Bob Dole
In October 1995, Dole and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich led the Republican-controlled Congress to pass a spending bill. President Clinton vetoed this bill. More disagreements between the Clinton administration and Republicans caused the federal government shutdown from 1995 to 1996. The next month, Republican and Democratic leaders, including Vice President Al Gore, Dick Armey, and Dole, met to try to fix the budget and were unable to reach an agreement. By January 1996, Dole was more open to talk about ending the shutdown, but was not supported by other Republicans who wanted the shutdown to continue. Gingrich and Dole had a hard time working together. Many people thought that both of them might want to run for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination.