Veeps: J. Danforth Quayle
Poor Dan Quayle. He will forever be remembered for the fact that he couldn't spell potato and his being the victim of a classic put-down in a debate with Lloyd Benson. But Quayle is probably underestimated in this caricature when one looks at his life and accomplishments.
James Danforth Quayle was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 4, 1947, the son of James Clyne Quayle and the former Martha Pulliam. His maternal grandfather, Eugene C. Pulliam, was a wealthy and influential publishing magnate who founded Central Newspapers, Inc., a company that owned over a dozen newspapers including the Arizona Republic and the Indianapolis Star. Quayle attended DePauw University, where he received his B.A. degree in political science in 1969, and was a member of the university golf team. 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, where he met his future wife, Marilyn.
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. When he received 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 to the House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th congressional district, soundly defeating eight-term incumbent Democrat J. Edward Roush. 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. 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.
On August 17, 1988, at the Republican convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, George H. W. Bush selected Quayle to be his running mate in the 1988 United States presidential election. Quayle was attacked in the press about his military service and about whether he had enough experience to be President. The controversies didn't seem to hurt the Republicans, who were trailing by up to 15 points in public opinion polls before the convention, but who received a significant boost from their convention, giving them a lead which they held 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. His opponent came back with a famous response — "I knew Jack Kennedy, I served in Congress with Jack Kennedy and Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy". If anything, that debate performance illustrated the insignificance of the Vice-Presidential debates, the Bush/Quayle ticket won the November election with 426 electoral votes.
Bush named Quayle head of the Council on Competitiveness and the first chairman of the National Space Council. During his vice-presidency, Dan Quayle made official trips to 47 countries. In spite of the confidence Bush showed in Quayle, the vice president was ridiculed in the media who portrayed him as an intellectual lightweight. Quayle didn't help matters by occasionally putting his foot in his mouth with remarks such as "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". He also said "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future". He once 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." Quayle was asked his thoughts on sending humans to Mars. In his response he made a series of scientifically erroneous statements: "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." He is also supposed to have said
Then there was what is probably remembered as his most famous gaffe, which occurred when he altered 12-year old student William Figueroa's correct spelling of "potato" to "potatoe" at the Muñoz Rivera Elementary School spelling bee in Trenton, New Jersey, on June 15, 1992. According to the New York Times, Quayle said that he was relying on cards provided by the school, which included the misspelling.
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. He gave the single mother title character in the television program Murphy Brown as an example of how popular culture contributes to this "poverty of values". Quayle said "It 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.'" In 2002, Candice Bergen, the actress who played Murphy Brown, said "I never have really said much about the whole episode, but his speech was a perfectly intelligent speech about fathers not being dispensable and nobody agreed with that more than I did."
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. The incumbent ticket lagged in the polls in the weeks preceding the August 1992 Republican National Convention, and some Republican strategists viewed Quayle as a liability to the ticket and pushed for his replacement. Bush remained loyal to his running mate. His debate performance was an improvement over 1988, but the debate was a minor factor in the election, won by the Democratic ticket of Clinton an Gore.
After leaving office, Quayle considered running for Governor of Indiana in 1996, but decided against it. He also decided against running for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination, citing health problems related to phlebitis. He moved to Arizona in 1996.
In April 1999, Quayle announced his candidacy for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination. He attacked front-runner George W. Bush, 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. His campaign was hampered by the legacy of his vice-presidency and he withdrew from the race the following month and supported Bush.
Quayle authored his memoirs in 1994 memoir, entitled Standing Firm. The book became a bestseller. His second book, published in 1996, is called The American Family: Discovering the Values that Make Us Strong and his third book, called Worth Fighting For, was published in 1999.
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. He is also an Honorary Trustee Emeritus of the Hudson Institute and is president of Quayle and Associates. Quayle is also a director of Aozora Bank, Tokyo, Japan, and is also been on the board of directors of other companies including K2 Sports, Amtran Inc., Central Newspapers Inc., and BTC Inc.
The Quayles live in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Quayle was mentioned as a candidate for Governor of Arizona prior to the 2002 election, but he declined to run. His son, Ben Quayle, represents Arizona's 3rd congressional district in Congress.
Quayle's legacy is remembered in the Dan Quayle Center and Museum, located in Huntington, Indiana. The museum features information on Quayle and all U.S. vice presidents.
James Danforth Quayle was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 4, 1947, the son of James Clyne Quayle and the former Martha Pulliam. His maternal grandfather, Eugene C. Pulliam, was a wealthy and influential publishing magnate who founded Central Newspapers, Inc., a company that owned over a dozen newspapers including the Arizona Republic and the Indianapolis Star. Quayle attended DePauw University, where he received his B.A. degree in political science in 1969, and was a member of the university golf team. 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, where he met his future wife, Marilyn.
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. When he received 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 to the House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th congressional district, soundly defeating eight-term incumbent Democrat J. Edward Roush. 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. 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.
On August 17, 1988, at the Republican convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, George H. W. Bush selected Quayle to be his running mate in the 1988 United States presidential election. Quayle was attacked in the press about his military service and about whether he had enough experience to be President. The controversies didn't seem to hurt the Republicans, who were trailing by up to 15 points in public opinion polls before the convention, but who received a significant boost from their convention, giving them a lead which they held 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. His opponent came back with a famous response — "I knew Jack Kennedy, I served in Congress with Jack Kennedy and Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy". If anything, that debate performance illustrated the insignificance of the Vice-Presidential debates, the Bush/Quayle ticket won the November election with 426 electoral votes.
Bush named Quayle head of the Council on Competitiveness and the first chairman of the National Space Council. During his vice-presidency, Dan Quayle made official trips to 47 countries. In spite of the confidence Bush showed in Quayle, the vice president was ridiculed in the media who portrayed him as an intellectual lightweight. Quayle didn't help matters by occasionally putting his foot in his mouth with remarks such as "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". He also said "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future". He once 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." Quayle was asked his thoughts on sending humans to Mars. In his response he made a series of scientifically erroneous statements: "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." He is also supposed to have said
Then there was what is probably remembered as his most famous gaffe, which occurred when he altered 12-year old student William Figueroa's correct spelling of "potato" to "potatoe" at the Muñoz Rivera Elementary School spelling bee in Trenton, New Jersey, on June 15, 1992. According to the New York Times, Quayle said that he was relying on cards provided by the school, which included the misspelling.
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. He gave the single mother title character in the television program Murphy Brown as an example of how popular culture contributes to this "poverty of values". Quayle said "It 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.'" In 2002, Candice Bergen, the actress who played Murphy Brown, said "I never have really said much about the whole episode, but his speech was a perfectly intelligent speech about fathers not being dispensable and nobody agreed with that more than I did."
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. The incumbent ticket lagged in the polls in the weeks preceding the August 1992 Republican National Convention, and some Republican strategists viewed Quayle as a liability to the ticket and pushed for his replacement. Bush remained loyal to his running mate. His debate performance was an improvement over 1988, but the debate was a minor factor in the election, won by the Democratic ticket of Clinton an Gore.
After leaving office, Quayle considered running for Governor of Indiana in 1996, but decided against it. He also decided against running for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination, citing health problems related to phlebitis. He moved to Arizona in 1996.
In April 1999, Quayle announced his candidacy for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination. He attacked front-runner George W. Bush, 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. His campaign was hampered by the legacy of his vice-presidency and he withdrew from the race the following month and supported Bush.
Quayle authored his memoirs in 1994 memoir, entitled Standing Firm. The book became a bestseller. His second book, published in 1996, is called The American Family: Discovering the Values that Make Us Strong and his third book, called Worth Fighting For, was published in 1999.
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. He is also an Honorary Trustee Emeritus of the Hudson Institute and is president of Quayle and Associates. Quayle is also a director of Aozora Bank, Tokyo, Japan, and is also been on the board of directors of other companies including K2 Sports, Amtran Inc., Central Newspapers Inc., and BTC Inc.
The Quayles live in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Quayle was mentioned as a candidate for Governor of Arizona prior to the 2002 election, but he declined to run. His son, Ben Quayle, represents Arizona's 3rd congressional district in Congress.
Quayle's legacy is remembered in the Dan Quayle Center and Museum, located in Huntington, Indiana. The museum features information on Quayle and all U.S. vice presidents.