Is this the concensus of the Republican Party? "Speaking as a Republican, I want my party to let more people in," said the former U.S. senator and presidential candidate. "We don't have to agree with everybody. We ought to have diversity, not conformity. That's what America is all about.”  Sen. Bob Dole

Photos of the Bank of America (41st tallest building in the world, and Blumenthal Theatre.

Elizabeth Dole to Leave Red Cross
                     WASHINGTON, January 4, 1999 -- Elizabeth
                     Dole announced today that she is resigning as
                     president of the American Red Cross because "the
                     Red Cross is now solid as a rock and, at this
                     important time in our national life, I believe there may
                     be another way for me to serve our country."

Report: Dole to Step Down Political Supporters Hope She Will Run for President Elizabeth Dole is planning to step aside as president of the American Red Cross in a step her political supporters hope will lead to her running for president, Newsweek magazine reported. (Steve C. Wilson/AP Photo) ABCNEWS.com WASHINGTON, Jan. 4— Elizabeth Dole is planning to step aside as president of the American Red Cross, leading to speculation that she may become the second Dole to run for the White House, ABC NEWS has learned.Newsweek magazine also reported in its Jan. 11 edition, portions of which were released Sunday, that one of Mrs. Dole's close advisers described her decision as a "first step" toward a possible campaign for the Republican nomination, but also called it a "nonpolitical event."

ABC News.com 

Dole for President? Citizens Have Weeks to Qualify Liddy for GOP Primary Elizabeth Dole has some high-powered help in her campaign for president for the year. RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 29 — The campaign to draft Elizabeth Dole as a presidential candidate in 2000 has some high-powered help in the form of former Gov. Jim Holshouser and Food Lion President Tom Smith.

Dole shakes up U.S. Republican presidential field - Wire Jan. 5 - She was immediately elevated to the position of chief challenger to early favorite, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, son of former President George Bush. And so the stage is set for another chapter in one of the most enduring rivalries in recent U.S. political history.

``You have to make her a top-tier candidate, which complicates things for Bush more than anyone else,'' said Republican consultant Keith Appeal, who had been advising another potential candidate, Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft.

Dole served as transportation secretary under former President Ronald Reagan and as labor secretary under Bush.

``There will be great excitement about a woman with bona fide presidential qualifications running for the first time in our history, and Elizabeth Dole would be a bona fide presidential candidate,'' Appell said.

A Dole candidacy would inject a new element into U.S. Politics, where women have increasingly been supporting Democrats in recent presidential polls. Women voted for President Bill Clinton over Bob Dole by a 17-point margin in the 1996 election.

Dole Steps Down  WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 "She's pretty serious about this and would not have left the Red Cross if she wasn't," said pollster Tony Fabrizio, who worked for Bob Dole. "I'm sure she's given this a lot of thought and I'm sure she's preparing herself to commit herself." Fabrizio said Mrs. Dole would mount a serious challenge to Texas Gov. George Bush and millionaire Steve Forbes, both considered early front runners for the GOP nomination though neither has announced their candidacies. "I think she turns this campaign upside down," he said.

Woman on the Verge? Dole Leaves Red Cross Post to Eye Opportunity Elizabeth Dole announced her resignation Monday as president of the American Red Cross, and strongly hinted that she may explore a presidential bid in 2000.

Dole: ‘time right' for woman to run - DOLE, 62, reiterated that a presidential run is just "one option" ahead of her, but she also noted that she'd have no problem raising the $100,000 a day needed to make a serious run.
Since 1991 the American Red Cross has raised $3.4 billion, she said, so "I think I've lost any inhibitions about asking people to give." (Nice, long video of Mrs. Dole and two of MR. Dole)

State Republicans say Elizabeth Dole for president just the ticket CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The leader of a movement to draft Elizabeth Dole as a Republican candidate for president will visit New Hampshire next month to drum up support.

Transcript - Elizabeth Dole on Late EditionJanuary 6.

Elizabeth Dole Quits Red Cross, Weighs W.House 6.07 p.m. ET (2308 GMT) January 4, 1999  Norman Augustine, head of the Red Cross board of governors, said Dole had a "truly amazing blend of compassion and the ability to make tough decisions.''

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala said Dole had provided outstanding leadership to the Red Cross which had assured the safety and quality of the nation's blood supply.

The Expanding Presidential Race- Jan. 11. In the meantime, Mrs. Dole's ambitions are creating most of the stir, since she could be the first woman to make a competitive bid for her party's Presidential nomination. Although Mrs. Dole has yet to declare her candidacy, her announcement that she is quitting her job as president of the American Red Cross is evidence that she is serious. Giving up a good job is a far more convincing show of intention than the creation of an "exploratory committee."

BBC Elizabeth Dole steps closer to presidential bidObservers say Mrs Dole's strong religious and traditional family values could work as an antidote to the scandal-plagued term of President Clinton. GREAT VIDEO OF ELIZABETH.

BBC - 9 recent stories of interest on Elizabeth Dole

JANUARY 18, 1999 VOL. 153 NO. 2 And Now It's Her Turn With a golden resume and an eye on the big job, here comes Liddy Dole. Will the
G.O.P. ever be the same? WASHINGTONJANUARY 18, 1999 VOL. 153 NO. 2What makes Dole a contender with the broader public is her experience using government to make small but highly popular changes in the quality of people's lives--the platform Bill Clinton ran on in 1996. After a stint at the Federal Trade Commission, Dole served as Secretary of Transportation under Reagan and Secretary of Labor under Bush. She can take some credit for air bags, airline safety measures and the brake light on the rear windshield of cars. She helped push for the first minimum-wage increase in eight years. These are badges that could help her bring independent voters, particularly women, into primaries--and make her a target of conservatives like Forbes.  

Would-Be President Elizabeth Dole: The Good and the BadLiddy's farewell address. SUSAN WALSH/AP Liddy bids goodbye to the Red Cross. Can she rescue the country in the year 2000?

Elizabeth Dole's 'New Path' Sunday, January 10, 1999  If there is some mystery about her administrative skills, we do know something of her accomplishments in Washington. As transportation secretary, Ms. Dole managed two feats of significance to this national capital region. After less than a month in office, Ms. Dole managed to move a bureaucratic mountain: She motored up to the water-soaked, bat-and-rat-infested skeleton of once-grand Union Station, which had become a monument to federal lunacy, and announced a rescue plan that produced what is today a tastefully restored commercial and transportation bonanza. She also decided the only way to improve National and Dulles airports would be to get them out from under federal management.

Elizabeth the First? By Ken Rudin Special to washingtonpost.com Friday, January 22, 1999 The last person whose election as president marked his first bid for office was Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe, who was elected president in 1952 and 1956. The others were: Herbert Hoover (R), secretary of commerce, elected in 1928; William Howard Taft (R), secretary of war, elected in 1908; Ulysses Grant (R), Union Army commander, secretary of war, elected in 1868; and Zachary Taylor (Whig), Mexican War hero, elected in 1848.

Dole Backs Dole in 2000Bob Dole is promoting his wife, Elizabeth Dole, as a possible Republician cadidate for president in the year 2000.(Stephan Savoia/AP Photo)  By Jim Abrams - The Associated Press W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 2— Bob Dole says the Republican Party should consider putting a woman on the 2000 presidential ticket, and he suggested that his wife, Elizabeth, would make an ideal candidate.
Dole, President Clinton's unsuccessful challenger for the White House last year, said Sunday that "I've still got one chance to get there, if Elizabeth runs."
In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, he said he has not spoken to his wife about running, "but I think she is certainly qualified."
What's more, he said, "if we are going to close the gender gap in the Republican Party we ought to think about a woman on the ticket in the year 2000."

Woman President Good Way To Start Millennium -Dole10.07 p.m. ET (308 GMT) January 5, 1999<FN_ARTICLEWASHINGTON —  "I'd like to give it a shot,'' he told MSNBC. "It seems to me that it'd be a good way to start the new millennium with a history-making election, where a woman — a qualified woman — was elected president of the United States.''

"We need an agenda; we need fresh ideas; we need to attract more people to our party, particularly women — blacks, Asians, Hispanics — and be an inclusive party,'' Dole told the cable station's "Hockenberry'' program. "And I think my wife ... can help bring these groups together.''