Dan Quayle Quotes

James Danforth "Dan" Quayle is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 44th Vice President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. He was also a U.S. Representative from 1977 to 1981 and U.S. Senator from 1981 to 1989, for the state of Indiana.

A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Quayle spent most of his childhood living in Paradise Valley, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. He married Marilyn Tucker in 1972 and obtained his J.D. degree from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 1974. He practiced law in Huntington, Indiana, with his wife before his election to the United States House of Representatives in 1976, aged 29. In 1980 Quayle won election to the Senate.

In 1988, Vice President George H. W. Bush was the Republican Party nominee for the presidency, and he chose Quayle as his running mate. The Bush/Quayle ticket won the 1988 election over the Democratic ticket of 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 Democrat Bill Clinton and his vice presidential running mate, Al Gore, defeated the Bush/Quayle ticket.

In 1994, Quayle published his memoir entitled Standing Firm but declined to run for public office in this time period because he was suffering from phlebitis. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, but withdrew and supported George W. Bush. In 2016, he endorsed Jeb Bush and later Donald Trump for President. Quayle and his wife reside in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Quayle is currently the chairman of global investments at Cerberus Capital Management.

✵ 4. February 1947
Dan Quayle photo
Dan Quayle: 41   quotes 3   likes

Famous Dan Quayle Quotes

“We understand the importance of having the bondage between the parent and the child.”

Video, " Who is Dan Quayle? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW2K0-VItAk"

“I had a good political career, and I have a good business career. I didn't get the brass ring, but I did very well.”

Interview with Cathleen Decker (5 September 2008) "Before Sarah Palin, the GOP had Dan Quayle", Los Angeles Times

Dan Quayle Quotes about people

“People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.”

Interview with Hendrik Hertzburg (October 1988), referring to Grigori Rasputin

“I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people.”

U.S. Representative Claudine Schneider (RI) telling an admitted joke about Quayle
"Quayle Quotes" http://www.snopes.com/quotes/quayle.htm, Urban Legends Reference Pages
Misattributed

Dan Quayle Quotes about the future

“The future will be better tomorrow.”

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_xcaBdBHf4

“I believe that I've made good judgments in the past, and I think I've made good judgments in the future.”

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_xcaBdBHf4

“In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get the future.”

Speech in Illinois (October 1988), quoted in Cathleen Decker (1988-10-19), "Quayle, in Illinois, Says He's `the Future'" Los Angeles Times

Dan Quayle Quotes

“Our policies must be premised on, and must reinforce, values such as family, hard work, integrity and personal responsibility.”

Speech to the Commonwealth Club of California (19 May 1992)
Commonwealth Club speech

“For NASA, space is still a high priority.”

Remarks to NASA employees, 9/5/1990, reported in Esquire (August 1992)
Attributed

“What we have here is clear-cut evidence that illegitimacy—something I've always said we should talk about in terms of not having it—leads to drug abuse.”

Remarks (20 May 1992), quoted in Esquire (August 1992) and Ann Beatts (23 November 1997) "ABSURDUM; Murphy Brown's Got Dan All Fired Up Again," Los Angeles Times
Attributed

“My friends, no matter how rough the road may be, we can and we will never surrender to what is right.”

In a speech to the Christian Coalition
Attributed

“It's wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago.”

If Quayle said this, he would only be repeating a phrase that first appeared in print approximately 100 years earlier. See: Staff writer (13 May 1889) "The Great State of Chicago," Chicago Daily Tribune; Staff writer (13 April 1895) " The State of Chicago http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E00E0DB103AE533A25750C1A9629C94649ED7CF," New York Times; Norman Mailer (1968) Miami and the Siege of Chicago
Attributed

“Mars is essentially in the same orbit. … 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.”

Press comment on Mars exploration http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN89/wn090189.html (11 August 1989), televised on CNN, and referenced in "A Quayle Vision of Mars" in The Washington Post (1 September 1989)

“We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.”

Cited to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (27 September 1990)

“You’re close, but you left a little something off. The 'e' on the end.”

Luis Muñoz Rivera Elementary School in Trenton, New Jersey (15 June 1992), correcting student William Figueroa on his spelling of "potato."

“If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure.”

Attributed to a speech in Phoenix, Arizona to the Phoenix Republican Forum (23 March 1990), quoted in Esquire (August 1992)
Attributed

“I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix.”

Although Quayle's home town is in Arizona, it is only a two and a half hour drive from the California border.
Attributed

“When 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.”

Speech to the United Negro College Fund (9 May 1989), mangling the Fund's slogan "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

“Welcome to President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and my fellow astronauts.”

This is a misquotation: video footage shows Quayle saying:
Thank you very much Bob, Mr. President, Mrs. Bush, Dick Truly and fellow astronauts, and ladies and gentlemen.
Video, " Who is Dan Quayle? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW2K0-VItAk"
Misattributed

“The best thing about the Middle East is that is keeps the Far East and Near East from encroaching on each other.”

All three of the above are from "Future Quayle Quotes We Can Expect to Hear" by Al Jaffee, in MAD magazine, (October 1991), pp. 10–11
Cited in [John Kerry or George W. Bush Misquotes, http://www.snopes.com/quotes/candidate.asp, snopes.com, 2008-12-31, 2004-09-22, Barbara Mikkelson]
Misattributed

“We don't want to go back to tomorrow, we want to move forward.”

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_xcaBdBHf4

“This is what I say about the scorn of the media elite: I wear their scorn as a badge of honor.”

Speech to the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis (9 June 1992)

“One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Vice President, and that one word is 'to be prepared.”

Attributed in the Quayle Quarterly, a short-lived publication about Quayle's gaffes
Attributed

“I made a misstatement and I stand by all my misstatements.”

Video, " Who is Dan Quayle? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW2K0-VItAk"

“I was known as the chief graverobber of my state.”

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_xcaBdBHf4

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