Characters Glorious Rivals Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Bob Dole Character Analysis in Glorious Rivals

Overview

Bob Dole, the Kansas Republican who served as Senate Majority Leader and the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, appears in Glorious Rivals as a living emblem of a bygone era of bipartisan collaboration. The book treats Dole not as a fictional character but as a historical figure whose career illustrates the power of personal relationships and respectful disagreement in American politics. His presence anchors the conclusion and several key examples throughout the text, making him a central lens through which the authors diagnose Washington’s decline and propose remedies.

Role in the Book’s Argument

Dole serves multiple narrative functions. In Chapter 4: Cracking the Monocle, he is cited as the Senate Majority Leader who negotiated the 1995-1996 budget with President Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, demonstrating that conflict and collaboration could coexist. The authors contrast this with the modern era, where no such negotiations occur. Dole is also credited with ending the tradition of stocking a full bar in the majority leader’s office, a change the book implies contributed to the erosion of informal social bonding among senators.

Most prominently, Dole is co-honored at the Bipartisan Policy Center gala in March 2012, alongside Senator Howard Baker, in the Conclusion: Two Hands on the Wheel. The event showcases the personal respect and affection that once characterized the Senate, only to be undercut by the remarks of Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell, who blame gridlock on the Founders. Dole’s presence at the gala becomes a symbol of the book’s thesis: the solution lies not in procedural reform alone but in rebuilding the human connections that make collaboration possible.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Dole’s motivations are inferred largely from his actions and the recollections of colleagues. Vice President Biden, speaking at the gala, praised Dole’s habit of affording every “man or woman, whether a political foe or friend… the dignity they deserve.” This phrase captures a core trait: deep, consistent respect for opponents as people, even when disagreeing fiercely on policy.

Dole himself reflected on his relationship with Senator George McGovern, saying, “I used to argue [with McGovern] about Vietnam all day, and then in the evening we would talk about food for poor people.” This anecdote, preserved in the book, reveals that Dole compartmentalized political conflict from personal relationships. He could oppose a colleague’s position while still cooperating on other issues—a skill the authors argue is essential for functional governance.

His decision to end the majority leader’s stocked bar is ambiguous. The text notes that “until Bob Dole ended the practice,” the office was kept stocked. While the book does not explain his reasoning, the context suggests that Dole may have considered the practice inappropriate or unproductive. Yet the consequence—a loss of casual meeting space—aligns with the book’s broader theme that well-intentioned reforms can have unintended negative effects on institutional culture.

Chronological Arc

Dole’s appearances in Glorious Rivals are not presented in a linear biographical sketch, but they can be assembled into a coherent timeline:

  • 1995–1996: As Senate Majority Leader, Dole engages in intensive budget negotiations with President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich, demonstrating that partisan conflict does not preclude serious talks.
  • During his majority leader tenure: Dole ends the practice of keeping a full bar in the Capitol office, a change that, over time, reduces informal cross-party socializing.
  • Post-1996: Dole reflects publicly on his relationship with George McGovern, offering a model of how to maintain friendship across deep political divides.
  • March 2012: The BPC gala honors Dole and Baker. Senator Pat Roberts leads the audience in a humorous song set to “Sweet Caroline,” underscoring the warmth and silliness that can bind colleagues.
  • Later: The authors cite Dole’s career to argue that bipartisanship is not naive nostalgia but a realistic, proven method for governing.

Relationships

The book emphasizes a handful of Dole’s relationships:

  • George McGovern: A liberal Democrat and 1972 presidential candidate. Their friendship, built on mutual respect despite opposing views on Vietnam, exemplifies how personal bonds can enable collaboration on unrelated issues like hunger.
  • Howard Baker: His fellow BPC co-founder and co-honoree. Both are presented as exemplars of principled compromise.
  • Bill Clinton: The Democratic president with whom Dole negotiated budgets, showing that the two could work together even as their parties fought publicly.
  • Newt Gingrich: The Republican House Speaker who, alongside Dole, engaged in back-channel talks with Clinton. The book notes that these leaders were “deeply engaged in negotiations” despite the antagonism.
  • Pat Roberts: The Kansas senator who led a playful tribute at the gala, illustrating the personal warmth still possible within a party.
  • Joe Biden: Then-Vice President, who spoke movingly about Dole’s character.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  1. Ending the stocked bar in the majority leader’s office: The book does not state Dole’s motivation, but the consequence was a reduction in informal socializing. This change is part of a larger pattern the authors trace: the erosion of personal relationships that once made legislative deals possible.
  2. Negotiating budgets with Democrats while leading a conservative majority: Dole’s willingness to engage across the aisle helped produce legislative outcomes, but also likely contributed to internal party pressures. The book treats this as a successful example of partisan collaboration.
  3. Co-founding the Bipartisan Policy Center: After leaving the Senate, Dole helped create an institution dedicated to convening experts and politicians from both parties. The BPC’s work, including the Y2K committee’s success, is held up as a replicable model.
  4. Maintaining a friendship with George McGovern: This personal decision allowed both men to continue working together on anti-hunger initiatives, showing that political opponents can be allies on shared priorities.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Dole connects to several core themes of Glorious Rivals:

  • Bipartisanship and Collaboration: Dole is the book’s primary human symbol of effective bipartisanship. His career demonstrates that it is possible to be a strong partisan while also being a reliable partner across the aisle.
  • Personal Relationships in Politics: Every mention of Dole reinforces this theme. The authors argue that without the social glue of shared meals, drinks, and barbershop chats, legislators lack the trust necessary for compromise.
  • Institutional Decline and Reform: Dole’s decision to remove the bar is a small but telling example of how institutional norms can be altered, for better or worse. The book uses him to caution against overzealous reforms that destroy collegiality.
  • Unintended Consequences of Reform: The elimination of the bar may have been intended to professionalize the leader’s office, but it also removed a space where senators from both parties could relax together.
  • Transparency vs. Deliberative Privacy: Dole’s style of working behind the scenes, building trust in private conversations before public votes, aligns with the book’s argument that some privacy is necessary for candid negotiation.

Five Book-Specific Questions and Answers

  1. What role does Bob Dole play in the conclusion of Glorious Rivals?
    Dole is honored at the BPC gala alongside Howard Baker. The event showcases bipartisan respect, but it is immediately undercut by Senators Reid and McConnell, who attribute gridlock to the Founders. The authors contrast Dole’s collaborative legacy with the current leaders’ fatalism.

  2. How does Dole’s relationship with George McGovern illustrate the book’s thesis?
    The two argued about Vietnam all day yet partnered on anti-hunger programs in the evening. This example directly supports the authors’ claim that personal relationships allow lawmakers to disagree on one issue while cooperating on another, breaking policy stalemates.

  3. Why does the book mention that Bob Dole ended the practice of keeping a stocked bar in the majority leader’s office?
    The detail serves as a concrete instance of how social rituals that built cross-party trust were abandoned. The authors imply that such small changes, while well-intentioned, contributed to the broader erosion of collegiality in the Senate.

  4. How is Dole contrasted with modern Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell in the conclusion?
    While Dole and Baker are celebrated for fostering personal respect across party lines, Reid and McConnell respond to the same gala by excusing gridlock as inherent to the Senate’s design. The contrast frames Dole as evidence that the Founders’ system can work when leaders choose to collaborate.

  5. What does Vice President Joe Biden’s tribute to Dole reveal about his character?
    Biden lauded Dole for affording every person, “whether a political foe or friend… the dignity they deserve.” This tribute underscores that Dole’s success in bipartisanship stemmed from a fundamental respect for opponents, not from ideological flexibility or strategic calculation.