Dole’s passing is a reminder that his generation, known as The Greatest Generation, which pulled this country out of depression, defeated fascism in Europe and built the American middle class, is fading into history. It’s important to learn from their experiences while we still can.

Dole was helpful in this regard, writing a piece for The Washington Post that was to run upon his death. We highly encourage you to read his words in full in print or online.

He makes some key points, though, that we hope the politicians that now serve, as Dole did, in Congress can learn from.

In his piece, Dole recounted a story from when he was first elected to the Kansas House of Representatives, 70 years ago. A reporter asked him what was on his agenda. He said, “Well, I’m going to sit back and watch for a few days, and then I’ll stand up for what I think is right.”