Editing Dan Quayle (section)

=== 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.