BOB DOLE : 1995 Clinton's Comeback
We begin our third season on Bob Dole's life and career, by traveling back in time to his April 1995 Presidential Campaign Announcement. At that point the Republican Party was on the rise everywhere and Bill Clinton appeared to be a sitting duck. Then a series of events would occur between April and December of 1995 that would resurrect Clinton's Presidency and put him 20 points ahead of any potential rival, including Bob Dole. That margin would stay frozen in place throughout 1996. This is that story.
In our third of four seasons, we will look back at Bob Dole's 1995 as he takes off into the Presidential campaign, while also trying to manage Congress. A Congress full of unruly new Republican firebrands in the House under their revolutionary Speaker Newt Gingrich. We will listen as that struggle between the Republican Establishment, the new House Republicans under Gingrich, and the Liberal Democrats in Congress, all converge into a battle for power, all of which allows Bill Clinton to perform one of the most dramatic political comebacks in all of American History.
We invite you to come along with us on a wild ride through the high points and low moments of modern American History, in an effort to show the citizens of today that we are an amazing and resilient nation.
Our Podcasts are separated by individual Documentary style titles. --
Season 1 : Bridging the Political Gap episodes 1 -11 --- Season 2 : Lessons in Leadership : --- The GIANTS of the Senate and Joe Biden episodes 14 - 16 ---- World War 2 Episodes 17 - 20 --- General MacArthur You're Fired Episodes 21 - 23 ---- A Celebration of the life of George Shultz episodes 26 - 28 ---- November 1963 : The end of the Age of Innocence episode 29 --- Season 3 ----The Johnson Treatment episodes 32 - 39 ---- Upheaval 1968 episodes 40 - 50 ---- Season 4: Richard Nixon 1968 -1971 The Man Who Saved the Union episodes 51 -67 ----- Season 5 Richard Nixon 1972 The Foundation of Peace episodes 71 - 96 -----1973 Ten Days in January 97 - 100 -- Season 6 Richard Nixon 1973 : Enemies at the Gate 101 - 125 ---- Season 7 Richard Nixon 1974 Through the Fire 126 - 147 ---- Season 8 Richard Nixon 1974 - 1994 The Fall and the Re-Rise of Richard Nixon. 148 - 174 plus bonus materials --- Season 9 Gerald Ford Beyond Watergate 175 -190 -- Season 10 John Jenrette. & Jimmy Carter too 191 - 224 -- Season 11 George H.W. Bush : The Leadership Lessons 225 - 250 --- Season 12: Mayor Hirsch 253 - 259, George H.W. Bush : The Sweep of History 260 - 285, Season 13 George H.W. Bush The Gulf War, The Coup, Clarence Thomas & the Cold War's End 286 - 318, Season 14 George H. W. Bush 1992 The Changing of the Guard 319 - 363 Season 15 Bob Dole 1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing 364 - 402, Special Season 16 The Great American Authors 403 - 419 , Season Seventeen Bob Dole The Life that Brought him there 420 - 458, Season Eighteen Bob Dole 1995 Clinton's Comeback 459 -
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BOB DOLE : 1995 Clinton's Comeback
Happy 103rd Birthday BOB DOLE!!! The Bob Dole Preview Collection (Special Edition)
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
To celebrate Bob Dole’s 103rd birthday we have assembled all the previews for our special series on his life and career.
The Bob Dole Preview Collection featuring the bonus preview on the special series The Fall of Bob Packwood too. Previews include:
1993 - 1995 The Last Man Standing,
The Life that Brought Him There,
1995 Clinton's Comeback,
The Fall of Bob Packwood
1996 The Campaign of a Lifetime
Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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Thanks for listening!!
From nineteen ninety-three to nineteen ninety-six, we saw the last leader in a generation of leaders who defeated the Nazis, ended Japanese imperialism, and freed the world of communism, and built the American Century, leave the center stage. And in this season, we're going to tell their final political story.
SPEAKER_09When the history books are written about this institution, and they pick out the few senators who really made a difference for America, there's not a doubt that the senator from Kansas will be near the top of the list. We wish him Godspeed and the challenges ahead.
unknownMr.
SPEAKER_09President, I yield four.
SPEAKER_13We're going to be joined now by uh one of the one of the foremost senators in the country, Senator Robert Dole of Kansas, who is the minority leader in the Senate. He joins us tonight, I think, from Washington. Yes, he does in the rotunda of the Russell office building. Um, if you can read the numbers as well as we can, Senator Dole. He's about 16 short of 270. Let me ask you this about uh George Bush. Bad campaign, bad economy, or bad president?
SPEAKER_20I think a bad economy. I think President Bush, like a lot of other people, uh, was a victim of the economy, did an excellent job. He couldn't have done all that much for the economy, but he still gets uh you know blame for what's bad and gets credit for what's good. But we're ready to move ahead. Uh Clinton will not have a majority of the popular vote. So we're gonna go out here and try to attract the representative reflect abuse, the pro supporters, the independents, the Reagan Bush people, and the United States Senate.
SPEAKER_17I think you got some good news and some bad news last time, Governor Clinton. The good news is he's getting a honeymoon in Washington. The bad news is that Bob Dole's gonna be a chaperone.
SPEAKER_20So I'm not sure what I'm doing. I didn't dream it up. It's a couple hundred years old. The Tenth Amendment the Constitution is part of the federal rights. I think our founding fathers had a lot of wisdom. You know what they were concerned about? They're afraid of somehow the central government become too big and too powerful that we could lose government close to the people. You would lose your option to make decisions at a local level. So they put in this amendment. And this amendment says the power is not delegated to the United States by the Constitution. The prohibited buyers to the states are reserved to the states respectively or to the people. What does that mean? It means unless the Constitution gives the power directly to the federal government. And if it does not prohibit that power to the states, then it belongs to the states and to the people. Somebody had a lot of parts in those days. They were looking out for us a long, long time ago. As a young man in a small town, my parents taught me to put trust in God, not government, and never confuse the two. Something else I learned the hard way, that while self-reliance is an essential part of the American character, so is the spirit of community that reaches out to those wounded in body or soul. When I went off to war, it was to defend a community of values, unique in all the world. I came back sustained by the love and generosity of friends and neighbors who renewed my sense of life's possibilities.
SPEAKER_02On April 14th, 1945, as part of Operation Craftsman, the 2nd Platoon of I Company under Lieutenant Bob Dole's command is ordered to take Hill 913. As Dole and his men advanced up the hill, hidden German machine gun and mortar positions rained down heavy fire. Casualties were heavy. Of the several hundred men to go up Hill 913, only a few dozen made it to the top.
SPEAKER_21He got shot up badly in Italy.
SPEAKER_20My radio man had sort of gone ahead, and I could hear him cry, and body rolled over, and I went out to sort of bring him back. About the time I reached him, I felt the sting in my right shoulder. I don't remember much after that. I was paralyzed, my neck down. I'd lost a kidney. I'd had a pulmonary embolism. I was this big 190-pound, you know, tough guy, and I had a lot of other problems in the hospital, lost about 70 pounds. I was in the hospital 39 months, so most of my service is after the war ended. But I can still see my mother standing at the foot of the bed, two aides getting me up, and just by chance, I looked and I saw myself. You know, I was shaken to say the least. And I haven't looked in the mirror but twice since. Because what I saw that day scared me.
SPEAKER_05First time I've been to Christmas Frank in 14 years, and I came to see Bob Dole.
SPEAKER_20Partisan, yes. Tough at times, yes. Demanding, yes. Work all night, yes. But you have to be fair. And when Senator Carol Moseley Brown came over and said, you know, you've always been fair, I knew how my message had been received. Let me say a special word to all the young Americans and the young people who were involved in my family. My radio man had sort of gone ahead, and I could hear him cry, and his body rolled over, and I went out to sort of bring him back. About the time I reached him, I felt the sting in my right shoulder. I don't remember much after that. I was paralyzed in my neck down. I lost a kidney, I had a pulmonary embolism. I was a big 190-pound, you know, I had a lot of other problems in the hospital, lost about 70 pounds. I was in a hospital 39 months, so most of my services after the war ended. I just don't see my mother standing in the foot of the bed. Two agents getting me up, and just by chance, I looked and I saw myself. You know, I was shaken to say the least. Because what I saw that day scared me.
SPEAKER_10Bob Dole. The life that brought him there.
SPEAKER_13Bob Dole, the minority leader in the Senate, Senator Robert Dole of Kansas. He's been one of the few people in this transition period who's been prepared to take a shot at Governor Clinton's politically day, but even before the ball really gets rolling.
SPEAKER_19The Democrats had a lot of fun the last couple of years back in President Bush. And I don't say we're gonna do that. We're gonna try to be a little more accommodating to Governor Clinton, but we'll have our day. And uh we're looking forward to 1994.
SPEAKER_09When the history books are written about this institution, and they pick out the few senators who really made a difference for America. There is not a doubt that the Senator from Kansas will be near the top of the list. We wish him Godspeed in the challenges ahead.
unknownMr.
SPEAKER_29President, I use he was literally torn apart by a German show. And then he could literally be right in the world. It was not too born in order with the beat that was behind the water.
SPEAKER_08The day after the convention, Ford and Dole kicked off their campaign with the joint appearance in Dole's hometown of Russell, Kansas. It was the biggest event in the town's history. And one of the most emotional, as Dole remembered how the people of Russell had rallied around him 30 years earlier.
SPEAKER_18If I've done anything, it's because uh people I've known up and down Main Street, and I can recall the time when I needed help, uh, the people of Russell helped.
SPEAKER_06And I think when we saw him break down, we we understand this because uh this this is his hometown, it means they deal to him. He has a hometown boy, whether it's whether it's in Washington, New York, or gas, it doesn't make a difference. He's still got the book and always on the ground in the golf.
SPEAKER_19We have trips on the ground in the boss here. I'm gonna support the trip.
SPEAKER_08Dole's stance shows that he was still ruling to be his own man, even if it might hurt his quest for his party's nomination. It also demonstrated the paradox that is Bob Dole. To many, he is still the fierce partisan who will block the democratic agenda at every turn. And yet, there is another Bob Dole, who puts his principles before the party line. It's why he's sometimes called the most complex figure in American politics.
SPEAKER_07Bob Dole loves politics. He's uh it's in his blood, uh it's his life, it's what he's given his whole uh adult attention to.
SPEAKER_11Oh no, what I'm a lot of people think he's one-dimensional. I think he is a politician first, last, and all. I know him to be multi-dimensional, fully one personality. There's no question if he was a very small person who still is. And in that sense, I think uh very much better.
SPEAKER_28If you fall short of a life, I think you can still keep a lot of satisfaction in what he has done. Not so much in the legislation that he's written or the way that he's changed the law, but by way of personal example, he's a man whose politics may in the end be less compelling than the life that brought him there.
SPEAKER_10Season two of Bob Dole and the life that brought him there. Bob Dole, 1995, Clinton's Comeback.
SPEAKER_16Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce our own great senator and the next president of the United States, Bob Gold.
SPEAKER_20And never confuse the two. Something else I learned the hard way, that while self-reliance is an essential part of the American character, so is the spirit of community that reaches out to those wounded in body or soul. When I went off to war, it was to defend a community of values unique in all the world. I came back sustained by the love and generosity of friends and neighbors who renewed my sense of life's possibilities.
SPEAKER_10And then the Oklahoma City bombing.
SPEAKER_20And because they restored my spirit in a time of trial, I have dedicated myself to restoring the spirit of America. And so today.
SPEAKER_15So I now announce that I will resign from the Senate. And I leave this institution not with malice, but with love.
SPEAKER_33Good luck. Godspeed.
SPEAKER_36Senator, the first time you went public about this, we did that first interview, you and I together, and you said I don't want to be remembered uh as a senator who was forced to resign. Is that inevitable now?
SPEAKER_14Oh, yes. Is it gonna go down in history this way? Yes. Would I like to be remembered for the uh author of the tactic format to death? Would I like to be remembered for saving Hell's Canyon, uh that great gorge in Oregon and I know you bet I uh I understand after uh three years of headlines in the press uh that I will go down remembered just for this one thing in this one case? Do I like it? No. Can I stop it? No, uh therefore go on with life.
SPEAKER_20Well, I I was very important. I said yesterday it's like uh football game. The first half played here, the second half played in New Hampshire.
SPEAKER_27I always can be a test for the whole field. We're gonna change watching. Senator Dole and Mr. Fork are just about to persuade everybody in Iowa that what they're saying about each other is actually true. We're within the march of Arab second.
SPEAKER_10Fascinating. You've got Rabin.
SPEAKER_00Four or five jobs ran out of Rabin collapsed into the arms of his killer. Rabin killed not by a Palestinian, but by a 24-year-old Israeli extremist who opposed the peace process.
SPEAKER_26The world has lost one of its greatest men, a warrior for his nation's freedom, and now a martyr for his nation's peace.
SPEAKER_20The view many Americans see this morning is a sobering one. We are in trouble about the direction our country is taking. Our badges are under constant assault from our public and cultural institutions. We feel threatened by the random incidents of violent crime. Too many of our schools, which were once passports to opportunity, have become demoralizing places. Welfare has become a misery subsidy, fostering illegitimacy and generations of dependency. And yet the deficit keeps growing, taxes keep increasing, and the government keeps demanding more and more authority over our lives.
SPEAKER_35Ultimately, however, I had to look deep into my own soul, standing aside from the expectations and enthusiasms of others. Because I believe I have a lot of trust with the American people. The kind of passion and the kind of commitment that I felt every day of my 35 years of soldiers. Passion and commitment that despite my every effort, I do not yet have a political life. Because such a life requires a calling that I do not yet hear. Me to pretend otherwise would not be honest to myself, would not be honest to the American people, then I will break my bonds of trust. Therefore, I cannot go forward. I will not be a candidate for president or for any other elective office in 1996.
SPEAKER_20An America, an America with a strong heart. Strong again in heart and sure of mind. And I would like to lead us there.
SPEAKER_26Last week, the warring factions in Bosnia reached a peace agreement. As a result of our efforts in Dayton, Ohio, and the support of our European and Russian partners. Tonight, I want to speak with you about implementing the Bosnian peace agreement and why our values and interests as Americans require that we participate.
SPEAKER_20It was a good statement.
SPEAKER_10The federal government shutdown.
SPEAKER_26But there is, after all, a simple solution to the problem. I strongly believe their budget plan is bad for America. I believe it will undermine opportunity, make it harder for families to do the work that they have to do, weaken our obligations to our parents and our children, and make our country mortified. So I will continue to fight for the right to have a balanced budget.
SPEAKER_20The important thing is the president now says, as he said before, what a balanced budget to five years and ten years and nine years and eight years and seven years or never. He's on record for all of those. We just suggest that he settle on the seven-year plan and get on board and begin to work this out.
SPEAKER_101995 becomes Bill Clinton's year. The year of his comeback.
SPEAKER_20And what has been sacrificed to keep us free. And it would do all in his power to lead America back to her place in the sun. My friends, I have the experience. I am not afraid to lead, and I know the way. Together, let us reassert our rightful place as a great nation. We should do it for ourselves. We owe it to our children. We must act to be worthy of the gift our ancestors have sacrificed so much for. To ensure that the next century will dawn on a new beginning of American greatness, prosperity, and freedom. Let us do it together. Let us begin today. God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_15It is the honorable thing to do for this country for the Senate. So I now announce that I will resign from the Senate. And I leave this institution not with analysis, but with love.
SPEAKER_33Good luck. Godspeed.
SPEAKER_20Why don't I just take an interview? I've just said he's been an outstanding legislator. An outstanding United States Senator. Someone likes to be around for a long, long time.
SPEAKER_10One of the masters of the tax code. One of the giants of the United States Senate. Laid low by scandal.
SPEAKER_09First of all, no workplace in America ought to tolerate the kind of offensive, degrading sexual misconduct that the Ethics Committee finds Senator Packwood to be guilty of. And it certainly cannot be tolerated in the United States Senate either.
SPEAKER_25None of us as individual members take any personal satisfaction in this. That this was a calculated and designed effort to deceive and mislead the committee with respect to the nature of the charges.
SPEAKER_38By any standard in any workplace in the United States of America, he would have been fired, and I voted to fire Senator Packwood from the United States Senate.
SPEAKER_31I made a statement yesterday, so I'm not going to reiterate.
SPEAKER_25And I voted for Senator Boxer, and he declined to do so. So on two occasions, Senator Packwood had an opportunity to request a hearing to face his accusers, and then chose in August to reverse his position.
SPEAKER_24You voted on the floor. In fact, you spoke on the floor, unless I'm sadly mistaken, in favor of public hearings. And then after he said, Okay, I have changed my mind. You say we are not going to have public hearings. Is that fair?
SPEAKER_25Speak only for myself. Our responsibility was to examine the evidence. We did so. It was overwhelming, it was powerful, it was compelling, clear and convincing that the senator was guilty on each of the charges.
SPEAKER_24That this was this was not due process, that he did not get his day in court, came from two of your fellow Westerners, Senator Simpson of Wyoming and Senator Stevens of Alaska. I think fairly well-respected figures in the Senate, not extremists or nut nut cases. Uh uh Isn't it isn't it, would you want to go through that process where you cannot face your accuser, you cannot question your accuser, uh, that there is it's everything is done behind closed doors? But he had the right to do that.
SPEAKER_25And he made that right. And he had the right in late July, he was asked. You know, he was before the committee for three consecutive days, and he notified us in writing, but I do not desire a publicity.
SPEAKER_24Well, we have a we have a trial going on in in Los Angeles, O.J. Simpson, and every witness is is it can be interrogated. You have preliminary hearing. He could not interrogate any of these people, and he says that the witnesses he wanted you to question that gave conflicting evidence you wouldn't even call.
SPEAKER_25That's not true. We asked the senator to provide a list of witnesses. He delayed weeks and months. Finally, we got the list.
SPEAKER_24All of those, all of those witnesses were questioned by the commission. Now, let me ask you this. You're the judge, you're the jury, you're the prosecutor, you're everything that we don't have in our criminal justice system. You're all wrapped up. Did you personally question a single witness? I did not. I reviewed the same. No senator didn't do that. But Bob, you're missing the point.
SPEAKER_25You're missing the point. The senator had the right to do so, and he waived that right. He expressly defied. Well, you said that, sir, I'm sorry. And on the floor of the United States Senate.
SPEAKER_24Let me finish my point. You said that several times. No, but I want to go on to say. You cannot one time say, look, I don't want a cross-exposition, not important to me. And then later. I want to move on to something else. I want to say that no, I don't think our viewers know that after you had made that before you had made a decision to expel one of your colleagues, not one of you, of these six senators, had ever questioned one of these complainants.
SPEAKER_25We had we had the depositions before us. We had the statements. We had not personally examined that. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_22Johnny Cock will be calling you tomorrow. You're talking about deflecting because he's still making it a firm trial. You're making it a system trial. I mean, I'm talking about the system on trial.
SPEAKER_10The fall of Bob Packwood. Fourteen episodes. A thorough examination of the remarkable rise and the swift and tragic fall. And even some of the life after the Senate. And the high cost to the presidential campaign of Bob Dole. Coming this season to the Randall Wallace Presents Podcast, The Fall of Bob Packwood.
SPEAKER_36Senator Packard, thank you for being uh with us. Happy to do it. The first question one has to ask is how are you feeling? You look pretty good.
SPEAKER_14Actually, uh Barbara, I feel like a gigantic cancer has been lifted off of my shoulders and uh much relieved and uh frankly very happy.
SPEAKER_36Senator, the first time you went public about this, we did that first interview, you and I together, and you said I don't want to be remembered uh as a senator who was forced to resign. Is that inevitable now?
SPEAKER_14Oh, yes. Is it going to go down in history this way? Yes. Would I like to be remembered for the uh author of the Tax Reform Act? You bet. Would I like to be remembered for saving Hells Canyon, uh, that great gorge between Oregon and Idaho, you bet. But I uh I understand after uh three years of headlines in the press uh that I will go down remembered for this one thing in this one case. Do I like it? No. Can I stop it? No, uh, therefore go on with life.
SPEAKER_12Senator from California, President. I I did not know Senator Pat would well. Don't let a man be known for the last thing he does, let him be known for the best thing he does. And I think that is the legacy that hopefully is being written here this afternoon.
SPEAKER_10Join us for the fall of Bob Packwood on Bob Doe 1995 Clinton's Comeback on the Randall Wallace Presents Podcast. The fall of Bob Packwood.
SPEAKER_27I'm a candidate for the office to declare my candidate to announce that I'm running. I will not be a candidate for the president.
SPEAKER_26I don't know how we haven't made a decision about official announcement.
SPEAKER_20Well, Iowa Iowa is very important. I said yesterday it's like uh football game. The first half is played here, the second half is played in New Hampshire.
SPEAKER_21Iowa's gonna be a test for the whole field.
SPEAKER_27We're gonna change Washington. Senator Dole and Mr. Forbes are just about to persuade everybody in Iowa that what they're saying about each other is actually true. We're within the margin of Arab second.
SPEAKER_11I want to enter New Hampshire as a big lead at halftime. Bob Dole first, you cannot second Alexander third, and look at this.
SPEAKER_21I think I can beat Steve Fourth and Bob Dole both in the back.
SPEAKER_27I am clear outside Washington, DC. I am today ending my campaign for president of the United States.
SPEAKER_04Do not wait for orders from headquarters. Mount up everybody and ride.
SPEAKER_27So I'm here today to end my campaign for the presidency.
SPEAKER_20I am ending my campaign. And I'm so confident I'm gonna declare right now that I am the Republican nominee. What maybe the bridge to a common framework in action?
SPEAKER_34Yes, it takes a village.
SPEAKER_16The outdoor version of the Macarena.
SPEAKER_37Indicated that we should make the statement I've now made on his behalf, and he went back to working on the speech in his work.
SPEAKER_26But with all respect, we do not need to build a bridge to the past. We need to build a bridge to the future.
SPEAKER_21Just remember what you heard in 2023.
SPEAKER_26I don't want you to go out between now and Tuesday and say, listen, this country is moving in the right direction. The president has good plans for the future, but most important, we have got to build a bridge to the future that is wide enough and strong enough for all of us to walk across, and we've got to do it together.
SPEAKER_20I know there's some who say that character doesn't make any difference. That the public trust doesn't make any difference. That when you're the president of the United States, you can do everything you can get away with. When you're in the White House and nobody cares, I don't believe it for a moment. I don't believe it for a moment. We're gonna find out on November 5.
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