Indiana has been very lucky when it comes to producing men to fill the United States's second highest office, earning a distinction as the "Mother of Vice Presidents." Five men from the Hoosier state have been elected vice president: Schuyler Colfax in 1868, Thomas A. Hendricks in 1884, Charles W. Fairbanks in 1904, Thomas R. Marshall in 1912 and 1916, and J. Danforth Quayle in 1988. When it comes to luck after being elected, however, Hoosier vice presidents have not been very fortunate. Some of the missteps experienced by these politicos include Smiler Colfax's implication in the Credit Mobilier scandal during Ulysses Grant's first term; Hendricks's dying just eight months after being sworn in; teetotaler Fairbanks's embarrassment over the infamous "cocktail affair" at his Indianapolis home; and Marshall's anxious uncertainty about his role after a stroke incapacitated Woodrow Wilson. The state's vice presidents might agree with Texas Congressman John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner's description of the office as not being "worth a bucket of warm spit."

But perhaps no vice president from the nineteenth state has had to endure more pressure than Quayle, the surprise choice of George Bush as his GOP running mate in the 1988 presidential contest with Democrat Michael Dukakis. From the first questions about his service in the Indiana National Guard during the Vietnam War to his unfortunate misspelling of the word potato during the Bush/Quayle 1992 reelection effort, Quayle was put under intense (some have said brutal) examination by the nation's media. Richard Fenno, Jr., a University of Rochester political scientist who studied Quayle's Senate career, told the Washington Post when it produced a series of articles on the vice president that "if one wanted to prescribe a sitting-duck target for the community of political reporters who were rushing to judgment, one could hardly have improved upon J. Danforth Quayle. I believe there was a cultural--almost a tribal--element in their [the media's] early reception and treatment of him."

To the folks in Huntington, Indiana, however, association with the country's forty-fourth vice president has always been something to boast about. That attitude is evident to any traveler that enters the community on U.S. 224. Visitors are greeted at the city limits by a sign reading: "Welcome to Huntington: Home of the 44th Vice President Dan Quayle." The city's pride in its favorite son was made even more manifest in June 1993 when the Dan Quayle Center and Museum opened to the public. The museum is housed in a former Christian Science church located near Quayle's old elementary school.

Born in Indianapolis on Feb. 4, 1947, Quayle and his family moved to Huntington a year later, living in a house at 1317 Polk Street. His father, James Quayle, was employed as business manager for the Huntington Herald-Press. When he was eight years old, Quayle and his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where his father worked as public relations and personnel director for the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette. In 1963, when Quayle's father purchased the Huntington Herald-Press from Eugene Pulliam, the Quayles moved back to Indiana.

After graduating from Huntington High School (now Crestview Junior High School), where he was a member of the varsity golf team and wrote for the student newspaper, The Whisper, Quayle attended DePauw University. It was while at the Greencastle university that Quayle had the opportunity to meet a political idol, Ronald Reagan.

(Photo courtesy of The Dan Quayle Commemorative Foundation)

Graduating from DePauw in 1969 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science, Quayle joined the Indiana National Guard, serving there through 1975. Despite a less than stellar academic career while at DePauw, Quayle was able to gain entrance into the Indiana University at Indianapolis Law School. It was in law school that he met his future wife, Marilyn Tucker. The two married on Nov. 18, 1972, and both received their law degrees two years later. The Quayle museum in Huntington includes a reproduction of Marilyn Quayle's diploma and an actual copy of Dan Quayle's sheepskin, minus a few pieces thanks to the efforts of former family dog Barnaby (whose picture was framed with the law degree). The museum's collection also has the original "Quayle and Quayle Attorneys at Law" shingle the couple hung out when they moved to Huntington in 1975. While living in the Hoosier town, Marilyn ran the couple's law office, and Dan worked as associate publisher at the Herald-Press.

Quayle's successful Indiana political career got its start in 1976, when Allen County Republican Party Chairman Orvas Beers and Fort Wayne News-Sentinel Editor Ernie Williams asked him to run against incumbent Democratic Congressman J. Edward Roush, who had been in office for sixteen years. Running an aggressive campaign, Quayle upset the popular Roush by 19,401 votes. Reelected to Congress with 64.4 percent of the vote in 1978, Quayle set his sights on a high political post: U.S. Senator. In the 1980 election, he took on Democrat Birch Bayh, who had defeated Republican Homer Capehart for the Senate seat in 1962. On election day, Quayle was once again victorious over a long-term Democratic incumbent, capturing 53.8 percent of the vote to Bayh's 46.2 percent.

As a senator, Quayle cosponsored the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) with Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. His name would not be known nationally, however, until George Bush picked him as his running mate at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans. Bush's surprise announcement was trumpeted in the Herald-Press on Aug. 17, 1988, with the bold headline "Dan's the Man."

Along with a first-floor exhibit on Quayle's life and career, which changes as the institution adds new items to its collection, the museum includes a gift shop offering t-shirts, pens, pencils, magnets and other items. Through a pamphlet issued by the Dan Quayle Commemorative Foundation, visitors to Huntington can also follow the "Quayle Trail," a walking/driving tour of Dan Quayle's hometown. Sites on the tour include the Herald-Press building where Quayle served as associate publisher; the Huntington County Courthouse, where Bush and Quayle opend their campaign for the White House in 1988 (a historical plaque marks the site); Nick's Kitchen, located at the corner of Jefferson and Washington streets, "unofficial headquarters" for Quayle's political campaigns where visitors can dine on "Quayle-burger"; and the First Presbyterian Church where Quayle and his siblings attended Bible school in the early 1950s.

Though the national media may have their problems with Quayle, the historical jury is still out regarding his ultimate accomplishment and place in history. To the people of Huntington, however, he will always be the most favorite of Indiana's favorite sons.

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