Bob Dole: The Republicans' Man for All Seasons

To his critics, Senate minority leader Robert Dole, Republican of Kansas, is a dour, hardline conservative who practices the politics of obstruction in his daily warfare with Democrats. Countering that image, Kansas City Star Washington correspondent Thompson paints the two-time presidential candidate as a pragmatist who has led legislative battles in favor of civil rights for women, minorities and the disabled; supported food stamps and farmers' subsidies; and fought in vain to balance the federal budget. Although this admiring portrait, which paints Dole as a moderate, reads like a campaign biography for a 1996 presidential bid, it is brisk and well researched. Based on more than 90 interviews, including those with Dole himself, his wife, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, and his former wife, Phyllis Macey. Photos. (Oct.)