Dole gives final speech in Senate

Sen. Elizabeth Dole gave her farewell address on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

The North Carolina Republican used her final floor speech to pay tribute to many mentors, beginning with several family members such as her grandmother, whom she called Mom Cathey, her parents, siblings and nephews, Lisa Zagaroli reports.

Dole thanked several presidents as well: Richard Nixon for her years on the Federal Trade Commission, Ronald Reagan for her appointment as secretary of transportation, and George H.W. Bush for her job as secretary of labor.

"We've worked hard," she said in thanking her Senate staff. "We had some fun along the way too. And we made a positive difference for North Carolina and America."

Of her husband, Bob, the former senator from Kansas, she said he was a constant example that "a leader should have not only a strong backbone, but also a funny bone."

"I could never have dreamed of the people I've been privileged to meet, the jobs I've been privileged to hold or the issues I've been privileged to influence," said Dole, who lost her re-election bid to Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat.

Quoting Theodore Roosevelt about working hard at "work worth doing," Dole said, "While I don't know what awaits me in life's journey, what will come next, I pray that I'll find a way to continue to work hard at work worth doing."