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

President Biden has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff through Dec. 9 to honor late Kansas Sen. Bob Dole (R), who died on Sunday.

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

"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," Biden said in his statement.

Dole, a former senator and presidential candidate, died early Sunday at the age of 98.

"It is with heavy hearts we announce that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning in his sleep," Dole's family said in a statement. "At his death, at age 98, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years."

In an earlier statement, Biden referred to Dole as "among the greatest of the Greatest Generation."

"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 a friend whom I could look to for trusted guidance, or a humorous line at just the right moment to settle frayed nerves. 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," Biden said.

"Bob was a man to be admired by Americans. He had an unerring sense of integrity and honor. May God bless him, and may our nation draw upon his legacy of decency, dignity, good humor, and patriotism for all time," Biden added.