Laughing All the Way Back from ATS

Political legend Bob Dole combines humor and insight for PAS

March 6, 2007

Former senator Bob Dole, with PAS chair Karen Powroznik '07, listens to a question from an audience member.

Former presidential candidate Sen. Bob Dole gave the Poitras-Gleim keynote lecture for No Laughing Matter: Humor in a Complex World, the theme of the 44th annual Public Affairs Symposium. Dole entertained a capacity crowd in Anita Tuvin Schlechter auditorium Feb. 25 with his speech Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House.

Dole has written two books on political humor: Great Presidential Humor (I Wish I Was in This Book) and Great Political Wit: Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House.

During the talk, Dole displayed his signature style of humor, drawing heavily from the large store of real-life anecdotes amassed from nearly 36 years in the U.S. Congress and on the Washington political scene.

Dole and his wife Elizabeth, "the senator from North Carolina," live in the Watergate complex. Until the Clinton impeachment trial they did not know that a key figure in the drama, Monica Lewinsky, was their next-door neighbor. "I never realized the potential for excitement in the neighborhood. After that realization," he quipped, "I was afraid that if I looked toward the door, I'd be subpoenaed by Ken Starr [the special prosecutor in the case]."

In the years following his failed presidential bid, Dole has become a popular fixture on many national programs such as Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He told about his appearance on one of those programs, The Late Show with David Letterman, right after the 1996 election. Afterward he got so many letters saying, "If you'd done that before the election, I would have voted for you ..."

Dole indicated that effective leaders sometimes need to be willing to make light of themselves. "It's important to have a sense of who you are, and that includes a sense of humor."