dole, distribution to the poor, usually of food or money. In medieval times doles were usually from bequests of money or land, and the income was given to charity or distributed to the local poor at funerals. John Leake in 1792 left £1,000 to Trinity Church, New York City, the income of which was to provide wheat loaves to be distributed to the poor every Sunday morning after services. After World War I the term was applied in Great Britain to weekly payments to the unemployed—the noncontributory payees under the out-of-work-donation plan of 1918; the plan was terminated in 1919. The term was then applied to payments made under the National Unemployment Insurance scheme; it has also been applied to payments to the unemployed by the poor-law authorities. In the United States, the word has acquired pejorative implications.

Dole, Sanford Ballard, 1844-1926, Hawaiian statesman, b. Honolulu, of American missionary parents. After education in the United States he returned to Hawaii and became prominent in public life. A leader of the revolution that in 1887 secured a more democratic constitution, Dole became justice of the supreme court under the new government. He looked with disfavor upon the revolution of 1893 that overthrew Queen Liliuokalani, but once it was accomplished he was willing to accept the office of president under the provisional government. The application of the revolutionists for annexation to the United States was refused by President Cleveland, who, after sending James H. Blount to investigate, demanded the restoration of the queen. Dole's reply, in which he defended the revolution and denied Cleveland's right to interfere, was one of his ablest papers. A constitutional convention was then held (1894), and the republic of Hawaii was created. Dole was declared the first president. His administration, during which he made efforts to secure annexation, was successful in spite of attempts at a counterrevolution and difficulties with Japan concerning immigration. After the islands were annexed in 1898 during McKinley's administration, Dole headed a commission to Congress to recommend legislation for Hawaii. The report included the draft of a bill which became the Organic Act of 1900. Dole was appointed first governor of the Territory of Hawaii in 1900. He resigned in 1903 to become U.S. district judge for Hawaii.

Dole, Nathan Haskell, 1852-1935, American author, b. Chelsea, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1874. After teaching in New York and in New England, he worked as a newspaperman in Boston, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Most of his later career was devoted to writing and editing, chiefly poetry and translations from many languages. He translated, among others, works of Tolstoy and Daudet, and hundreds of songs and lyrical pieces for music from the Russian. Among his original works are The Hawthorne Tree (1895); Omar the Tent-Maker (1899); Peace and Progress (1904); Alaska (1909); The Life of Count Tolstoi (1911); The Spell of Switzerland (1913); and America in Spitsbergen (1922).

Dole, Elizabeth Hanford, 1936-, American public official, b. Salisbury, N.C., B.A., Duke Univ., 1958, J.D., Harvard, 1965; wife of Bob Dole. A Republican, she held several government positions including commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (1973-79). President Reagan appointed her secretary of transportation (1983-89) and President George H. W. Bush named her secretary of labor in 1989. In 1991 she resigned to become president of the American Red Cross. She took one-year leave of absence from the Red Cross in 1995-96 to support her husband's unsuccessful campaign for the presidency, then resigned in 1999 to run for president herself, but left the race before the primaries. In 2002 she was elected to the U.S. Senate from North Carolina.

Dole, Bob (Robert Joseph Dole), 1923-, American political leader, b. Russell, Kan.; husband of Elizabeth Hanford Dole. While serving in World War II, he was seriously wounded and required several years of convalescence. After obtaining his law degree from Washburn Univ. (1952), he worked as a county attorney. In 1960 he was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives and served four terms (1961-69); he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968. He was chairman of the Republican National Committee (1971-73), and in 1976 Dole was President Gerald Ford's running mate.

Dole served as majority leader of the Senate (1985-87, 1995-96) and as minority leader (1987-95), gaining a reputation as a pragmatic conservative with an acerbic wit. In 1980 and 1988 Dole ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination. In 1995 he again announced his candidacy for his party's presidential nomination, and he subsequently triumphed in the primaries. In June, 1996, Dole resigned from the Senate in order to devote more time to the presidential race, and in August he chose Jack Kemp as his running mate. He proved unable to reduce President Clinton's significant lead in the popular vote, however, and was soundly defeated in the November elections. In 2007, President George W. Bush selected Dole to co-chair a commission charged with investigating problems in the military health-care system.

(born April 23, 1844, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands—died June 9, 1926, Honolulu) Hawaiian politician. The son of U.S. missionaries, he served in Hawaii's legislature (1884–87) and on its supreme court (1887–93). He led the committee formed by local sugar interests that overthrew Queen Liliuokalani (1893) and sought annexation by the U.S.; he then served as the first president of the Republic of Hawaii (1894–1900). Though U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland demanded the queen's restoration, Dole pressed successfully for annexation (1900) and afterward served as governor of the Territory of Hawaii (1900–03). He later became a federal district judge (1903–15).

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(born April 23, 1844, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands—died June 9, 1926, Honolulu) Hawaiian politician. The son of U.S. missionaries, he served in Hawaii's legislature (1884–87) and on its supreme court (1887–93). He led the committee formed by local sugar interests that overthrew Queen Liliuokalani (1893) and sought annexation by the U.S.; he then served as the first president of the Republic of Hawaii (1894–1900). Though U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland demanded the queen's restoration, Dole pressed successfully for annexation (1900) and afterward served as governor of the Territory of Hawaii (1900–03). He later became a federal district judge (1903–15).

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in full Robert Joseph Dole

(born July 22, 1923, Russell, Kan., U.S.) U.S. politician. Seriously wounded while fighting in World War II, he recovered from near-total paralysis but permanently lost the use of his right arm and hand. He returned to Kansas, earned a law degree, and held state elective office as a Republican before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives (1961–69) and the Senate (1969–96). He was the running mate of Pres. Gerald R. Ford in 1976. In 1984 Dole became Republican Party leader in the Senate, and he twice served as majority leader (1984–86, 1994–96). After clinching his party's nomination for president in 1996, he retired from the Senate to devote himself wholly to the campaign. He was defeated in the election by Democrat Bill Clinton. His wife, Elizabeth Hanford Dole (born 1936), ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in 2000 but was elected to the U.S. Senate from North Carolina in 2002.

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in full Robert Joseph Dole

(born July 22, 1923, Russell, Kan., U.S.) U.S. politician. Seriously wounded while fighting in World War II, he recovered from near-total paralysis but permanently lost the use of his right arm and hand. He returned to Kansas, earned a law degree, and held state elective office as a Republican before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives (1961–69) and the Senate (1969–96). He was the running mate of Pres. Gerald R. Ford in 1976. In 1984 Dole became Republican Party leader in the Senate, and he twice served as majority leader (1984–86, 1994–96). After clinching his party's nomination for president in 1996, he retired from the Senate to devote himself wholly to the campaign. He was defeated in the election by Democrat Bill Clinton. His wife, Elizabeth Hanford Dole (born 1936), ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in 2000 but was elected to the U.S. Senate from North Carolina in 2002.

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