President Biden orders flags be flown at half-staff through Dec. 9 to honor the late Bob Dole

President Joe Biden ordered flags to be flown at half-staff through Thursday to honor the late Republican Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who passed away on Sunday.

Biden said in a proclamation that all flags at the White House, all public grounds, and military posts in the country will be flown at half-staff through Thursday.

“As a mark of respect for Robert Joseph Dole, a statesman like few in our history and a war hero among the greatest of the Greatest Generation…the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on December 9.2021,” the president said in his statement.

“I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations,” he continued.

Dole was a former senator and presidential candidate, and he passed early on Sunday morning at 98-years-old. Dole’s Family released a statement announcing his death on Twitter: “It is with heavy hearts we announce that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning in his sleep. At his death, at age 98, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years.”

Biden, in an earlier message, stated again that Dole was one of the “greatest in the Greatest Generation.” He said, “Bob was an American statesman like few in our history. A war hero and among the greatest of the Greatest Generation. And to me, he was also just a friend whom I could look to for trusted guidance, or a humorous line at just the right moment to settle frayed nerves.”

The president continued, “I will miss my friend. But I am grateful for the times we shared, and for the friendship Jill and I and our family have built with Liddy and the entire Dole family.”