Bio

Elizabeth Dole is a public servant in the truest sense of the term.  In a career spanning five decades, Elizabeth Dole has served as an activist for consumers, champion for safety improvements, advocate for women in the workplace, provider of relief and compassion to victims of disaster and elected servant of the people of North Carolina in the United States Senate.  She has served five U.S. Presidents, one Democrat and four Republicans.  Because of her dedication to the public interest, Elizabeth has earned the respect and friendship of people in her home state of North Carolina, across America and around the globe.  Elizabeth was the first female Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Secretary of Labor, a transformational President of the venerable American Red Cross and a member of Ronald Reagan’s first White House staff.

Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford was born in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1936 during the depths of America’s Great Depression.  Her father owned and operated a wholesale florist business.  Elizabeth describes her childhood personality as a precocious organizer and ring-leader of the neighborhood children.  She was a good student and was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” when she graduated from Boyden High School in Salisbury.  A high school yearbook reads, “There is no index of leadership so sure as her voice.”  She served as President of the Methodist Youth Fellowship and played piano for the Men’s Bible Class at First Methodist, her home church.

Her older brother, the late John Hanford, was a life-long mentor and the two were very close.  Elizabeth is fiercely proud of her hometown and attributes her values and her commitment to public service to her parents and the strong sense of community, caring and faith she learned by example in Salisbury.  Elizabeth owns the Salisbury family home and is a business partner in the Forest Glen development situated on the former Hanford farm.

Her mother, Mary Hanford, wanted Elizabeth to study home economics in college, but, in what was to be a harbinger of her independent streak, Elizabeth chose instead to study political science.  A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she graduated from Duke University in 1958.  Foreshadowing another life-long trait, Elizabeth served as both President of the Women’s Student Government Association and May Queen while at Duke, seeming to effortlessly balance her pioneering instincts with a strong respect for tradition.

Elizabeth did summer post-graduate work at Oxford University in England before moving on to Harvard, where she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching.

In 1962, Elizabeth entered Harvard Law School – one of only 24 women in a class of 550, and served as President of the International Law Club and Class Secretary.  After her 1965 graduation, she took cases for indigent citizens who could not afford an attorney.

In 1967, Elizabeth went to work for the Lyndon Johnson administration (she was a registered Democrat at the time) where she planned a significant national conference on the education of the deaf.  She later worked in the Johnson White House for Betty Furness in the Office of Consumer Affairs.  Elizabeth then became deputy to Virginia Knauer, President Nixon’s Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs.  In 1973, President Nixon appointed Elizabeth to the bipartisan Federal Trade Commission – where she continued to serve during the administration of President Gerald Ford.  Among its activities, the FTC enforced the Equal Credit Opportunity Act for Women and Elizabeth led a comprehensive investigation of nursing homes.  Her work included a number of antitrust and consumer protection investigations and enforcement actions.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan asked Elizabeth to join his White House staff as Assistant to the President for Public Liaison.

In 1983, Elizabeth joined President Reagan’s Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation, the first woman in American history to hold that position.  She also became the first woman to serve as a departmental head of a branch of the U.S. military, the U.S. Coast Guard.  During her tenure, Elizabeth focused on improving safety.  She successfully pushed for the installation of air bags in vehicles, to increase seat belt use, and to raise the drinking age.  It is estimated that more than 225,000 lives have been saved through 2007 through this pioneering work.  The high mounted third brake light on vehicles was one of numerous other safety initiatives enacted under her leadership. Elizabeth has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

Elizabeth Dole was sworn in by President George H. W. Bush as Secretary of Labor in 1989.  She worked hard to increase workplace safety and improve worker health protections, as well as increase the skills and education of the American workforce.  She helped bring business and education leaders together to improve worker training and education, and focused on improving management opportunities for women and minorities. While Secretary, Elizabeth intervened in the bitter Pittston coal strike in Virginia, using her renowned skills to find a compromise and resolve the 11-month standoff in the best interests of both parties.

The American Red Cross has an honored place in the history of our nation, and is a reflection of the American tradition of neighbor helping neighbor, particularly in times of distress and disaster.  Formed in 1881, the organization had only one woman president – founder Clara Barton – before Elizabeth took the reins in 1991.  During the eight years of Elizabeth’s leadership, the American Red Cross was larger than some Fortune 500 companies – with a paid staff of more than 32,000 and 1.3 million volunteers.

In a leadership gesture, Elizabeth declined to take a salary for her first year as President, instead aligning herself with the spirit and sacrifice of the army of Red Cross volunteers spread across the country.  She also began aggressive fundraising efforts that raised $3.4 billion for the relief organization during her tenure. An average of at least 91 cents of every dollar spent by the Red Cross went to programs and services to help those in need.

When Elizabeth went to the Red Cross, its Blood Services, initiated during World War II, was providing almost half of America’s blood supply but operating in a highly decentralized infrastructure, lacking the standard operating procedures for safety and quality necessary in the age of HIV-AIDS and other blood-borne diseases.  To address new threats to the U.S. blood supply, Elizabeth launched a bold program to transform blood operations across America.  Her initiatives included combining 28 different computer systems into a single, centralized network, and replacing non-standardized testing with state-of-the-art testing facilities for infectious diseases.  She also standardized manufacturing processes across all Red Cross blood regions.

Elizabeth also led a massive four-year revitalization of Red Cross disaster relief services, dramatically improving its ability to respond to disasters.  The Red Cross increased the number of national disaster relief experts from 3,000 in 1991 to over 21,000, and pre-positioned disaster supplies in high-risk areas across the country.  Elizabeth also established the Disaster Operations Center to monitor disaster operations and impending threats 24 hours a day.

American Red Cross staff and volunteers are famous for responding in times of need to help people stricken by hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and other disasters.  They also engage when major disasters strike internationally.  Elizabeth helped lead relief efforts in Kuwait, famine-stricken Somalia and Mozambique and war-torn Croatia.  In what may have been the most heart-rending experience of her life, Elizabeth personally led a humanitarian relief team to Rwandan refugee camps.  

In 2001, Elizabeth Dole announced her campaign for the U.S. Senate.  Her opponent in the general election was Erskine Bowles, a highly respected businessman and former White House Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton.  The 2002 successful Dole campaign raised $13 million and won by 9 percentage points.

Elizabeth visited voters in all 100 North Carolina counties during the campaign.  As U.S. Senator, Elizabeth spent time in all 100 counties listening to the concerns and priorities of those who entrusted her with high office.

Every year, she returned part of her Senate office budget to the U.S. Treasury, totaling more than $1.8 million.  As a matter of principle, Elizabeth did not take “junkets” at taxpayer expense.  She did not use her Congressional franking privilege for mass mailings, saving millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money.

Elizabeth accomplished a great deal for North Carolina.  She has used her relationships and reputation to work across party lines to forge solutions in the best interests of North Carolinians and all Americans. Her efforts to bring people together for the common good is a life-long practice rooted in her commitment to public service and dedication to the values and principles of her home state.

As an example of her Senate leadership, Elizabeth helped introduce and shepherd to passage the Tobacco Quota Buyout.  Others had promised similar legislation to farmers for many years, without success.  Elizabeth’s leadership was key in helping to break the gridlock and pass the legislation, ultimately removing the federal government from the tobacco growing and marketing business.  Because of her efforts, tobacco farmers today are better able to compete in the world market, and many farmers have been able to transition to other crops.  The legislation is also pumped more than $4 billion into North Carolina’s rural economy.  Consistent with her concern for family pocketbooks, the buyout was not funded by taxpayers.

Elizabeth used her experience and clout to protect North Carolina’s military bases during the latest Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round, thereby maintaining and expanding their $18 billion benefit to the North Carolina economy.  Her strong efforts, along with the hard work of local communities and state leaders, helped ensure that North Carolina came through with flying colors, with no major closures and the addition of functions and jobs, including nearly 9,000 jobs at Fort Bragg.

Elizabeth was a leader in Congress for addressing the real immigration crisis by focusing on securing our borders and enforcing our laws.  She supported billions of dollars for security and enforcement measures that include hiring more border agents and immigration officials; improving employee verification; building hundreds of miles of border fencing; adding detention beds; and providing training and tools for local law enforcement to handle criminal illegal aliens.

Elizabeth worked with North Carolina sheriffs and officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deliver the first in the nation statewide partnership plan to apprehend, identify and remove undocumented aliens who have self-identified themselves by committing crimes, such as drunk driving, crimes against people and property and gang-related, drug-related crimes.

Elizabeth secured concessions in trade agreements to make them more favorable to North Carolina industries and workers, helping to strengthen our economy and save jobs.

Elizabeth Dole was a leader on successful initiatives that provide Family and Medical Leave Act coverage for military families and that protect service members and their families from predatory lending practices.

Elizabeth successfully delayed the Bush Administration’s proposed Medicaid cuts that would cost North Carolina hospitals more than $330 million annually for treating low-income and uninsured patients – costs that couldn’t be passed on to other patients, and even result in cuts to services and jobs.  She has received awards from the North Carolina Hospital Association and the National Association of Public Hospitals for her leadership on this front.

Elizabeth worked hard to get additional federal investments that bolster North Carolina’s economy.  She secured funding to improve roads and water and sewer systems in both urban and rural areas.  She also has helped North Carolina universities and community colleges get much needed funding for research, medical centers and job training initiatives.

Elizabeth has helped communities large and small meet priorities important to local economies and public safety, from supporting funds for port improvements, beach renourishment, drought and flood assistance for farmers and hard-hit areas, and equipment and facilities for police, firefighters and first responders in rural communities.

On October 20^th 2009, Elizabeth sponsored the John Hanford Memorial Honor Flight from Charlotte in tribute to her brother.  The Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization, which takes WWII veterans to our nation’s capitol to see their memorial, free of charge.  She has also volunteered countless hours regularly leading tours with her husband at the WWII memorial for other Honor Flight veterans.

Elizabeth Dole has been recognized for her humanitarian and civic endeavors, as well as for her advocacy for women in the workplace.  Those acknowledgements include honorary doctorate degrees from more than 40 colleges and universities, the Governor’s North Carolina Award, North Carolinian of the Year by the North Carolina Press Association, Citizen of the Carolinas Award from the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women in State Government, Leadership Award by the League of Women Voters, the Raoul Wallenberg Award for Humanitarian Service, the Humanitarian Award by the National Commission Against Drunk Driving, the Foreign Policy Association Medal, Christian Woman of the Year Award, the Radcliffe College Medal and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.  She has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Elizabeth served on the Duke University Board of Trustees from 1974 until 1985 and on the Harvard Board of Overseers from 1990 until 1996.