Top left: with Phil Ruppenthal, captain of the football team. Dole, Ruppenthal and the captains of track and tennis Russell HS were dubbed "the four horsemen". All would soon go to war. Only three came back:  One of Dole's best friends, Bernard "Bud" Smith, the tennis captain was killed in the war. Center: An athletic Bob Dole effortlessly lifts his young nephew, Larry Jr., Gloria's son.

(Click on each picture for a larger image)

A Typical American Boy:
"When I was 18, 19, 20, my primary interest was how fast I could run and how well I could do out on the basketall floor - whether I could catch a footall. That seemed the greatest goal in life."
-- Bob Dole

As a teenager, Bob Dole was a typical American kid of his era, more focused on sports, his studies and his job as a soda jerk at Dawson's Drug Store than in the crisis brewing in Europe.

Driven to excel, Dole played football, competed in track and captained the high school basketball team.