Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 7, 1993 TAG: 9311070239
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SUSAN CHIRA The New York Times News Service
DATELINE: DES MOINES LENGTH: Long
Although the flood waters have receded here, the need has not. But the Red Cross van bearing coffee and sandwiches was drawing few takers that day, so Mrs. Dole, trim in a Red Cross T-shirt, khakis and smudgeless pink sneakers, marched gamely door-to-door.
"Red Cross here," she called. "Are you all hungry?" A 97-year-old woman, Bethel C. Anker, appeared at the screen door, telling her how grateful she was for all the help. Mrs. Dole said, "That warms my heart."
Mrs. Anker launched into a spirited description of her trials during the flood, and could have clearly gone on for some time, but Mrs. Dole gently eased herself away after some sympathetic murmurs and tongue-clucking. "Here we are, three bags for you," she said. "You take care. 'Bye now."
This was Elizabeth Dole at her very public best: effusive yet efficient, a woman who threads her way around obstacles with the same care, meticulous preparation and determination that have won and sustained her in visible jobs. She has been president of the Red Cross since 1991. Before that she served as U.S. secretary of transportation (1983-87) and secretary of labor (1989-90).
Watching her, it's easy to see why she won raves on the stump in 1988 during the brief presidential bid of her husband, Sen. Bob Dole, the Kansas Republican who is now Senate minority leader. She has an ability to connect, to make people feel heard even as she moves on to shake the next hand. But watching Mrs. Dole is to sense that she is also a woman of great control and caution, one who never loosens the tight rein on her spontaneity, never says the wrong thing, never reveals too much.
At 57, she has won praise for her stewardship of the Red Cross: fund raising, cost cutting, instituting more stringent blood screening tests and responding to a string of natural disasters, including Hurricane Andrew and the Midwest floods.
Her life with her husband has striking parallels to another Washington power couple, President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom the Doles will face if the senator choses to run for President in 1996, as is rumored. Like Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Dole has a career and is respected for her intelligence and drive. She is also said to be a more appealing campaigner than her husband, often able to disarm his opponents.
Dole acknowledges his wife's drawing power. "Everywhere I go - and I've been in four states this weekend - people talk about Elizabeth," he said recently.
On the public stage, both Mrs. Dole and Mrs. Clinton have played out their struggles to reconcile their careers with their husbands' political ambitions. Mrs. Dole left her job as secretary of transportation in 1987 to campaign for her husband; Mrs. Clinton emerged from the campaign caricatures, which depicted her as a strident co-president or a subdued cookie-baker, to become a groundbreaking first lady.
Clinton's ability to be a substantive, rather than ornamental first lady suggests that Mrs. Dole could have done the same thing. But when Mrs. Dole resigned her post in 1987, many women decried her choice. And at the time, her public comments suggested a trace of resentment about leaving her job. But today, she defends her decision in almost exactly the words she used then.
"To me, that's what we've been fighting for, for women to have opportunities to do what works best for themselves and their families," she said, sitting in a Red Cross regional office. "We don't have to fit into a mold. It would have been almost unthinkable not to be a part of the high point to date in my husband's career."
Elizabeth Dole will not be drawn out on the subject of Mrs. Clinton or on Senator Dole's plans, and quickly returns to safe generalities, often using the same sentences and anecdotes she has in earlier interviews.
Elizabeth Dole on life's purpose: "When you're in your 90s and looking back, it's not going to be how much money you made or how many awards you've won. It's really what did you stand for. Did you make a positive difference for people?"
On the need to acknowledge all of women's choices: "The women who choose to stay at home as full-time working mothers, volunteers - oh, put a lot of stress on volunteers - the ones who decide that should be valued every bit as much as what you and I are doing."
These answers are hardly surprising, coming from someone who has been interviewed countless times and has spent most of her professional life under public scrutiny. Why should she place her trust in a reporter? Why take a chance on spontaneity and slip up?
"People who are exposed to the media constantly tend to have tapes in their head," said an old friend and supporter of Mrs. Dole who asked to remain unidentified. "Her nature is to be prepared and in control of the message she is sending."
During this interview she is quick to list her accomplishments at the Red Cross and in previous Cabinets. But she is most animated talking about how she and her husband have forged a partnership that combines freedom with intense loyalty. The couple were married in 1975 and have no children. The senator has a daughter by a previous marriage.
"When we first met and married, he felt, definitely, go on with your career," she said, describing her husband as an instinctive supporter of women who needed no training from her. "There was never any hesitation. Sure, at times it would have been nice if I could have been at things that were important to him. But we just went forward together."
Her husband calls her a "sensible feminist," meaning that "she doesn't threaten anybody."
Sometimes their jobs put the couple at public loggerheads, but that does not appear to bother either of them a bit. This year, her husband opposed Clinton's bill on national service. Mrs. Dole, as the president of an organization dedicated to volunteerism, backed it. They didn't consult each other about their stances in advance, she said, and didn't talk about them afterwards.
Years ago, such public differences between spouses were more novel. When Mrs. Dole was a member of the Federal Trade Commission, she read that her husband was opposing the creation of a consumer protection agency.
"I remember calling him up and saying, `What are you doing?"' she said. "You didn't tell me about this." She was about to give a speech and asked him whether he would join her and debate the pros and cons. They were asked to repeat the performance on "Good Morning America," and she recounted the reaction:
"We got an awful lot of mail. Someone wrote Bob, `If you want to get anywhere in politics, you better get her to shut up.' And one man wrote in and said, `I do hope you'll be able to resolve your marital difficulties."' With that, she broke into a loud laugh.
It is evidently the only kind of marriage she can envision, because she bucked the conventions of her Southern childhood and even the expectations of her mother, who wanted her to major in home economics, marry and stay in North Carolina. But she chose to study political science at Duke University and declined a marriage proposal from her college boyfriend.
After Harvard Law School, she embarked on a career in government, eventually serving on the Federal Trade Commission and as head of President Reagan's office of public liaison before joining the Cabinet. Originally a Democrat, she became an Independent and then, about the time of her marriage, a Republican.
Dole demurs at suggestions that the presidency of the Red Cross, with its highly visible opportunities to help people in distress, is a perfect launching pad for a future first lady or even for a run for public office.
"I don't have plans to run for office right now," she said. "I enjoy people, I'm an extrovert. If the option presents itself someday to run for office, it's a possibility. It's not something I must do or I will not feel fulfilled in life."
Yet Dole understands that being a player means not just having ideas, but having power.
"Some people really have almost a distaste for that word," she said. "They feel it is alien to conscience. Power for power's sake, no. But the positive use of power for positive purposes is very important. You have to understand that. You've got to have a seat at the policy table if you want to make a difference. "
NYT-10-19-93 1739EDT
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NYT-10-19-93 1738EDT
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