storied love affair for the ages and daughter from a previous marriage, robin. i love you, dad i promise you will never walk alone that you never walk alone. reporter: his casket then driven to the world war ii memorial he helped create. a memorial to peace, he said. and to the half million soldiers unlike him who did not return he was never able again to button his shirt or sign his name as he had. he saluted, and he made your acquaintance with his left hand. reporter: family friend savannah guthrie. he stood for principal. he stood for dignity and even when he couldn t stand any longer, at the casket of an old friend, who could forget, still he stood out of respect and out of honor taps is now sounding for this soldier of america but we know, as long as we see each other not as enemies but as
an emotional tribute today for bob dole president biden and both parties coming together for the funeral. the long-time senator and former gop presidential nominee and moving words from tom hanks and our own savannah guthrie here s andrea mitchell. reporter: at washington s national cathedral, a celebration to honor the long life of robert j dole. god, what courage bob dole had reporter: grievously wounded in battle but resilient a political warrior who believed in compromise, mentor to a freshman democrat named joe biden. we disagreed, but we were never disagreeable with one another. i found bob to be a man of principal, pragmatism and enormous integrity. reporter: his wife of nearly 46 years, former senator and cabinet member elizabeth dole, and a