Former US Senator Bob Dole salutes in front of the coffin of former US President George HW Bush at the US Capitol rotunda on December 4, 2018 in Washington, DC.
Alex Edleman | AFP | Getty Images
Bob Dole, the former U.S. senator and Republican presidential candidate, announced Thursday that he has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.
“My first treatment will begin on Monday. While there are definitely some hurdles ahead, I also know that I am joining millions of Americans who are facing their own serious health challenges,” Dole said in a statement.
Dole, 97, was a U.S. senator from Kansas for nearly thirty years.
He was also nominated Gerald Ford’s Vice President in his campaign in 1976, and shortly thereafter tested the waters in the 1980 Republican presidential election.
Dole won the GOP nomination for the presidency in 1996, but fell short of Bill Clinton in the Democratic successful attempt to re-elect. Conservative H. Ross Perot has nominated a third party in the election.
Dole supported Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and told PBS NewsHour that Trump is a strong leader and he is someone who can work with Congress. There are many similarities between my days in the Senate and what Donald is proposing. “
More recently, Dole said he feels the Commission over presidential debates is treating Trump unfairly during the 2020 presidential debates.