Dan Quayle

James Danforth Quayle (born February 4, 1947) is an American retired politician and Indiana National Guard veteran who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, Quayle represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 to 1981 and in the Senate from 1981 to 1989.

A native of Indianapolis, Quayle spent most of his childhood in Paradise Valley, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, before moving back to Indiana to finish high school. Quayle met his future wife, Marilyn Tucker, while attending night classes at college. He married her in 1972 and had three children including Ben, and obtained his J.D. degree from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 1974. He and Marilyn practiced law in Huntington, Indiana, before his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, where he beat incumbent representative, Edward Roush. Quayle would be re-elected in 1978 and serve a total of four years. In 1980 Quayle then ran against popular incumbent senator Birch Bayh. Quayle was expected to lose the race but ultimately defeated the incumbent and was elected to the U.S. Senate. Quayle would be re-elected in 1986, winning in a landslide victory.

Quayle rose to national prominence when in 1988, incumbent vice president and Republican presidential nominee George H. W. Bush chose Quayle as his running mate. His vice presidential debate was notable for Lloyd Bentsen's "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" quip. The Bush–Quayle ticket defeated the Democratic ticket of Michael Dukakis and Bentsen, and Quayle succeeded Bush as vice president in January 1989. At the age of 41, Quayle was the third-youngest vice president in U.S. history after Richard Nixon and John C. Breckinridge, a rank that would be beaten by 40-year-old JD Vance in 2025. During his tenure, Quayle made official visits to 47 countries and was appointed chairman of the National Space Council. As vice president, he developed a reputation for making comments that some media outlets perceived to be gaffes. He secured re-nomination for vice president in 1992, but was defeated by the Democratic ticket of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. He was a supporter of free markets, deregulation and of supply-side economics.

After Quayle's Vice presidency ended in 1993 he published his memoir in 1994, Standing Firm, which became a bestseller. Quayle then published The American Family: Discovering the Values That Make Us Strong, which was co-authored with Diane Medved and published in 1996. He later published his third book, Worth Fighting For, in 1999. Quayle considered running for president in 1996 but declined because of phlebitis. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 but withdrew his campaign early on and supported the eventual nominee, George W. Bush. He joined Cerberus Capital Management, a private-equity firm, in 1999. Quayle played crucial roles in his son Ben's U.S. House campaigns in 2010 and 2012 and advised Mike Pence to certify the results of the 2020 United States presidential election. Since leaving office, Quayle has remained active in politics, including making presidential endorsements of the Republican Party in 2000, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024. Upon the death of Walter Mondale in April of 2021, Quayle became the earliest-serving surviving vice president.