April 10, 1995 - Dole formally announces candidacy for 1996 presidential election. Dole wins the Republican Party nomination to run against incumbent President Bill Clinton.

June 1996 - Resigns from the Senate to concentrate on the presidential campaign.

August 1996 - Dole selects Jack Kemp as running mate.

November 1996 - Loses to Bill Clinton and Al Gore, receiving 159 of 538 of the Electoral College votes and 41% of the popular vote.

January 1997 - President Clinton awards Dole the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2001 - Undergoes successful abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery.

2003-present - Special Counsel with the Washington office of the law firm Alston & Bird.

2003-present - President of Bob Dole Enterprises Inc., a company formed to handle his "personal business interests" including his lobbyist efforts.

January 11, 2005 - Falls at home. Serious injuries require hospitalization for more than a month. The existent of the injuries and the fact that they were life-threatening is unknown to the public for several months.

March 6, 2007 - Along with former health secretary Donna Shalala, Dole is named by President Bush to co-head a bipartisan commission investigating problems at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The nine-member commission is tasked with delivering suggestions for improving the military's health care system later in the year.

October 2008 - Dole wins the 2008 World Food Prize along with former Sen. George McGovern. They are honored for creating the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in 2000, which feeds children in 41 countries.

July 2009 - Dole receives a skin graft on his leg after open sores are discovered during a stay at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Prior to the surgery, Dole had been hospitalized at Walter Reed due to an elevated heart rate.

February-October 2010 - Hospitalized at Walter Reed for treatment of pneumonia while recovering from knee surgery.

January 13, 2011 - Is released from Walter Reed after receiving treatment for a minor infection that led to a fever. This is his second hospital release in less than a week.

April 12, 2011 - Is honored at a plaque dedication ceremony at the World War II Memorial.

March 22, 2012 - Senators Bob Dole and Howard Baker are honored at Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC by the Bipartisan Policy Center for their combined service of 100 years.

November 27, 2012 - It is announced on the Senate floor that Dole is hospitalized at Walter Reed. He is discharged the next day.