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Sign in to annotate. Delete Cancel Save. When Sen. John Breaux, D-La. But like every other down-in-the-dumps Democrat, dismayed by the party's seemingly bleak chances in the election, he was thrilled that the unexpected medical incident had focused public attention on the fact that Vice President Dan Quayle is, in truth, a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. The instant preoccupation with Quayle was not limited to Democrats. Among a heavily Republican crowd at a post-Derby party in Louisville, a Washington reporter was asked repeatedly, "Why did Bush pick him in the first place?
At a minimum, the incident of the irregular heartbeat that cut short Bush's Saturday jog at Camp David has reminded the American people that their president never has given a full or persuasive answer to that question.
Bush clearly wanted to reach into the next generation of Republican officeholders for a running-mate, ruling out such contemporaries and presidential rivals as Bob Dole. He wanted to balance the ticket geographically, and Quayle's Indiana is one of the few states Bush does not claim as his home. Quayle's work as the prime Senate sponsor of a bill known as the Joint Training Partnership Act seemed to give him that credential.
Several people close to Bush also told me that in meetings he held that year with Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Quayle's comments on defense and arms control issues had struck the presidential candidate as sensible.
Finally, on purely political grounds, Quayle came recommended by such influential Bush strategists as Roger Ailes and Robert Teeter as an energetic and effective campaigner. Little time was spent preparing Quayle for his initial convention appearances and accordingly some did not go well.
The Bush campaign was not prepared to present his accomplishments or defend him against allegations, never substantiated, that his family had used influence to secure a spot for him in the National Guard to avoid service in Vietnam.
Quayle never recovered from the drag of those negative first impressions on his image. Michael Dukakis, as a tax and spend liberal during the vice-presidential debate, the enduring image of that evening was Sen. Quayle may not have been the second coming of JFK but he was an engaged and effective vice president with considerable access to Bush.
In addition to their weekly private lunch, he joined the president each day for two early morning small meetings, one covering international matters with national security adviser Brent Scowcroft and chief of staff John Sununu, a second covering domestic and political matters with Sununu, thereby entrenching the idea that the vice president was an integral part of the presidency.
Few had as much face time with Bush as did Quayle. Bentsen did. Secondly, Quayle made the worst of a bad moment on national television.
I hope Garry Trudeau will remember that. In he attacked television character Murphy Brown, an unmarried news anchor, for having a child out of wedlock. In response, late-night comic David Letterman looked straight into the camera and told Quayle to pay attention.
Murphy Brown is a fictional character! American comedians had a field day.
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