Other dignitaries who flew to Lawrence for the dedication included former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, former Sen. George McGovern, former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, just to name a few. I was honored to say a few words about my friend among such distinguished guests, particularly the brave soldiers who fought during World War II.
The Robert J. Dole Institute stands in honor of one of the truly towering figures in American politics and the generation he represents. On display you will find his Army uniform and his Purple Heart displayed in front of a large stained-glass window of the American flag, which is flanked by two metal beams from the World Trade Center. Other items on display include the cigar box used to collect donations at a Russell drugstore for the "Bob Dole Fund" and the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, which was awarded to Dole by President Clinton in 1997. I might add that Dole was a compassionate conservative long before those words became enshrined in the White House by the current administration.
This last Memorial Day, my wife and I celebrated the liberation of Holland and the D-Day landing at Normandy. Standing on the beaches of Normandy, I could almost hear the voice of Douglas MacArthur: "I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that they would go on to victory." And that they did.
Today another generation has received the call, and today the primary adversary to freedom is the combination of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and fundamentalist terrorism. I am confident that the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, which exemplifies the tenacity and grit of its namesake, will inspire the next "great generation" to rise to the challenges of our time and help give them the fortitude to overcome the enemies of liberal democracy.