Dan Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States of America during the George H.W. Bush presidency. He also served in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He served in the Indiana Army National Guard after completing his education and earning a law degree. He eventually received a Juris Doctorate and was promoted to sergeant. He then worked in a variety of high-paying jobs, including as an investigator with the Consumer Protection Division of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office and then as associate publisher of his family’s newspaper, the ‘Huntington Herald-Press’. He began his political career by being elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served two terms. Following that, he was elected to the Senate for two terms. As America’s vice president, he traveled the world on a variety of goodwill missions, but was widely mocked for a variety of oral gaffes. In the new millennium, he ran for the Republican presidential nomination but withdrew and endorsed George W. Bush’s candidacy. Additionally, he is the author of two books, ‘A Vice-Presidential Memoir’ and ‘The American Family: Discovering the Values That Keep Us Strong’.
Childhood & Adolescence
James Danforth ‘Dan’ Quayle was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to James Cline Quayle and Martha Corinne.
Eugene C. Pulliam, his grandfather, founded ‘Central Newspapers Inc.’ and owned the state’s major newspapers, including ‘The Indianapolis Star’ and ‘The Arizona Republic’.
The family relocated to Arizona, where Quayle spent the majority of his youth. He then enrolled at Indianapolis’ Huntington High School, where he graduated in 1965.
At DePauw University, he majored in political science and was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon guild. He earned a bachelor’s degree from there in 1969.
Career of Dan
He was appointed an investigator with the Consumer Protection Division of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office in 1971. He also served as Governor Edgar Whitcomb’s administrative assistant that year.
From 1973 to 1974, he served as Director of the Indiana Department of Revenue’s Inheritance Tax Division. In 1974, while serving as a’sergeant’ in the Indiana Army National Guard, he earned a Juris Doctor degree in law from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law. This is where he met Marilyn, his future wife.
After earning his law degree, he worked briefly as associate publisher of his family’s newspaper, the ‘Huntington Herald-Press’.
In 1976, he defeated J. Edward Roush for a seat in the House of Representatives. He repeated his landslide victory in the re-elections, becoming the district’s only candidate to win by such a large margin.
In 1980, he was elected to the Senate – at the age of 33, he was the Senate’s youngest member, representing Indiana. He was re-elected six years later, defeating Jill Long.
During the 1988 Presidential Election, George H.W. Bush invited him to serve as his running mate. The pair won the November elections with a landslide 426 votes.
He was inaugurated as the United States’ 44th Vice President on January 20, 1989, and served for four years.
Quayle was appointed chairman of the ‘National Space Council’ and leader of the ‘Council of Competitiveness’ by Bush.
As Vice President, he traveled to 47 countries and was mocked and criticized by the media for his erroneous choice of words while speaking on a variety of subjects.
In 1992, he delivered the now-famous ‘Murphy Brown’ speech on the ‘Los Angeles Riots’ at California’s Commonwealth Club, in which he articulated and blamed the growing violence in the United States and the deteriorating moral and family values in American households.
He cited the popular primetime soap opera character ‘Murphy Brown’, who was a self-sufficient single mother, in his speech, and blamed these ‘popular culture’ shows for the ‘poverty of values.
People interpreted the speech differently, and it undoubtedly had a lasting effect (both positive and negative) on a number of American households and political circles.
He was re-nominated during the 1992 Republican National Convention, but the Bush-Quayle ticket lost their subsequent re-election bids.
In 1994, he published his first book, ‘Standing Firm,’ which became an international best-seller. Two years later, he published his second book, ‘American Family: Discovering the Values That Make Us Strong.’
He decided to run for the Republican Presidential Nomination the following year, 1999. He later withdrew his support, opting instead to support George W. Bush. He also published ‘Worth Fighting For’ that year.
Following the conclusion of his Vice Presidential term, he joined a private equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management, where he was appointed chairman of the ‘Global Investments’ department.
He is a trustee of the Hudson Institute, a director of Aozora Bank in Tokyo, and the President of ‘Quayle and Associates’. He has also served on the boards of directors of several companies, including ‘Central Newspapers, Inc.,’ ‘Amtran, Inc.,’ and ‘BTC, Inc.’
Significant Works of Dan
‘Standing Firm: A Vice-Presidential Memoir,’ published in 1994, was a bestseller. The book delves into the former vice president’s personal experiences at the White House and his thoughts on ‘family values.’ It sold more than 300,000 copies during its initial print run.
Personal History and Legacies
In 1972, he married Marilyn and together they have three children: Tucker, Ben, and Corinne. Dan Quayle’s son, Ben, was elected to the House of Representatives but was unsuccessful in his bid for re-election in 2012. He and his wife currently reside in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Estimated Net Worth
Dan Quayle is a $3 million dollar American politician. Quayle estimated his net worth at $1.8 million in 1988. His net worth was derived primarily from real estate and a financial trust that he established prior to becoming Vice President. Dan Quayle was born in February 1947 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Trivia
This former Vice President of the United States misspelled the word ‘potato’ as ‘potatoe’ during a spelling bee contest at the Munoz Elementary School in New Jersey. He was mocked even more when he attempted to correct a 12-year-old boy who correctly spelled the word ‘potato’.