When Elizabeth Dole, Mr. Dole’s widow, entered the cathedral, she stopped to shake hands with Mr. Biden.
Mr. Biden spoke of Mr. Dole’s combativeness, both on the battlefield during World War II and in the halls of Congress.
“He could be partisan, and that was fine,” Mr. Biden said. “Americans have been partisan since Jefferson and Hamilton squared off in George Washington’s cabinet. But like them, Bob Dole was a patriot.”
Mr. Biden, who shortly after his inauguration visited the Doles at their Washington home after Mr. Dole learned he had lung cancer, spoke of traveling to Normandy with the Senate staple for the 50th anniversary of D-Day.
Mr. Biden told the audience a story of Mr. Dole helping a “fallen comrade” as they took on gunfire.
“There’s something that connects that past and present,” Mr. Biden said. “Wartime and peace. Then and now. The courage, the grit, the goodness and the grace. A second lieutenant named Bob Dole became Congressman Dole, Senator Dole, statesman, husband, father, friend.”