Dan Quayle

Who is Dan Quayle?

James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush. He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana.

Quayle was born in Indianapolis and 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.

Famous Quotes:

• Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.
• Space is almost infinite. As a matter of fact, we think it is infinite.
• One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is to be prepared.
• Let me just tell you how thrilling it really is, and how, what a challenge it is, because in 1988 the question is whether we're going forward to tomorrow or whether we're going to go past to the back!
• People that are really weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.
• Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.
• You do the policy, I'll do the politics.
• What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.
• If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure.
• It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.