndon Johnson's department of Health, Education and Welfare. She became the first female Secretary of Transportation in 1983 under Ronald Reagan; in 1989, George Bush (the elder) made her Secretary of Labor. From 1991 to 1998 Dole was the head of the American Red Cross. She formed an exploratory committee to run for the presidency in 2000, but withdrew from the race on 20 October 1999. (The election was later won by Bush's son George W. Bush.) She won the senate seat of retiring North Carolina senator Jesse Helms in 2002 and devoted her time to regional issues.

Extra credit: Since 1975 she has been married to Bob Dole, the former senator from Kansas and GOP presidential candidate in 1996... Dole's childhood nickname is "Liddy," though she reportedly dislikes having it used in public.

Elizabeth and Bob Dole make a joint appearance in our loop on Presidents Closely Related.

She also appears with Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan in our review of Candidates 2000.