Editing Dan Quayle (section)

==Vice presidency (1989–1993)==
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Main|Vice presidency of Dan Quayle}}
{{See also|Presidency of George H. W. Bush}}
[[File:President Bush and Vice President Quayle pose together for their official portrait - NARA - 186393.jpg|thumb|left|Quayle with President [[George H.&nbsp;W. Bush]] in 1989]]

During his vice presidency, Quayle made official trips to 47 countries.<ref name=bio/> Bush named Quayle head of the [[U.S. Council on Competitiveness|Council on Competitiveness]] and the first chairman of the [[National Space Council]]. As head of the NSC he called for greater efforts to protect Earth against the danger of potential [[asteroid]] impacts.<ref>[https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19900516/1072013/quayle-backs-groups-effort-to-head-off-asteroid-threat "Quayle Backs Group's Effort To Head Off Asteroid Threat"], ''[[The Seattle Times]]'', May 16, 1990.</ref>

After a briefing by Lt. General [[Daniel O. Graham]], (USA Ret.), Max Hunter, and [[Jerry Pournelle]], Quayle sponsored the development of an experimental Single Stage to Orbit X-Program, which resulted in the building of the [[McDonnell Douglas DC-X]].
Quayle has since described the vice presidency as "an awkward office. You're president of the Senate. You're not even officially part of the executive branch—you're part of the legislative branch. You're paid by the Senate, not by the executive branch. And it's the president's agenda. It's not your agenda. You're going to disagree from time to time, but you salute and carry out the orders the best you can".<ref>[http://www.indianapolismonthly.com/news-opinion/dan-quayle-on-running-for-vice-president/ "Dan Quayle on Running for Vice President: 'It's Not the Easiest Job{{'"}}] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220101457/http://www.indianapolismonthly.com/news-opinion/dan-quayle-on-running-for-vice-president/ |date=December 20, 2016 }}. ''[[Indianapolis Monthly]]''. October 4, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.</ref>

=== ''Murphy Brown'' ===

On May 19, 1992, Quayle gave a speech titled ''[[s:Reflections on Urban America|Reflections on Urban America]]'' to the [[Commonwealth Club of California]] on the subject of the [[1992 Los Angeles riots|Los Angeles riots]].<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/arts/television/murphy-brown-dan-quayle.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/arts/television/murphy-brown-dan-quayle.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=That Time 'Murphy Brown' and Dan Quayle Topped the Front Page|work=The New York Times|date=January 26, 2018|last1=Fortin|first1=Jacey}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the speech he blamed the violence on a decay of moral values and family structure in American society.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> In an aside, he cited the single mother title character in the television program ''[[Murphy Brown]]'' as an example of how popular culture contributes to this "poverty of values", saying, "It doesn't help matters when [[prime time|prime-time]] 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'."<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975627,00.html | title=Dan Quayle vs. Murphy Brown | magazine=Time | date=June 1, 1992 | access-date=June 24, 2010 | archive-date=August 25, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825193119/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975627,00.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The "[[Murphy Brown#Murphy becomes a single mother|Murphy Brown speech]]" became one of the most memorable of the 1992 campaign. Long after the outcry had ended, the comment continued to have an effect on U.S. politics. [[Stephanie Coontz]], a professor of family history and the author of several books and essays about the history of [[marriage]], said that this brief remark by Quayle about Murphy Brown "kicked off more than a decade of outcries against the 'collapse of the family{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/30/AR2005043000108.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | title=For Better, For Worse | first=Stephanie | last=Coontz | author-link=Stephanie Coontz | date=May 1, 2005 | access-date=April 30, 2010 | archive-date=November 7, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107133949/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/30/AR2005043000108.html | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2002, [[Candice Bergen]], 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 Tucker]] was widely quoted as saying "Who the hell is Dan Quayle to come after single mothers?"<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Candice Bergen agrees with Quayle |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/News/07/11/showbuzz/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=July 11, 2002 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080328133715/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/News/07/11/showbuzz/index.html#1|archive-date=March 28, 2008}}</ref>

=== Perceived gaffes ===
[[File:Dan Quayle speaking at the Race for the Cure 1990.jpg|thumb|right|Quayle speaking at Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. in 1990]]
Throughout his time as vice president, Quayle was characterized by some media outlets and journalists as being unprepared for the position. Given his position, his comments were heavily scrutinized for factual and grammatical errors. Contributing to this perception of Quayle was his tendency to make public statements that were either impossible ("I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future"<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/ogd/quayle-hunting-turned-up-some-real-turkeys-20150318&|work=Watertown Daily Times|title=Quayle Hunting turned up some real turkeys|date=March 18, 2015|access-date=September 22, 2018}}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>), self-contradictory ("I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy, but that could change"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/09/25/the-stunning-sudden-reversal-of-economic-freedom-in-america/#41f093853063|magazine=[[Forbes]]|title=The Stunning, Sudden Reversal of Economic Freedom In America|author=Howard Rich|date=September 25, 2012|access-date=September 22, 2018|archive-date=September 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922102305/https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/09/25/the-stunning-sudden-reversal-of-economic-freedom-in-america/#41f093853063|url-status=live}}</ref>), self-contradictory and confused ("[[The Holocaust]] was an obscene period in our nation's history.&nbsp;... No, not our nation's, but in [[World War II]]. I mean, we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century, but in this century's history"<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/10-things-politicians-definitely-wish-they-had-not-said--270345.html|work=Irish Examiner|title=10 things politicians definitely wish they had not said&nbsp;...|author=Dan Kenny|date=May 30, 2014|access-date=September 22, 2018|archive-date=September 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922103220/https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/10-things-politicians-definitely-wish-they-had-not-said--270345.html|url-status=live}}</ref>), or just confused (such as the comments he made in a May 1989 address to the [[United Negro College Fund]] (UNCF). Commenting on the UNCF's slogan—which is "a mind is a terrible thing to waste"—Quayle 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").<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/magazine/the-education-of-dan-quayle.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|work=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|title=The Education of Dan Quayle|last=Dowd|first=Maureen|author-link=Maureen Dowd|date=June 25, 1989|access-date=September 22, 2018|archive-date=June 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614195145/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/magazine/the-education-of-dan-quayle.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.cjr.org/year/91/5/quayle.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040122163649/http://archives.cjr.org/year/91/5/quayle.asp|archive-date=January 22, 2004|work=Columbia Journalism Review|title=Dan Quayle: The Sequel|author=William Boot (Christopher Hanson)|date=September–October 1991}}</ref>

{{anchor|"Potatoe"|Potatoe}}On June 15, 1992, Quayle altered 12-year-old student William Figueroa's correct spelling of "potato" to "potatoe" at the Muñoz Rivera Elementary School [[spelling bee]] in [[Trenton, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capitalcentury.com/1992.html|title=1992: Gaffe with an 'e' at the end|first=Paul|last=Mickle|publisher=Capitalcentury.com|access-date=July 1, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060715054720/http://capitalcentury.com/1992.html|archive-date=July 15, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/29/nyregion/politics-how-do-you-spell-regret-one-man-s-take-on-it.html|title=How Do You Spell Regret? One Man's Take on It|first=Mark|last=Fass|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 20, 2009|date=August 29, 2004|archive-date=March 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323093130/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/29/nyregion/politics-how-do-you-spell-regret-one-man-s-take-on-it.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He was the subject of widespread ridicule for his error. According to ''The New York Times''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/17/opinion/mr-quayle-s-e-for-effort.html|work=The New York Times|title=Mr. Quayle's 'e' for Effort|date=June 17, 1992|access-date=February 7, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218063712/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/17/opinion/mr-quayle-s-e-for-effort.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and Quayle's memoirs, he was relying on cards provided by the school, which Quayle says 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 instead of his own judgment.

===1992 campaign===
{{Main|George H. W. Bush 1992 presidential campaign|1992 United States presidential election}}
In the 1992 election, Bush and Quayle were challenged in their bid for reelection by the Democratic ticket of [[List of Governors of Arkansas|Arkansas Governor]] [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Tennessee]] [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Al Gore]] and the independent ticket of Texas businessman [[Ross Perot]] and retired Vice Admiral [[James Stockdale]].

As Bush lagged in the polls in the weeks preceding the August [[1992 Republican National Convention]], some Republican strategists (led by [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[James Baker]]) viewed Quayle as a liability to the ticket and pushed for his replacement.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/07/15/MNGH97LG321.DTL | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | title=Rumor has it that Cheney's on way out / Theory appears far-fetched but is making the rounds | first=Elisabeth | last=Bumiller | date=July 15, 2004 | access-date=February 15, 2021 | archive-date=October 10, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010203306/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2004%2F07%2F15%2FMNGH97LG321.DTL | url-status=live }}</ref> Quayle ultimately survived the challenge and secured renomination.<ref>''Time'', [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,976809-1,00.html "Quayle Vs. Gore"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015195716/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,976809-1,00.html |date=October 15, 2007 }}, October 19, 1992. Retrieved August 29, 2008.</ref>

During the 1992 presidential campaign, Quayle told the news media that he believed homosexuality was a choice, and "the wrong choice".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/14/us/1992-campaign-vice-president-quayle-contends-homosexuality-matter-choice-not.html|title=The 1992 Campaign: The Vice President; Quayle Contends Homosexuality Is a Matter of Choice, Not Biology|last=Witt|first=Karen De|date=September 14, 1992|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 17, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115235833/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/14/us/1992-campaign-vice-president-quayle-contends-homosexuality-matter-choice-not.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Quayle faced off against Gore and Stockdale in the vice presidential [[debate]] on October 13, 1992.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/14/us/the-1992-campaign-james-stockdale-reluctant-politician-tempers-professional-edge.html|title=The 1992 Campaign: James Stockdale; Reluctant Politician Tempers Professional Edge|first=David E.|last=Rosenbaum|work=The New York Times|date=October 14, 1992|access-date=September 19, 2018|archive-date=September 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919214604/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/14/us/the-1992-campaign-james-stockdale-reluctant-politician-tempers-professional-edge.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He attempted to avoid the one-sided outcome of his debate with Bentsen four years earlier by staying on the offensive.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/14/us/the-1992-campaign-the-debate-quayle-and-gore-exchange-sharp-attacks-in-debate.html|title=The 1992 Campaign: The Debate; Quayle and Gore Exchange Sharp Attacks in Debate|first=Robin|last=Toner|work=The New York Times|date=October 14, 1992|access-date=September 19, 2018|archive-date=September 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919220209/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/14/us/the-1992-campaign-the-debate-quayle-and-gore-exchange-sharp-attacks-in-debate.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Quayle criticized Gore's book ''[[Earth in the Balance]]'' with specific page references, though his claims were subsequently criticized by the liberal group [[Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting|FAIR]] for inaccuracy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fair.org/take-action/media-advisories/post-debate-fact-checking-is-medias-main-job/ |title=FAIR Media Advisory: Post-Debate Fact-Checking Is Media's Main Job |publisher=Fair.org |date=September 29, 2004 |access-date=April 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204143847/http://fair.org/take-action/media-advisories/post-debate-fact-checking-is-medias-main-job/ |archive-date=December 4, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In Quayle's closing argument, he sharply asked voters, "Do you really believe Bill Clinton will tell the truth?" and "Do you trust Bill Clinton to be your president?" Gore and Stockdale talked more about the policies and philosophies they espoused.<ref>{{cite web|title=Debate Transcript, Commission on Presidential Debates |url=http://www.debates.org/pages/trans92d.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009182330/http://www.debates.org/pages/trans92d.html |archive-date=October 9, 2009 }}</ref> Republican loyalists were largely relieved and pleased with Quayle's performance, and his camp attempted to portray it as an upset triumph against a veteran debater, but post-debate polls were mixed on whether Gore or Quayle had won.<ref>''Columbia Journalism Review'', September/October 1993 "{{cite web |url=http://archives.cjr.org/year/93/5/books-rosensteil.asp |title=Leading the Polls |access-date=January 8, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002234724/http://archives.cjr.org/year/93/5/books-rosensteil.asp |archive-date=October 2, 2006 }}</ref> It ultimately proved to be a minor factor in the election, which Bush and Quayle lost, 168 electoral votes to 370.