Dan Quayle

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James Danforth Quayle
44th Vice President of the United States
In office 20 January 1989 – 20 January 1993
President	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	George H. W. Bush
Succeeded by	Al Gore
United States Senator from Indiana
In office 3 January 1981 – 3 January 1989
Preceded by	Birch Bayh
Succeeded by	Dan Coats
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th District
In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	J. Edward Roush
Succeeded by	Dan Coats
Born	February 4 1947 (1947-02-04) (age 62) Indianapolis, Indiana
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Marilyn Tucker Quayle
Alma mater	Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis and DePauw University

James Danforth^[1][2] "Dan" Quayle (born February 4 1947) is an American politician and a former Senator from the state of Indiana. He was the forty-fourth Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush (1989–1993).

Early life

Quayle was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Martha Corinne Pulliam and James C. Quayle. He has often been incorrectly referred to as James Danforth Quayle III. In his memoirs, he points out that his birth name was simply James Danforth Quayle. The name Quayle originates from the Isle of Man.^[3]

His maternal grandfather, Eugene C. Pulliam, was a wealthy and influential publishing magnate who founded Central Newspapers, Inc., owner of over a dozen major newspapers such as the Arizona Republic and The Indianapolis Star. James C. Quayle moved his family to Arizona in 1955 to run a branch of the family's publishing empire. While the Quayle family was very wealthy, Dan Quayle was less so; his total net worth by the time of his election in 1988 was less than a million dollars.^[4]

After spending much of his youth in Arizona, he graduated from Huntington High School in Huntington, Indiana, in 1965. He then matriculated at DePauw University, where he received his B.A. degree in political science in 1969, and where he was a member of the fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon. After receiving his degree, Quayle joined the Indiana Army National Guard and served from 1969–1975, attaining the rank of Sergeant. While serving in the Guard, he earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1974 at Indiana University School of Law Indianapolis. It was at law school where Dan met his wife, Marilyn, who was taking night classes at the time. They married ten weeks later on November 18, 1972 and have three children: Tucker, Benjamin, and Corinne.

Quayle's public service began in July 1971 when he became an investigator for the Consumer Protection Division of the Indiana Attorney General's Office. Later that year, he became an administrative assistant to Governor Edgar Whitcomb. From 1973 to 1974, he was the Director of the Inheritance Tax Division of the Indiana Department of Revenue. Upon receiving his law degree, Quayle worked as associate publisher of his family's newspaper, the Huntington Herald-Press, and practiced law with his wife in Huntington.

Early political career

In 1976, Quayle was elected to the U.S. Congress from Indiana's Fourth Congressional District, defeating eight-term incumbent Democrat J. Edward Roush. He won reelection in 1978 by the greatest percentage margin ever achieved to that date in the northeast Indiana district. In 1980, at age 33, Quayle became the youngest person ever elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Indiana, defeating three-term incumbent Democrat Birch Bayh. Making Indiana political history again, Quayle was reelected to the Senate in 1986 with the largest margin ever achieved to that date by a candidate in a statewide Indiana race. His 1986 victory was notable because several other Republican Senators elected in 1980 were not returned to office.

In 1986, Quayle received much criticism from his fellow Senators for championing the cause of Daniel Manion, a candidate for a federal appellate judgeship, who was in law school one year above Quayle.^[5] The American Bar Association had evaluated him as qualified, its lowest passing grade.^[6] Manion was nominated for U. S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit by President Ronald Reagan on February 21 1986, and confirmed by the Senate on June 26 1986. As of 2008, Manion continues to serve on the Seventh Circuit.

Vice Presidency

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At the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, George H. W. Bush called on Quayle to be his running mate in the general election. Quayle was chosen to appeal to a younger generation of Americans and his good looks were praised by Senator John McCain, who said "I can't believe a guy that handsome wouldn't have some impact."

This decision was criticized by many who felt that Quayle did not have enough experience to be President should something happen to Bush. Questions were raised about Quayle's use of family connections to get into the Indiana National Guard and thus avoid possible combat service in the Vietnam War.^[7] Although Republicans were trailing by up to 15 points in public opinion polls taken prior to the convention, they received a significant boost that put them in the lead, which they did not relinquish for the rest of the campaign.

There was much criticism of Quayle after the campaign's televised vice-presidential debate, in which he compared his amount of Congressional experience to that of John F. Kennedy when he was running for president. Democratic candidate Lloyd Bentsen said in rebuttal, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy," to which a noticeably surprised and unprepared Quayle replied, "That was really uncalled for, Senator," as both applause and boos were heard from the debate audience. Bentsen replied that it was Quayle who had made the initial comparison. Quayle, as mentioned, did not actually compare himself to Kennedy, only - accurately - his Congressional experience. However commentators afterward said that he at the very least "invited" a comparison between himself and the 35th President, and thus left himself vulnerable to Bentsen's famous response. His reaction to Bentsen's comment was played and replayed by the Democrats in their subsequent television ads as an announcer intoned: "Quayle: just a heartbeat away." Comedians riffed on the exchange, and an increasing number of editorial cartoons depicted Quayle as an infant or child. Though the controversy generated much press, public opinion polls did not significantly change, and the Republicans maintained a solid lead. Although Quayle was significantly embarrassed by the incident, in his version of events, he contended that he had accomplished what he had planned in the debate; which was to scorn the "liberal" record of Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, while avoiding direct comparison with the far more accomplished and polished Bentsen.

The Bush/Quayle ticket went on to win the November election by a 53-46 margin, but sweeping 40 states and capturing 426 electoral votes.

On February 9 1989 President Bush named Quayle head of the Council on Competitiveness. In contrast with his two immediate successors, Vice Presidents Gore and Cheney, Quayle had a limited role in policymaking.

Throughout his time as Vice President, Quayle was widely ridiculed in the media and by many in the general public, in both the USA and overseas, as an intellectual lightweight.^[8] For example, Quayle received the satirical Ig Nobel Prize for "demonstrating, better than anyone else, the need for science education" in 1991. Critics facetiously remarked that Quayle was a good reason for even Bush's critics to pray for Bush's health and that he was the only Vice President who made his President "impeachment-proof."

Contributing greatly to the perception of Quayle's incompetence was his tendency to make public statements which were either self-contradictory ("We don't want to go back to tomorrow, we want to go forward"), logically redundant ("The future will be better tomorrow"), obvious ("For NASA, space is still a high priority"), geographically wrong ("I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix."), fallacious ("It's time for the human race to enter the solar system"),^[9][10] or painfully confused and inappropriate, as when he addressed the United Negro College Fund, whose slogan is "A mind is a terrible thing to waste," Quayle said "You take the United Negro College Fund model that what a waste it is to lose one's mind or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."^[11]

As Vice President, Quayle was the first chairman of the National Space Council, a space policy body reestablished by statute in 1988. Shortly after Bush announced the Space Exploration Initiative, which included a manned landing on Mars, Quayle was asked his thoughts on sending humans to Mars. His response was stunning for the number of errors he made in just a few short sentences. "Mars is essentially in the same orbit [as earth]....Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."^[12]

His most famous blunder occurred when he corrected a student's correct spelling of "potato" to "potatoe" at an elementary school spelling bee in Trenton, New Jersey, on June 15, 1992.^[13] According to his memoirs, Quayle was uncomfortable with the version he gave, but did so because he decided to trust what he described as incorrect written materials provided by the school. He informed student William Figueroa that he had misspelled the word "potato", when in fact Figueroa had spelled it correctly. Quayle then had Figueroa add an "e", not only making it incorrect, but once again making himself a target with this obvious misspelling. Quayle was widely lambasted for his apparent inability to spell the word "potato." Figueroa was a guest on Late Night with David Letterman and was asked to lead the pledge of allegiance at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. The event became a lasting part of Quayle's reputation.

On May 19, 1992, Quayle gave a speech to the Commonwealth Club of California on the subject of the Los Angeles riots. In this speech Quayle blamed the violence on a decay of moral values and family structure in American society. In an aside, he cited the fictional title character in the television program Murphy Brown as an example of how popular culture contributes to this "poverty of values", saying: "[i]t doesn't help matters when primetime TV has Murphy Brown—a character who supposedly epitomizes today's intelligent, highly paid, professional woman—mocking the importance of fathers, by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another 'lifestyle choice.'" Quayle drew a firestorm of criticism from feminist and liberal organizations and was widely ridiculed by late-night talk-show hosts for this remark. The "Murphy Brown speech" became one of the most memorable incidents of the 1992 campaign. Long after the outcry had ended, the comment continued to have an effect on U.S. politics. Stephanie Coontz, a professor of family history and the author of several books and essays about the history of marriage, says that this brief remark by Quayle about Murphy Brown "kicked off more than a decade of outcries against the 'collapse of the family.'"^[14] In 2002, Candice Bergen, the actress who played Brown, said "I never have really said much about the whole episode, which was endless, but his speech was a perfectly intelligent speech about fathers not being dispensable and nobody agreed with that more than I did."^[15]

However, Bergen's June 23, 1998, response, published in an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times, was more direct. The full text of her response read as follows:

The first time my name appeared in The New York Times linked with Dan Quayle's -- when he accused the character I played, Murphy Brown, of glamorizing out-of-wedlock pregnancy -- I decided not to reply. I had no desire to heap ridicule and scorn on the Office of the Vice President, especially when Mr. Quayle seemed to be doing a fine job of that all by himself. But this latest broadside from the Quayle camp is too much to let pass. Lisa Schiffren (Op-Ed, June 12), a former speechwriter for Mr. Quayle, misused several quotes from an interview I did with the Los Angeles Times to suggest that I was admitting that Mr. Quayle was a lone visionary whose speech had been right all along. She quotes me as saying that family values "was the right theme to hammer home," that "I agreed with all of it except his references to the show," and that "the body of the speech was completely sound." Since that quote serves as the crux of her argument, let me print what she left out: "it was an arrogant and uninformed posture, but the body of the speech was completely sound." In fact, Mr. Quayle hurled an accusation at a show he had never seen in an effort to turn it into a political Monday Night Football. At no point did "Murphy Brown" glamorize single motherhood or disparage the role of a father in raising a child. Ms. Schiffren is now a "full-time mother of two and an occasional writer." Not every woman has the luxury to make that choice. Perhaps next time she'll put her talent toward a candidate who would work to eliminate that problem.^[16]

1992 election

During the 1992 election, Bush and Quayle were challenged in their bid for reelection by the Democratic ticket of Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and Tennessee Senator Al Gore, as well as the independent ticket of Texas businessman H. Ross Perot and retired Admiral James Stockdale.

As Bush lagged in the polls in the weeks preceding the August 1992 Republican National Convention, some Republican strategists (led by Secretary of State James Baker III), viewed Quayle as a liability to the ticket and pushed for his replacement.^[17] Quayle survived the challenge and secured re-nomination.^[18]

Quayle faced off against Gore and Stockdale in the vice-presidential debate on October 13, 1992. Quayle attempted to avoid the one-sided outcome of his debate with Lloyd Bentsen four years earlier by staying on the offensive. Quayle criticized Gore's book Earth in the Balance with specific page references, though his claims were subsequently criticized for inaccuracy.^[19] Quayle's closing argument sharply asked voters "Do you really believe Bill Clinton will tell the truth?" and "Do you trust Bill Clinton to be your president?", whereas Gore and Stockdale talked more about the policies and philosophies they espoused.^[20] Republicans loyalists were largely relieved and pleased with Quayle's performance, and the Vice President's camp attempted to portray it as an upset triumph against a veteran debater. However, post-debate polls were mixed on whether Gore or Quayle had won.^[21] Like most vice-presidential debates, it ultimately proved to be a minor factor in the election, which Bush and Quayle would subsequently lose.

Quayle's presence on the ticket in 1992 was not viewed as a significant cause of Bush's defeat, leaving the possibility open for a future bid for national office. In fact, during the Bush/Quayle term in office, an increase in income tax rates was supported by Bush, in clear contradiction to his much vaunted earlier pledge of "no new taxes" . This contributed to the erosion of support for re-election of the Republican ticket in 1992. In later interviews and memoirs, those included in the decision to support an increase in taxes stated that Quayle was the most vocal opponent.

Post-vice presidency

Quayle considered but decided not to run for Governor of Indiana in 1994.

He pulled out of his bid for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination, citing health problems related to phlebitis.

In April 1999, he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for 2000, attacking George W. Bush by saying "we do not want another candidate who needs on-the-job training". In the first contest among the Republican candidates, the Ames Straw Poll of August 1999, he finished eighth. Commentators said that while he had the most political experience among prospective candidates (over Bush and Elizabeth Dole) and potential grassroots support among conservatives, his campaign was hampered by the legacy of his vice-presidency. He withdrew from the race the following month and supported Bush.

It was reported in the May 5, 2007 New York Times in an article about a lawsuit filed by Greg LeMond against Timothy Blixseth, that Dan Quayle and Bill Gates both have homes in the ultra-exclusive Yellowstone Club, a Rocky Mountain ski and golf club located just north of Yellowstone National Park in Montana. Lots at the club cost in range of $2 million to $10 million; about 85 houses are built there and cost from $3 million to $10 million; annual dues are $16,000.^[22]

Dan Quayle is Chairman of an international division of Cerberus Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm, and president of Quayle and Associates. He is an Honorary Trustee Emeritus of the Hudson Institute.

Quayle also authored his memoir, Standing Firm, which became a bestseller. His second book, The American Family: Discovering the Values that Make Us Strong, was published in the spring of 1996 and a third book, Worth Fighting For, was published in 1999. Quayle also writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column, serves on a number of corporate boards, chairs several business ventures, and was chairman of Campaign America, a national political action committee. As chairman of the international advisory board of Cerberus Capital Management, he recruited former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney who would have been installed as chairman if Cerberus had successfully acquired Air Canada.

The Quayles live in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Dan Quayle signed the statement of principles of the Project for the New American Century.

Quayle is the only vice president (without having become president) to have a museum, The Dan Quayle Center and Museum in Huntington, Indiana. The museum features information on Quayle and all U.S. vice presidents.

As of 2008, Quayle is the only living former vice president never to have received his party's nomination for the presidency. (Walter Mondale was nominated by his party in 1984, George H. W. Bush in 1988 and 1992, and Al Gore in 2000. Since 1952, only two other U.S. vice presidents have not gone on to be nominated for the presidency: Spiro Agnew, who was the heir-apparent to Richard Nixon, but was indicted and resigned in disgrace in 1973; and Nelson Rockefeller, who died two years after his term ended.) Dick Cheney will become another US Vice President who as of yet has not received the nomination of his party when he leaves office on January 20, 2009.

Electoral history

• 1976 Race for U.S. House of Representatives — 4th District
  • Dan Quayle (R), 54%
  • Ed Roush (D) (inc.), 45%

• 1978 Race for U.S. House of Representatives — 4th District
  • Dan Quayle (R) (inc.)

• 1980 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Dan Quayle (R), 54%
  • Birch Bayh (D) (inc.), 46%

• 1986 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Dan Quayle (R) (inc.), 61%
  • Jill Long (D), 39%

• 1988 Presidential Race
  • Bush/Quayle (R), 53% (426 Electoral Votes)
  • Dukakis/Bentsen (D), 46% (111 Electoral Votes)

• 1992 Presidential Race
  • Clinton/Gore (D), 43% (370 Electoral Votes)
  • Bush/Quayle (R), 37% (168 Electoral Votes)
  • Perot/Stockdale (I), 19% (0 Electoral Votes)

Published material

• Worth Fighting For, W Publishing Group, July 1999, ISBN 0-8499-1606-2
• Standing Firm: A Vice-Presidential Memoir, Harper Collins, May 1994. hardcover, ISBN 0-06-017758-6; mass market paperback, May, 1995; ISBN 0-06-109390-4; Limited edition, 1994, ISBN 0-06-017601-6

Footnotes

Further reading

• What a Waste It Is to Lose One's Mind: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Dan Quayle, Quayle Quarterly (published by Rose Communications), April 1992, ISBN 0-9629162-2-6
• Joe Queenan, Imperial Caddy: The Rise of Dan Quayle in America and the Decline and Fall of Practically Everything Else, Hyperion Books; October 1992 (1st edition). ISBN 1-56282-939-4
• Richard F. Fenno, Jr. , The Making of a Senator: Dan Quayle, Congressional Quarterly Press, January 1989. ISBN 0-87187-506-3

External links

• Dan Quayle at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Dan Quayle at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Dan Quayle Site
• Campaign contributions made by Dan Quayle
• Speech to the Commonwealth Club of California ("Murphy Brown speech")
• List of Quayle Quotations
• Vice Presidential Museum at the Dan Quayle Center
• nndb
• Cerberus Capital Management LP
• Genealogy of the family of J. Danforth Quayle

v • d • e Cabinet of President George H. W. Bush (1989 – 1993)
Vice President	Dan Quayle (1989 – 1993)
Secretary of State	James Baker (1989 – 1992) • Lawrence Eagleburger (1992 – 1993)
Secretary of the Treasury	Nicholas F. Brady (1989 – 1993)
Secretary of Defense	Dick Cheney (1989 – 1993)
Attorney General	Dick Thornburgh (1989 – 1991) • William Barr (1991 – 1993)
Secretary of the Interior	Manuel Lujan, Jr. (1989 – 1993)
Secretary of the Agriculture	Clayton K. Yeutter (1989 – 1991) • Edward Madigan (1991 – 1993)
Secretary of Commerce	Robert Mosbacher (1989 – 1992) • Barbara Hackman Franklin (1992 – 1993)
Secretary of Labor	Elizabeth Dole (1989 – 1990) • Lynn Morley Martin (1990 – 1993)
Secretary of Health and Human Services	Louis Wade Sullivan (1989 – 1993)
Secretary of Education	Lauro Cavazos (1989 – 1990) • Lamar Alexander (1991 – 1993)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Jack Kemp (1989 – 1993)
Secretary of Transportation	Samuel K. Skinner (1989 – 1992) • Andrew Card (1992 - 1993)
Secretary of Energy	James D. Watkins (1989 – 1993)
Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Ed Derwinski (1998 – 1992)

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