Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole will deliver his first lecture at the institute that bears his name later this month.

Dole will speak at 4 p.m. April 26 at the Dole Institute of Politics. The lecture is part of his national tour to promote his new book, “One Soldier’s Story.”

6News video: Dole to speak at KU Bob Dole recounts his story as soldier (04-10-05)

“It’s so powerful and so important for everybody to understand what he went through,” said institute Director Bill Lacy. “It’s a message that crosses generations. It’s about perseverance and overcoming obstacles.”

The lecture is the second annual Dole Lecture sponsored by the institute. The first was in 2004 when former President Bill Clinton came to Allen Fieldhouse. Dole introduced Clinton at the speech.

Free tickets to the lecture became available Tuesday. The institute’s Hansen Hall, where Dole will be speaking, holds 300 people, with 125 people allowed in an overflow room in the Simons Family Media Center. The lecture also will be shown on a big screen outside the Dole Institute on the Kansas University west campus.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, 170 tickets already had been distributed.

Dole will sign copies of his book after the lecture. The lecture also will be followed by a picnic outside the Dole Institute.

Dole served 28 years in the U.S. Senate, rising to the rank of Senate majority leader. He also was the 1996 Republican nominee for president.