Return to Pointer View home page September 10,  2004

West Point names Dole as 2004 Thayer Award recipient

By Irene Brown
Editor

The Association of Graduates  of the U.S. Military Academy has named former Senator Robert Dole as this year’s Thayer Award recipient.

Dole will be honored here Sept. 29 with a cadet review on the Plain at 5 p.m., followed by a presentation ceremony. The public is invited to attend the review.

Serving as a U.S. senator for 30 years, historians list Bob Dole as “the most enduring Republican leader of the twentieth century.”

A native of Russell, Kansas, Dole joined the Army in 1942 and was wounded overseas.

After earning his law degree, friends persuaded Dole to run for state legislature in 1966, a race he won and one that marked the start of his long stint of public service.

In 1968, Dole was elected to the U.S. Senate and, in 1986, became Senate Majority Leader. He went on to set a record as the longest serving Republican leader.

The Thayer Award, established in honor of Col. Sylvanus Thayer, “Father of the Military Academy ,” is presented each year to an outstanding citizen whose service and accomplishments in the national interest represent the Military Academy ’s motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.” The Association of Graduates has been presenting the award since 1958.