Bob Dole Hospitalized For 'Routine Procedure'

Former U.S. Senate Republican leader and presidential nominee Bob Dole, 89, was hospitalized Tuesday at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on the Senate floor Tuesday, according to CBS News.

"He is at Walter Reed not for a checkup," Reid said on the Senate floor. "He is there because he is infirm. He is sick."

An unnamed aide to Dole seemed to indicate that the World War II veteran's situation is not dire, telling CBS, "He checked himself in for a routine procedure and will discharge tomorrow ... Doing well and watching the CRPD debate on CSPAN 2."

NBC News Capital Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell echoed CBS's remarks, tweeting the following Tuesday evening: "Aide to 89 yr old former Sen. Bob Dole says he 'will be discharged tomorrow (from Walter Reed) He's doing very well.'"

CBS reports that Reid's remarks on the Senate floor came after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., read a letter from Dole pushing for the Congress to pass the Convention of Persons with Disabilities (referenced above as CPRD), which would expand rights for disabled persons. Dole's arm was shattered during World War II, and he has been a champion of rights for disabled Americans.

Dole represented his home state of Kansas in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1996, after representing Kansas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1969. He was the Republican presidential candidate in 1996, losing to Bill Clinton, and the 1976 vice presidential nominee, running as President Gerald Ford's running mate.