Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole (born July 22, 1923) is an attorney and retired United States Senator from Kansas from 1969–1996, serving part of that time as United States Senate Majority Leader, where he set a record as the longest-serving Republican leader. He was his party's 1996 presidential nominee but lost the election to incumbent Democrat Bill Clinton. He was the Republican vice presidential nominee in the 1976 U.S. Presidential election, but lost the election to Walter Mondale, who ran on the Jimmy Carter ticket. Dole is special counsel at the Washington, D.C. office of law firm Alston & Bird.

In 2007, President George W. Bush appointed Dole as a co-chair of the commission to investigate problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, along with Donna Shalala, a former member of the Clinton cabinet. Dole is married to former U.S. cabinet member and former U.S. Senator Elizabeth Hanford Dole of North Carolina.

Dole was born in Russell, Kansas, the son of Tina N. (née Talbott; 1904-1983) and Doran Ray Dole (1901-1975). His father, who had moved the family to Russell, Kansas while Dole was still a toddler, had made a living by running a small creamery. During the Great Depression, which hit Kansas very hard, the Dole family moved into the basement of their home and rented out the rest of the house. As a boy, Dole took many odd jobs around Russell; he would later work as a soda jerk in the local drug store. Dole graduated from Hebron High School in the spring of 1941 and enrolled at the University of Kansas the following fall. Dole, a star high school athlete in his native Russell, earned a coveted spot on the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team under legendary coach Phog Allen. While in college, he joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity, where he later became one of the "Men Of The Year". Dole's study of law at KU was interrupted by World War II. After the war, Dole returned to being a law student. He attended the University of Arizona from 1948 to 1951 and earned his degree from Washburn University School of Law in 1952.