Elizabeth Hanford Dole Federal Trade Commission Papers, 1973-1979 | Dole Archive Collections

Title: Elizabeth Hanford Dole Federal Trade Commission Papers, 1973-1979

ID: 01/046

Extent: 19.0 Linear Feet

Arrangement

Creators

Administrative/Biographical History

Elizabeth Hanford Dole was born Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford on July 29, 1936, in Salisbury, North Carolina. She graduated from Duke University in 1958, earned a master’s degree in education from Harvard in 1960, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1965.

Dole began her career in administration at the age of 29, when she began working for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and for the Office of Consumer Affairs. She was promoted under the Nixon administration to Executive Director of the President’s Committee for Consumer Interests, and in 1973, appointed to the Federal Trade Commission. On December 6, 1975, she married Senator Bob Dole. The following year, Dole took a leave of absence from the FTC to campaign for her husband, who was running on the Republican presidential ticket with Gerald Ford. She served as a Federal Trade Commissioner until 1979, when she resigned to campaign for Bob Dole’s 1980 presidential bid.

She served as Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison from 1981 to 1983, when she was nominated and confirmed as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Dole is the first woman to have served as Cabinet Secretary of two federal departments under two different presidents (Transportation 1983-87, Ronald Reagan; Labor 1989-90, George H.W. Bush). She served as the second female President of the American Red Cross from 1991 to 1998, the first woman to hold the position since founder Clara Barton in 1881. Senator Dole ran for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential race. Though

Senator Dole performed well in polling across the United States, she withdrew from the race in October 1999. Senator Dole quickly backed George W. Bush in his campaign and was vetted as a potential running mate after Bush won the Republican nomination in August 2000. After Senator Jesse Helms announced his retirement in August 2001, Dole began her campaign to fill his Senate seat during the 2002 election. Dole’s campaign was a success, defeating Democrat Erskine Bowles, making her the first woman to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate. Senator Dole served in Congress from Janurary 3, 2003 to Janurary 3, 2009. In 2012, Dole founded the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, which empowers, supports, and honors America’s military caregivers.

Administrative Information

Restrictions: Some materials within the Dole Archive are restricted because of their sensitive nature or because they contain personal or confidential information. These records are protected by federal laws such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Examples of restricted records are personnel files, medical records, financial records, and any materials containing personal information such as addresses and social security numbers. Restricted materials are identified at the box and/or folder level within the finding aid. Questions about these materials may be directed to the Senior Archivist of the Dole Archives. The casework files in the collection have been retained but are restricted indefinitely. Access may be allowed on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Dole Archives and only after a proposal has been reviewed and approved by the University of Kansas Human Subjects Committee.

Rights: Copyright restrictions apply in different ways to different kinds of materials. Many of the documents and other historical materials in the Archive are in the public domain and may be reproduced and used in any way. Senator Dole has not donated his copyright interest in his papers and other historical materials to the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics. Permission to publish must be obtained from him or his designee. There are other materials in the library carrying a copyright interest that must be used according to the provisions of Title 17 of the U.S. Code. The Archive issues a warning concerning copyright restrictions to every researcher who requests copies of documents. Although the copyright law is under constant redefinition in the courts, it is ultimately the responsibility of the researcher to properly use copyrighted materials.

Access Notes: Some materials within the Elizabeth Hanford Dole Presidential Papers are too large to be properly stored with the materials they arrived with. These larger materials are stored within an oversized box, and their original locations are marked by a surrogate folder.

Collection Material Type: Personal Papers

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Scope and Contents: The Elizabeth Hanford Dole Federal Trade Commission Papers include materials related to Senator Dole’s career with the FTC. The bulk of materials pertain to Sen. Dole’s service as an FTC Commissioner from 1973 to 1979 and are represented by correspondence; speeches delivered as a representative of the FTC, documents, and files related to subjects of interest to the FTC. Materials outside of the bulk dates but are related to Sen. Dole’s tenure as an FTC Commissioner involve communications and press related to Sen. Dole’s appointment to the FTC and press related to Sen. Dole’s lasting impact on the FTC after leaving the Commission in 1979 to assist her husband, Senator Bob Dole, with his 1980 presidential campaign.

Senator Elizabeth Dole’s work with Senator Bob Dole in his 1976 Vice Presidential bid has been excluded from this collection, as Senator Elizabeth Dole took a leave of absence to make time for the campaign and to avoid conflicts of interest. Materials that land in a “grey area” due to time, or subject, as Sen. Dole transitioned from the FTC to the 1976 and then back, will be reviewed and placed into the 1976 Campaign collection, unless those materials are inseparable from FTC materials via context or original order, like alphabetized correspondence that covers the totality of Sen. Dole’s FTC career.