OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY OF VICE PRESIDENT DAN QUAYLE On January 20, 1989, Dan Quayle was sworn
OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY OF VICE PRESIDENT
DAN QUAYLE
On January 20, 1989, Dan Quayle was sworn in as the 44th Vice
President of the United States.
Mr. Quayle was born on February 4, 1947 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
He was named after James Danforth, a longtime Quayle family friend
killed in World War II. After spending much of his youth in
Arizona, he graduated from Huntington High School in Huntington,
Indiana in 1965. He then matriculated at DePauw University, where
he received his B.A. degree in political science in 1969.
After receiving his degree, Mr. Quayle joined the Indiana National
Guard and served from 1969 - 1975. While serving in the Guard, he
earned a law degree from Indiana University in 1974.
Mr. Quayle's public service began in July 1971, when he
became an investigator for the Consumer Protection Division of the
Indiana Attorney General's Office. In September, he became an
administrative assistant to Governor Edgar Whitcomb. From 1973 -
74, he was the director of the Inheritance Tax Division of the
Indiana Department of Revenue.
Upon receiving his law degree, Mr. Quayle worked as associate
publisher of his family's newspaper, The Huntington Herald-Press
and practiced law with his wife in Huntington.
In 1976, Mr. Quayle was elected to the U.S. Congress from
Indiana's Fourth Congressional District, defeating an eight-term
incumbent Democrat. He won re-election in 1978 by the greatest
percentage margin ever achieved to that date in the northeast
Indiana district.
In 1980, Mr. Quayle became the youngest person ever elected to the
U.S. Senate from the State of Indiana, defeating three-term
incumbent Democrat Birch Bayh. Making Indiana political history
yet again, Mr. Quayle was re-elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986
with the largest margin ever achieved to that date by a candidate
in a statewide Indiana race.
During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Quayle became widely
known for his legislative work in the areas of defense, arms
control, labor and human resources. With his service on the Armed
Services Committee, the Budget Committee and the Labor and Human
Resources Committee, he became an effective Senator, respected by
colleagues on both sides of the aisle. In 1982, working with
Senator Edward Kennedy, Mr. Quayle authored the Job Training
Partnership Act (JTPA), which has been called the most significant
piece of social legislation passed during the Reagan presidency.
In August 1988, at the Republican National Convention in New
Orleans, George Bush called on Mr. Quayle to be his running mate
in the general election. Although Republicans were trailing by up
to 15 points in public opinion polls taken prior to the
convention, the Bush/Quayle ticket went on to win the November
election by a convincing 54-46 margin, sweeping 38 states and
capturing 426 electoral votes.
In his Constitutional role as Vice President, Mr. Quayle serves as
president of the United States Senate. He is a statutory member
of the National Security Council and is the first chairman of the
National Space Council, a space policy body reestablished by
statute in 1988. On February 9, 1989, President Bush named Mr.
Quayle head of the Council on Competitiveness that will work to
ensure U.S. international competitiveness into the 21st century.
In November 1972, Mr. Quayle married the former Marilyn Tucker of
Indianapolis. They are the parents of three children: Tucker,
Benjamin, and Corinne.
Mr. Quayle, the oldest of four children, has two brothers and a
sister: Chris, Mike, and Martha Saddler. He is the son of Jim and
Corinne Quayle of Huntington, Indiana.
He enjoys golf, tennis, basketball, skiing, horseback riding, fly
fishing and reading. He particularly enjoys watching his children
as they participate in team sports. The Quayles attend the McLean
Presbyterian Church in McLean, Virginia.
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