Once upon a time …

When he ran for president as the Republican nominee in 1996, Bob Dole harkened back to his Kansas upbringing and the ethic of duty, obligation and perseverance that he believed characterized his generation and those who shaped it. “Let me be the bridge to a time of tranquility, faith and confidence in action,” he said.

In the years since, the rise of a crude and divisive politics in America, the decline in respect for institutions and the disdain for consensus have given us a better idea of what Dole, who died Sunday at the age of 98, was getting at. He looked back on his own life—perhaps idealizing it a bit, as most do—and reflected on what it had taken for a typical Kansas family of his time to get through the calamities of Depression and war.

Dole was a sometimes controversial figure occasionally given, especially early in his career, to irritated outbursts. None of that should obscure the substance and significance of his accomplishments. He led—as minority and majority leader—with a sense of the need to get things done. We didn’t always agree with him, but on big matters such as the vital civil rights bills of the 1960s and later on expanding food stamp coverage, he took strong and principled stands in favor. And he worked with members of both parties.