Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole will be back in Kansas this week for an open house and reception at the political institute that bears his name.

“I’m not running for anything,” Dole said in a statement announcing his visit. “I just want to see old friends and meet new ones, regardless of party. I am looking forward to visiting with everyone at the Dole Institute and being back in my home state of Kansas.”

Dole will be at the institute Tuesday, April 22. Doors open to the public at 10 a.m. An open house reception is scheduled for 11 a.m. to noon. The event is free and open to the public.

Dole, who will be 91 in June, represented Kansas in the Senate for 27 years starting in 1969 and is considered among the most influential Washington politicians of the late 20th century.

As chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee during Ronald Reagan’s first term as president, he was instrumental in steering the conservative president’s budget policies through Congress. He also served stints as the Republican leader in the Senate, both from the minority and majority positions. He resigned from the Senate in 1996 after securing the GOP presidential nomination to run against then-president Bill Clinton.

A native of Russell, Dole first came to Kansas University as a student in 1941. But he enlisted in the Army the next year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, rising to the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the storied 10th Mountain Division. He was gravely wounded during battle in Italy and never recovered full use of his right arm.

He was first elected to Congress in 1960 and served five terms in the U.S. House. Following the retirement of long-time Sen. Frank Carlson in 1968, he ran for that open seat and defeated then-Gov. William Avery in the GOP primary.

Throughout his career Dole has been known for his quick and often acerbic wit. He is the author of two books on political humor. His first, “Great Political Wit: Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House,” is a collection of political jokes and anecdotes. The second, “Great Political Wit: I Wish I was in the Book,” reflects on the political humor – or lack thereof – of the nation’s presidents.

But Dole has also poked fun at himself. For example, he was one of the early test subjects for the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra and appeared in TV commercials for the drug, later quipping: “Only a Republican would think the best part of Viagra is the fact that you can make money off it.”

And his habit of referring to himself in the third person was the subject of frequent Saturday Night Live parodies. Dole often explained he just thought it would help people remember his name.

Dole retired from politics following the 1996 loss to Clinton, but he and his wife Elizabeth both remained active in Republican politics. Elizabeth Dole served as Transportation Secretary under Reagan, and Labor Secretary under President George H.W. Bush. She also served one term in the Senate representing North Carolina from 2003 to 2009.

In his retirement, Dole founded the Dole Institute of Politics at KU, which was dedicated on his 80th birthday, June 22, 2003. Its mission is “to promote political and civic participation as well as civil discourse in a bi-partisan, balanced manner.”