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Beyond the Quayle

By Jeremy Lott on 3.11.08 @ 12:08AM

(Page 2 of 5)

Visitors can also observe Quayle's mother, Martha Quayle, vouching for her son's determination in a way that only mothers can: by relating an embarrassing anecdote. When he was a young lad, Quayle was given a pair of roller skates and was determined to learn how to use them.

He had a hard time of it and fell a lot. She kept thinking, Gosh, isn't he going to give up? But he didn't. No matter how many times he wiped out, he got right back up and kept at it until he could skate like a Roller Derby champ.

THE DISPLAY CASES are full of items that represent the progression of Quayle's life from child (little league uniform, second grade report card) to lawyer (law school diploma -- partially eaten by family pooch Barnaby) to politician (decorated golf bag presented to "Senator Dan Quayle") and, finally, to vice president (gavel that Quayle used to preside over the 1992 Republican National Convention).

Quayle's gaffes and failures aren't overlooked. His dismal performance in the first vice presidential debate is there, as is the National Guard controversy, the "potatoe" incident, the Murphy Brown controversy, and every other major flap and farrago.

You are also reminded that Quayle was a giant killer with unusually good aim. When he entered politics, it was against the advice of all of his friends. He didn't run for an open seat but instead challenged a sitting congressman and won in an upset. In 1980, at 33, he defeated three-term incumbent Birch Bayh, who had been considered presidential timber until the young upstart cut him down. Quayle then went on to win reelection by the widest margin in state history.

Dan Quayle was elevated to vice president in 1989 at 41, making him the third-youngest veep ever. The national reaction to his candidacy was surprise and befuddlement. The local reaction tended more toward pride and defensiveness.

In the speech to his hometown announcing his nomination as vice president, Quayle expressed his gratitude to the people of Huntington for their basic goodness and decency. He praised them when the whole nation was watching.

THOSE WORDS HAD a lasting effect. Driving into Huntington today, you'll see a blue-and-white road sign that reads "WELCOME TO HUNTINGTON HOME OF THE 44TH VICE PRESIDENT DAN QUAYLE," even though Quayle has long since relocated to Arizona.

There are numerous "Quayle sightings" plaques around town, manufactured at the behest of the Dan Quayle Foundation, to indicate places that the former vice president used to frequent. At once such haunt, Nick's Kitchen, you can still order a Quayle Burger -- half a pound of ground chuck with grilled onions, lettuce, and tomatoes with fries -- for $7.25. The burger wasn't Quayle's regular; it was named by the restaurant owner in 1988 on the theory that every successful politician needs a delicious gut bomb named after him.

And of course there's the museum, a former Christian Science church. It's located at the edge of downtown in a handsome, two-story painted brick building adorned with double classical columns. The multiple doors in front once made it easy for large crowds to enter and exit. Now only one door opens, and an agent of the museum collects entry fees. The upstairs retains the open area, usually filled by rows of metal folding chairs, and an elevated stage with pulpit.

It's hard to imagine that pulpit gets pounded much these days. Executive Director Daniel Johns is a candid, soft-spoken guy with graying hair and a background in civil war history, public relations, and child education. ("I'm a mutt," he confessed.) One of his previous posts was at a children's museum

His current place of employment is "becoming known as an educational museum," which means that everything is going according to plan -- sort of.

When Johns came to the Museum, he considered two facts: first, that Huntington is so remote that it might as well be in Canada and, second, that museums get the bulk of their visitors in the summer. He decided he'd best come up with some way to reach larger audiences for the other nine months of the year.

So: schools. Classes from Indiana schools are regularly bussed in, and Johns also takes the show on the road. He estimates that between the bussing and the road show, about 8,000 students a year learn about the vice presidents through the Museum's programs.

The traveling exhibition is very popular in Long Island, New York, for some reason -- perhaps because of that state's record number of veeps.

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