Dan Quayle

James Danforth Quayle III (born 4 February 1947) 44th U.S. Vice President (1989-1993)

Table of contents

1 Sourced 2 Attributed 3 Misattributions 4 External link

Sourced

• "My National Guard unit did a tour of duty in Vietnam."
  • Source: Interview on Finnish Mainos-Televisio morning show.

• "If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure."
  • Source: Esquire Magazine, 8/92

• "We have a firm commitment to NATO; we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe; we are a part of Europe."
  • Source: Interview with Financial Times TV.

• The other day [the President] said, I know you've had some rough times, and I want to do something that will show the nation what faith that I have in you, in your maturity and sense of responsibility. (He paused, then said) Would you like a puppy?
  • Source: LA Times 5/21/89

• "Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is in the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right here."
  • Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 4/25/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

• "We are on an irreversible trend towards more freedom and democracy - but that could change."
  • Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 5/22/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

• "Mars is essentially in the same orbit...Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
  • Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 8/11/89 (interview broadcast on CNN, referenced in 9/1/89 Washington Post article: "A Quayle Vision of Mars")

• "One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'."
  • December 6, 1993
  • This source "Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 12/6/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)" has the Governor replaced with "vice president"

• "Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things."
  • Senator Dan Quayle, 10/30/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92 and the LA Times, 10/30/88)

• "Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it."
  • Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/20/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

• "The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."
  • Senator Dan Quayle, 9/15/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92, The New Yorker, 10/10/88, p.102)

• "I have been asked who caused the riots and the killing in LA, my answer has been direct & simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame."
  • Vice President Dan Quayle (during the Commonwealth Club speech 5/19/92)
  • Also: reported as "Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters!" by Herb Caen, SF Chronicle

• "For NASA, space is still a high priority."
  • Vice President Dan Quayle, talking to NASA employees, 9/5/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

• "We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
  • Vice President Dan Quayle talking about the Mideast situation, 9/22/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

• "In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get -- The Future!"
  • Source: (LA Times 10/19/88)
  • See also: more on Future

• "The question is: Are we going to go forward to tomorrow, or past to the back?"

Attributed

• "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
  • See also: more on Future

• "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."

• "[It's] time for the human race to enter the solar system."

Misattributions

Note. Due to Vice President Quayle's reputation, a great many misquotations, wrongful attributions, falsehoods, and other apocrypha are attached to his name. Care should be taken in verifying any of the more humorous quotations that may be attributed to him.

• Quotes from MAD magazine with "future quotes we can expect to hear"...[1]
  • "A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."
  • "Republicans have been accused of abandoning the poor. It's the other way around. They never vote for us."
  • "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."

• "I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people." [2]

External link

• Official Dan Quayle Site
• "All the Dan Quayle quotes, more or less"