James Danforth "Dan" Quayle (ˈkweɪl; born February 4, 1947) served as the
44th Vice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, serving with President
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
(1989–1993). He served as a
U.S. RepresentativeThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and
U.S. SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
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.Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Indiana University McKinney School of Law in 1974. He practiced law in
HuntingtonHuntington, known as the "Lime City", is a small city in and the county seat of Huntington County, Indiana, United States. It is in Huntington Township and Union Township...
, Indiana with his wife before being elected to the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
in 1976, aged 29. In 1980, Quayle entered the Senate.
In 1988, Vice President
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
was nominated for the presidency by the
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and asked his party to nominate Quayle as his running mate. Although this choice was met with some dismay, the Bush/Quayle ticket won the
1988 electionThe United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
over Democrat
Michael DukakisMichael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
and Libertarian
Ron PaulRonald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
. As vice president, Quayle made official visits to 47 countries and was appointed chairman of the
National Space CouncilThe National Space Council was a body within the Executive Office of the President of the United States, which existed from 1989 to 1993 during the administration of George H.W. Bush...
. He secured re-nomination for vice-president in 1992 but the Bush/Quayle ticket was defeated by Democrat
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and his vice-presidential nominee,
Al GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
.
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
phlebitisPhlebitis is an inflammation of a vein, usually in the legs.When phlebitis is associated with the formation of blood clots , usually in the deep veins of the legs, the condition is called thrombophlebitis...
. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, but withdrew and supported
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Quayle and his wife currently reside in
Paradise Valley, ArizonaParadise Valley is a small, affluent town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2005 Census Bureau, the population of the town was 14,558. Despite the town's relatively small area and population compared to other municipalities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Paradise...
.
One of his sons,
Ben QuayleBenjamin Eugene "Ben" Quayle is an American politician and U.S. Representative for Arizona's 3rd congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. Ben Quayle is son of former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and former U. S...
, was elected to the
House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in 2010.
Early life
Quayle was born in
IndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Indiana, to Martha Corinne Pulliam and
James Cline QuayleJames Cline Quayle was an American newspaper publisher and businessman who owned several newspapers in the United States including the Huntington Herald-Press in Indiana and the Wickenburg Sun in Arizona. He was the father of Dan Quayle, the 44th Vice-President of the United States.Quayle was...
. 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 ManThe Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
.
His maternal grandfather,
Eugene C. PulliamEugene Collins Pulliam was an American newspaper publisher and businessman who was the founder and longtime president of Central Newspapers Inc., a multi-billion dollar media corporation....
, was a wealthy and influential publishing magnate who founded Central Newspapers, Inc., owner of over a dozen major newspapers such as
The Arizona RepublicThe Arizona Republic is a daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. It was ranked tenth in US daily newspapers by circulation in 2007.-Early years:The newspaper was founded...
and
The Indianapolis StarThe Indianapolis Star is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903. It has won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting twice, in 1975 and 1991. It is currently owned by the Gannett Company.-History:...
. James C. Quayle moved his family to
ArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
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 $1 million.
After spending much of his youth in Arizona, he graduated from Huntington High School in
Huntington, IndianaHuntington, known as the "Lime City", is a small city in and the county seat of Huntington County, Indiana, United States. It is in Huntington Township and Union Township...
, in 1965. He then matriculated at
DePauw UniversityDePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
, where he received his
B.A. degreeA Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in
political sciencePolitical Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
in 1969, and where he was a member of the fraternity
Delta Kappa EpsilonDelta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
(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 DoctorJuris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
(J.D.) degree in 1974 at Indiana University McKinney School of Law. At law school, he met his future wife,
MarilynMarilyn Tucker Quayle is an American lawyer, novelist, and political figure who is the wife of former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and held the unofficial title of Second Lady of the United States from 1989 until 1993....
, who was taking night classes at the time.
Early political career
Quayle became an investigator for the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the
Indiana Attorney GeneralThe Indiana Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Indiana in the United States. Attorneys General are chosen by a statewide general election to serve for a four-year term...
in July 1971. Later that year, he became an administrative assistant to Governor
Edgar WhitcombEdgar Doud Whitcomb was the 43rd Governor of Indiana. His term as governor began a major rift in the Indiana Republican Party as urban Republicans became more numerous then rural Republicans, leading to a shift in the priorities of the party leadership. Whitcomb found himself opposed by speaker of...
. 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-PressThe Herald-Press is the only daily newspaper published in Huntington County, Indiana.The newspaper was founded in 1848 as the Indiana Herald. In 1887 it was renamed to Huntington Herald, and in 1930 it merged with Huntington Press and became the Herald-Press. In the early 1960s, the paper was...
, and practiced law with his wife in Huntington.
In 1976, Quayle was elected by a wide margin to the
House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from
Indiana's 4th congressional districtIndiana's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Indiana. Based primary in the central part of the state, the district consists of all of Boone, Clinton, Hendricks, Morgan, Lawrence, Montgomery, and Tippecanoe counties and parts of Fountain, Johnson, Marion,...
, defeating eight-term
incumbentThe incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
J. Edward RoushJohn Edward Roush was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, Roush graduated from Huntington High School, Huntington, Indiana, 1938.A.B., Huntington College, Huntington, Indiana, 1942....
. He won reelection in 1978 by the greatest percentage margin achieved to date in that northeast Indiana district. In
1980The 1980 U.S. Senate elections coincided with Ronald Reagan's election to the Presidency. Reagan's large margin of victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter pulled in many Democratic voters and gave a huge boost to Republican senate candidates....
, at age 33, Quayle became the youngest person ever elected to the
SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from the state of Indiana, defeating three-term incumbent Democrat
Birch BayhBirch Evans Bayh II is a former United States Senator from Indiana, having served from 1963 to 1981. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election, but lost to Jimmy Carter. He is the father of former Indiana Governor and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh.-Life...
. Making Indiana political history again, Quayle was reelected to the Senate in
1986The U.S. Senate election, 1986 was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. As in most midterm elections, the opposition Democratic Party held the usual advantage...
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 1980Reagan’s coattails refers to the influence of Ronald Reagan’s popularity in elections other than his own, after the American political expression to “ride in on another’s coattails.” Chiefly, it refers to the “Reagan Revolution” accompanying his 1980 election to the U.S. Presidency. This victory...
were not returned to office.
In 1986, Quayle was criticized for championing the cause of
Daniel Anthony ManionDaniel Anthony Manion is a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.Manion received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1964. At Notre Dame, Manion was a participant in the Bengal Bouts. Following graduation, Manion served in the Army in the Vietnam War...
, a candidate for a federal appellate judgeship, who was in law school one year above Quayle. The
American Bar AssociationThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
had evaluated him as "qualified", its lowest passing grade. 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." Manion was nominated for
U.S. Court of AppealsThe United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
for the
Seventh CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
by President
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
on February 21, 1986, and confirmed by the Senate on June 26, 1986. , Manion continues to serve on the Seventh Circuit.
Vice Presidential candidate
On August 17 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 electionThe United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
. The choice immediately became controversial. 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 CenterThe Media Research Center is a content analysis organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1987 by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III...
, a conservative group that monitors television coverage. 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. 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. 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, 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 BentsenLloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. was a four-term United States senator from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955. In his later political life, he was Chairman of the Senate...
. 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. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. Bentsen's response — "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" — subsequently become a part of the political lexicon.
Vice Presidency
The Bush/Quayle ticket went on to win the
November electionThe United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
with a 53–46 percent margin by sweeping 40 states and capturing 426
electoral votesAn electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations or entities, with each organization or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way...
.
Bush named Quayle head of the
Council on CompetitivenessThe Council on Competitiveness is an American non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. The Council’s goal is to increase the United States' economic competitiveness in the global marketplace...
and the first chairman of the
National Space CouncilThe National Space Council was a body within the Executive Office of the President of the United States, which existed from 1989 to 1993 during the administration of George H.W. Bush...
. As head of the NSC he called for greater efforts to protect Earth against the danger of potential
asteroidAsteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
impacts.
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. Contributing greatly to the perception of Quayle's incompetence was his tendency to make public statements that were either self-contradictory and confused ("The
holocaustThe Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
was an obscene period in our nation's history.… No, not our nation's, but in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. 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 FundThe United Negro College Fund is an American philanthropic organization that fundraises college tuition money for black students and general scholarship funds for 39 private historically black colleges and universities. The UNCF was incorporated on April 25, 1944 by Frederick D. Patterson , Mary...
, 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."
Shortly after Bush announced the
Space Exploration InitiativeOn July 20, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, George H. W. Bush — then President of the United States — announced plans for what came to be known as the Space Exploration Initiative...
, which included a manned landing on
MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, Quayle was asked his thoughts on
sending humans to MarsA manned mission to Mars has been the subject of science fiction, engineering, and scientific proposals throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century...
. 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
canalsFor a time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was erroneously believed that there were canals on Mars. These were a network of long straight lines that appeared in drawings of the planet Mars in the equatorial regions from 60° N. to 60° S. Lat., first observed by the Italian astronomer...
, we believe, and water. If there is
waterWater on Mars is a psychedelic rock and electronic music group from Quebec City, Québec, Canada. The music trio is led by Philippe Navarro, guitarist, vocalist, arranger, producer, principal lyricist, and music composer....
, that means there is
oxygenElectrolysis of water is the decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen gas due to an electric current being passed through the water.-Principle:...
. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
His most famous blunder occurred when he altered student William Figueroa's correct spelling of "potato" to "potatoe" at an elementary school
spelling beeA spelling bee is a competition where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell English words. The concept is thought to have originated in the United States....
in
Trenton, New JerseyTrenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, on June 15, 1992. Quayle was widely lambasted for his apparent inability to spell the word "potato". According to 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 CaliforniaThe Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States...
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 BrownMurphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...
as an example of how popular culture contributes to this "poverty of values", saying: "[i]t doesn't help matters when
primetimePrime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
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.'"
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 CoontzStephanie Coontz is an author, historian, and faculty member at The Evergreen State College. She teaches history and family studies and is Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families, which she chaired from 2001-2004. Coontz has authored and co-edited...
, a professor of family history and the author of several books and essays about the history of
marriageMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, says that this brief remark by Quayle about Murphy Brown "kicked off more than a decade of outcries against the 'collapse of the family.'" In 2002,
Candice BergenCandice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
, 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 TuckerTanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...
was widely quoted as saying "Who the hell is Dan Quayle to come after single mothers?"
1992 election
During the
1992 electionThe United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
, Bush and Quayle were challenged in their bid for reelection by the Democratic ticket of Arkansas Governor
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and
TennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Al GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, as well as the independent ticket of Texas businessman
Ross PerotHenry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
and retired Admiral
James StockdaleVice Admiral James Bond Stockdale was one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the United States Navy.Stockdale led aerial attacks from the carrier during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident...
.
As Bush lagged in the polls in the weeks preceding the August
1992 Republican National Convention, some Republican strategists (led by
Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
James BakerJames Addison Baker, III is an American attorney, politician and political advisor.Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush...
) viewed Quayle as a liability to the ticket and pushed for his replacement. Quayle survived the challenge and secured renomination.
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 BalanceEarth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit is a 1992 book written by Al Gore, published in June 1992, shortly before he was elected Vice President in the 1992 presidential election...
with specific page references, though his claims were subsequently criticized by the liberal group
FAIRFairness & Accuracy In Reporting is a progressive media criticism organization based in New York City, founded in 1986.FAIR describes itself on its website as "the national media watch group" and defines its mission as working to "invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity...
for inaccuracy. 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. 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. It ultimately proved to be a minor factor in the election, which Bush and Quayle subsequently lost.
Post-Vice Presidency
Quayle considered but decided against running for
Governor of IndianaThe Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
in 1996.
He decided against running for the
1996 Republican presidential nominationThe 1996 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1996 U.S. presidential election...
, citing health problems related to
phlebitisPhlebitis is an inflammation of a vein, usually in the legs.When phlebitis is associated with the formation of blood clots , usually in the deep veins of the legs, the condition is called thrombophlebitis...
.
In April 1999, Quayle announced his candidacy for the
Republican presidential nomination for 2000The 2000 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Governor of Texas George W...
, attacking front-runner
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
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 PollThe Ames Straw Poll is a presidential straw poll taken by Iowa Republicans. It occurs in Ames, Iowa on the campus of Iowa State University, on a Saturday in August of years in an election cycle in which the Republican presidential nomination seems to be undecided...
of August 1999, he finished eighth. Commentators said that while he had the most political experience among prospective candidates (over Bush and
Elizabeth DoleMary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford "Liddy" Dole is an American politician who served in both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidential administrations, as well as a United States Senator....
) 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.
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 committeeIn the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
.
Dan Quayle joined
Cerberus Capital ManagementCerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the United States. The firm is based in New York City, and run by -year-old financier Steve Feinberg. Former U.S...
, a multi-billion dollar
private equityPrivate equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
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 ministerThe Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Brian MulroneyMartin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, who would have been installed as chairman if Cerberus had successfully acquired
Air CanadaAir Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
.
Quayle is an Honorary Trustee Emeritus of the
Hudson InstituteThe Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
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 Bankis a Japanese commercial bank that offers service in 19 branches in Japan and in 5 overseas representative offices.-History:Aozora Bank is the successor of the Nippon Credit Bank , which was founded in 1957 under a special government trust banking license alongside the Long-Term Credit Bank of...
, Tokyo, Japan.
Quayle has also been on the board of directors of other companies including
K2 SportsK-2, Corporation. was founded in 1961 by brothers Bill and Don Kirschner on Vashon Island, near Seattle, Washington. K2 is known for pioneering fiberglass ski technology, which made skis significantly lighter and more lively than their wood and metal contemporaries...
, Amtran Inc., Central Newspapers Inc.,
and BTC Inc.
The Quayles live in
Paradise Valley, ArizonaParadise Valley is a small, affluent town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2005 Census Bureau, the population of the town was 14,558. Despite the town's relatively small area and population compared to other municipalities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Paradise...
. Quayle, then working as an
investment bankerAn investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...
in Phoenix, was mentioned as a candidate for Governor of Arizona prior to the 2002 election, but he declined to run.
In a February 2010 interview with
Megyn KellyMegyn Marie Kelly , formerly known as Megyn Kendall, is an American journalist and news anchor employed by the Fox News Channel. Kelly currently hosts America Live from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM EST live from the network’s New York City headquarters...
of Fox News, Quayle announced that his son,
Ben QuayleBenjamin Eugene "Ben" Quayle is an American politician and U.S. Representative for Arizona's 3rd congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. Ben Quayle is son of former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and former U. S...
, would be a candidate for the U.S. Congress, running for a seat representing
Arizona's 3rd congressional districtArizona's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona and contains most of the northern portion of the city of Phoenix as well as some of its northern suburbs...
. He went on to win that election.
Dan Quayle signed the statement of principles of the
Project for the New American CenturyThe Project for the New American Century was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan...
.
The Dan Quayle Center and MuseumThe United States Vice Presidential Museum at the Dan Quayle Center is located at 815 Warren Street in Huntington, Indiana, where former Vice President Dan Quayle attended high school...
is located in
Huntington, IndianaHuntington, known as the "Lime City", is a small city in and the county seat of Huntington County, Indiana, United States. It is in Huntington Township and Union Township...
, 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
Birch Evans Bayh II is a former United States Senator from Indiana, having served from 1963 to 1981. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election, but lost to Jimmy Carter. He is the father of former Indiana Governor and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh.-Life...
(D) (inc.), 46%
- 1986 election for U.S. Senate
- Dan Quayle (R) (inc.), 61%
- Jill Long Thompson (D), 39%
- 1988 Presidential election
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
- Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
/Quayle (R), 53% (426 Electoral Votes)
- Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
/BentsenLloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. was a four-term United States senator from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955. In his later political life, he was Chairman of the Senate...
(D), 46% (111 Electoral Votes)
- 1992 Presidential election
The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
- Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
/GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
(D), 43% (370 Electoral Votes)
- Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
/Quayle (R), 37% (168 Electoral Votes)
- Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
/StockdaleVice Admiral James Bond Stockdale was one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the United States Navy.Stockdale led aerial attacks from the carrier during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident...
(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
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
Joe Queenan is a humorist, critic and author from Philadelphia who graduated from Saint Joseph's University. He has written for numerous publications, such as Spy Magazine, TV Guide, Movieline, The Guardian and the New York Times Book Review...
, 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.
Richard F. Fenno, Jr. is an American political scientist known for his pioneering work on the U.S. Congress and its members....
, The Making of a Senator: Dan Quayle, Congressional Quarterly Press, January 1989. ISBN 0-87187-506-3.
External links