Dan Quayle

Dan Quayle
44th Vice President of the United States
In office January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
President	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	George H. W. Bush
Succeeded by	Al Gore
United States Senator from Indiana
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 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
Personal details
Born	James Danforth Quayle (1947-02-04) February 4, 1947 (age 65) Indianapolis, Indiana
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Marilyn Quayle
Children	Tucker Quayle Ben Quayle Corinne Quayle
Residence	Paradise Valley, Arizona
Alma mater	DePauw University and Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law
Occupation	Jurist Politician
Religion	Presbyterian
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	U. S. National Guard
Years of service	1969–1975
Rank	Sergeant
Unit	Indiana

James Danforth "Dan" Quayle ( /ˈkweɪl/; born February 4, 1947)^[1][2] served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush (1989–1993). He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana.

Quayle was born in Indianapolis but spent most of his childhood living in Arizona. He married Marilyn Tucker in 1972 and obtained his J.D. from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 1974. He practiced law in Huntington, Indiana with his wife before being elected to the United States Congress in 1976, aged 29. In 1980, Quayle was elected to the Senate.

In 1988, Vice President George H. W. Bush was nominated for the presidency by the Republican Party and asked his party to nominate Quayle as his vice presidential running mate. Although this choice was met with some dismay, the Bush/Quayle ticket won the 1988 election over Democrats Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen. As vice president, Quayle made official visits to 47 countries and was appointed chairman of the National Space Council. He secured re-nomination for vice-president in 1992 but the Bush/Quayle ticket was defeated by Democrat Bill Clinton and his vice-presidential running mate, Al Gore.

In 1996, he published his memoirs entitled Standing Firm but declined to run for public office in this time period due to being afflicted by phlebitis. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, but withdrew and supported George W. Bush. Quayle and his wife currently reside in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

One of his sons, Ben Quayle, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010.

Early life

Quayle was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Martha Corinne (née Pulliam) and James Cline 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, where his great-grandfather was born.^[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,^{[citation needed]} Dan Quayle was less so; his total net worth by the time of his election in 1988 was less than $1 million.^[4]

After spending much of his youth in Arizona,^{[citation needed]} 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 (Psi Phi chapter). 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 Robert H. McKinney School of Law. At law school, he met his future wife, Marilyn, who was taking night classes at the time.

Early political career

Official Portrait of Vice President Dan Quayle

Quayle became an investigator for the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Indiana Attorney General in July 1971. 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.

In 1976, Quayle was elected by a wide margin to the House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th congressional district, defeating eight-term incumbent Democrat J. Edward Roush by a 55%-to-45% margin. He won reelection in 1978 by the greatest percentage margin achieved to date in that northeast Indiana district. In 1980, at age 33, Quayle became the youngest person ever elected to the Senate from the state of Indiana, defeating three-term incumbent Democrat Birch Bayh by 54%-to-46%. 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, easily defeating his Democratic opponent, Jill Long with 61%. His 1986 victory was notable because several other Republican Senators elected in 1980 were not returned to office.

In 1986, Quayle was criticized for championing the cause of Daniel Anthony 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] According to the ABA, "the rating of 'qualified' means that the nominee satisfies the committee's very high standards... (and) is qualified to perform satisfactorily all the duties and responsibilities required of a federal judge."^[7] 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 2012^[update], Manion continues to serve on the Seventh Circuit.

Vice Presidential candidate

On August 17, 1988 at the Republican convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, George H. W. Bush called on Quayle to be his running mate in the 1988 United States presidential election. The choice immediately became controversial.^[8] Press coverage of the convention was dominated with questions about "the three Quayle problems", in the phrase of Brent Baker, executive director of the Media Research Center, a conservative group that monitors television coverage.^[9] The questions involved his military service, a golf trip to Florida with Paula Parkinson, and whether he had enough experience to be President. Quayle seemed at times rattled and at other times uncertain or evasive as he tried to handle the questions.^[9] Delegates to the convention generally blamed television and newspapers for the focus on Quayle's problems, but Bush's staff said they thought Quayle had mishandled the questions about his military record, leaving questions dangling.^[8][9][10] Although Republicans were trailing by up to 15 points in public opinion polls taken before the convention, they received a significant boost that put them in the lead,^{[citation needed]} which they did not relinquish for the rest of the campaign.

Quayle participated in the vice-presidential debate of October 1988, alongside Democratic candidate Lloyd Bentsen. When the subject of the debate turned to Quayle's relatively limited experience in public life, he compared the length of his congressional service with that of former President John F. Kennedy. Bentsen's response — "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" — subsequently become a part of the political lexicon.

Vice Presidency

Vice President Quayle bust from the Senate collection, the latest addition to the Vice Presidential bust collection

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

Bush named Quayle head of the Council on Competitiveness and the first chairman of the National Space Council. As head of the NSC he called for greater efforts to protect Earth against the danger of potential asteroid impacts.^[11]

During his vice-presidency, Dan Quayle made official trips to 47 countries.

Throughout his time as vice president, Quayle was widely ridiculed in the media and by many in the general public, in both the U.S. and overseas, as an intellectual lightweight and generally incompetent.^[12] Contributing greatly to the perception of Quayle's incompetence was his tendency to make public statements that were either self-contradictory and confused ("The holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history.… No, not our nation's, but in World War II. I mean, we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century, but in this century's history"), impossible and confused ("I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future") or simply confused, as when he addressed the United Negro College Fund, whose slogan is "A mind is a terrible thing to waste," and said, "You take the UNCF 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."^[13]

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. In his response he made a number of loose statements that could be strictly considered as errors: "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."^[14]

His most famous blunder occurred when he altered 12 year old student William Figueroa's correct spelling of "potato" to "potatoe" at the Munoz Rivera Elementary School spelling bee in Trenton, New Jersey, on June 15, 1992.^[15][16] Quayle was widely lambasted for his apparent inability to spell the word "potato". According to the New York Times^[17] and his memoirs, he was relying on cards provided by the school, which included the misspelling. Quayle said he was uncomfortable with the version he gave, but did so because he decided to trust the school's incorrect written materials.

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 single mother 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.'"^[18]

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.'"^[19] 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." Others interpreted it differently; singer Tanya Tucker was widely quoted as saying "Who the hell is Dan Quayle to come after single mothers?" ^[20]

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 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) viewed Quayle as a liability to the ticket and pushed for his replacement.^[21] Quayle survived the challenge and secured renomination.^[22]

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 by the liberal group FAIR for inaccuracy.^[23] 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.^[24] Republican 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.^[25] It ultimately proved to be a minor factor in the election, which Bush and Quayle subsequently lost.

Post-Vice Presidency

Quayle offering his endorsement of Mitt Romney for President, December 2011.

Quayle considered but decided against running for Governor of Indiana in 1996.^[26]

He decided against running for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination, citing health problems related to phlebitis.^[26]

In April 1999, Quayle announced his candidacy for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, attacking front-runner 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.^[26]

Quayle authored a 1994 memoir, Standing Firm, which became a bestseller. His second book, The American Family: Discovering the Values that Make Us Strong, was published in 1996 and a third book, Worth Fighting For, in 1999. Quayle 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.

Dan Quayle joined Cerberus Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm, in 1999 and is chairman of the company's Global Investments division. 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.^[27] Quayle is an Honorary Trustee Emeritus of the Hudson Institute and is president of Quayle and Associates. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Heckmann Corporation, a water sector company, since the company's inception and serves as Chairman of the company's Compensation and Nominating & Governance Committees. Quayle is also a director of Aozora Bank, Tokyo, Japan.^[28]

Quayle has also been on the board of directors of other companies including K2 Sports, Amtran Inc., Central Newspapers Inc.,^[29] and BTC Inc.^[30]

The Quayles live in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Quayle, then working as an investment banker in Phoenix, was mentioned as a candidate for Governor of Arizona prior to the 2002 election,^[31] but he declined to run.

In a February 2010 interview with Megyn Kelly of Fox News, Quayle announced that his son, Ben Quayle, would be a candidate for the U.S. Congress, running for a seat representing Arizona's 3rd congressional district. He went on to win that election.

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

In December 2011 Quayle announced that he was endorsing Mitt Romney for the Republican Presidential nominee.

The Dan Quayle Center and Museum is located in Huntington, Indiana, and features information on Quayle and all U.S. vice presidents.

Electoral history

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

• 1978 election for U.S. House of Representatives — 4th District
  • Dan Quayle (R) (inc.), 100%

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

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

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

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

Published material

• 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
• The American Family: Discovering the Values That Make Us Strong (with Diane Medved), Harpercollins, April 1996, ISBN 0-06-017378-5 (hardcover), ISBN 0-06-092810-7 (paperback)
• Worth Fighting For, W Publishing Group, July 1999, ISBN 0-8499-1606-2

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

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dan Quayle

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Dan Quayle

• Dan Quayle at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Dan Quayle at the Internet Movie Database
• 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
• VP Quayle Receives DePauw's McNaughton Medal for Public Service; October 26, 1990
• nndb
• Cerberus Capital Management LP
• Genealogy of the family of J. Danforth Quayle
• Booknotes interview with Quayle on Standing Firm, July 24, 1994.

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v t e Cabinet of President George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)   Cabinet Secretary of State James Baker (1989–1992) Lawrence Eagleburger (1992–1993) Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F. Brady (1989–1993) Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci (1989) 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 Agriculture Clayton K. Yeutter (1989–1991) Edward Rell 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 (1989–1992)   Cabinet-level Vice President Dan Quayle (1989–1993) Trade Representative Carla Anderson Hills (1989 – 1993) Director of the Office of Management and Budget Richard Darman (1989 – 1993)