Candidate of Humble Origins Is Now Well-Off; Win or Lose, Dole Has a Million-Dollar Nest Egg From Years of Public Speaking Fees
Republican presidential nominee Robert J. Dole often tells the story of how his family survived the Depression by moving into the basement of their modest Russell, Kan., home and renting out the rest of the house to wealthy oilmen.</br></br>Win or lose in his bid for the White House, America can be assured that Dole won't be returning to that dreary childhood tableau. After a lifetime spent as a public servant, the former Senate majority leader has managed to squirrel away a million-dollar nest egg that would be the envy of most retirees.</br></br>Indeed, last year he and his wife, Elizabeth, reported total income of $583,869, putting them in the top 1 percent of Americans.</br></br>A review of Dole's personal finances shows that this man of humble origins, who inherited nothing, spent his entire life in government and never invested in the stock market, has built a comfortable net worth in a quintessentially Washington way: through a steady flow of speaking fees paid to him by special interest groups. Indeed, during his three decades in Congress, Dole took in some $1.7 million in honoraria, more than any other member of either the House or the Senate.</br></br>All of what Dole did over the years was legal, and because of restrictions on how much honoraria members could keep, he passed on more than half of what he made to charity. But at a time when the influence of money on politics is drawing increased public scrutiny, Dole's financial transformation makes clear why those in position to reform the process have been so reluctant to change it.