Bob Dole lies in state in Capitol Rotunda, where Biden, lawmakers pay tribute to 'giant of our history'

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Former Senate leader, presidential candidate Bob Dole dead at 98

Fox News Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram reflects on the passing of Bob Dole, a Senate leader from Kansas and Republican presidential candidate.

The body of former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., is lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda Thursday as the country honors him following his death Sunday at the age of 98.

President Biden and congressional leaders praised the native Kansan as an American hero and "giant of our history."

Lying in state is one of the most solemn American traditions, reserved only for select prominent individuals. Dole becomes only the 33rd person in U.S. history to lie in state in the Rotunda. Since the turn of the century, only Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Presidents George H.W. Bush, Ford and Reagan have lain in state in that location.

LONGTIME GOP SENATOR AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BOB DOLE DEAD AT 98

As part of Thursday's proceedings, a military honor guard brought Dole's casket up the 34 steps on the East Front of the Capitol and into the Rotunda, the casket draped in an American flag. 

The casket of former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., arrives in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where he will lie in state, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington.  (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)

A joint services military bearer team moves the casket of former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., during arrival at the U.S. Capitol, where he will lie in state in the Rotunda, Thursday Dec. 9, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool via AP)

Elizabeth Dole watches as a joint services military bearer team moves the casket of her husband former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., during arrival at the U.S. Capitol, where he will lie in state in the Rotunda, Thursday Dec. 9, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool via AP)

Elizabeth Dole, second from left, their daughter Robin, watch as a joint services military bearer team moves the casket of her husband former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., as during arrival at the U.S. Capitol, where he will lie in state in the Rotunda, Thursday Dec. 9, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington.  (Anna Moneymaker/Pool via AP)

"America has lost one of its greatest patriots," Biden said.

Biden urged unity as a way to honor Dole.

"Like many of us here, we disagreed on a number of things, but not on any of the fundamental things. We still found a way to work together," Biden said. "We genuinely respected one another as colleagues, as fellow Americans, It was real. It wasn't fake."

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Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hailed his work to pass the Americans with Disability Act.

"The real engine behind Bob's 98 remarkable years was his love. His love for Elizabeth and for Robin, for public service, for Kansas and for America," McConnell said.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Dole "redefined and elevated what it means to serve country," and called him an "incredible American statesman."

And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi added that, "It's hard to think of anyone who was more worthy to have a flag draped over his coffin because of his great patriotism to our country."

The honor guard will remain standing vigil over Dole’s casket throughout the night. The casket is resting on the Lincoln catafalque, a wooden platform that was first used to support the 16th president’s casket upon his death in 1865.

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The first to lie in state in the Rotunda was House Speaker Henry Clay in 1852. The most recent people to be honored in the Rotunda were U.S. Capitol Police Officers Brian Sicknick and Billy Evans in February and April of this year, respectively. The officers had lain in honor, one step below lying in state.

The last individual to lie in state in the Capitol was Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020. The service for Ginsburg was not in the Rotunda, but in Statuary Hall.