(Reuters) – Former Republican U.S. Senator Bob Dole has died. Bob Dole, the former senator and presidential candidate, has died at 98.

Here are some facts:

* Robert Joseph Dole was born on July 22, 1923, one of four children of a grain elevator manager and traveling saleswoman in Russell, Kansas. His family moved into the basement of their home during the Great Depression in the 1930s and rented the rest. Dole went on to play basketball for the University of Kansas under Phog Allen, a legendary coach.

* After serving in the Kansas legislature, Dole was elected to the U.S House of Representatives in 1960. Dole was first elected to the Senate on January 28, 1968. He has been re-elected for four additional terms.

* Dole twice served as Senate Republican leader and earned a reputation as an effective middle-of-the-road legislator who was well liked among Democrats as well as Republicans for his ability to build coalitions.

* Dole was part of four unsuccessful presidential campaigns. He was Vice President Gerald Ford’s choice in 1976, but the ticket fell to Jimmy Carter or Walter Mondale. Dole was unsuccessful in his bid for the presidency in 1980. Ronald Reagan won the Republican nomination. Eight years later, Republicans elected George H.W. Bush beat him. Dole won in 1996 the Republican nomination, but was defeated by Bill Clinton, an incumbent Democrat.

* Dole won two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star in World War Two, and was wounded in Italy shortly before the end of the conflict. After being paralyzed on his left shoulder and breaking vertebrae and suffocating from shrapnel, he needed nine surgeries and 39 months of rehabilitation.

* Dole not only appeared in television commercials for the anti-impotency drug Viagra in 1996, he also helped test it. In the commercial, he stated that although it isn’t easy to speak about erectile dysfunction (ED), it is so vital to millions upon millions of men. Although he didn’t endorse Viagra specifically, he advised men to consult their doctors if they experience problems. Dole, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991, experienced impotence.