From
Spy
magazine – 1989
Young Vice President
Never Die
They Just Make You
Laugh
In a
revealing profile in The New York Times last year we learned that Vice
President Quayle was enraptured by American Caesar, William Manchester’s
biography of General Douglas MacArthur. Why, we wondered, would the
life story of the man who single-handedly wrought the Allies’ Southwest Pacific
victory so interest the chuckleheaded scion of a Corn Belt news-chain
fortune? Surely, as Quayle’s dreamboat eyes drifted across Manchester’s
prose, he deciphered the screaming semaphore of destiny.
|
MacARTHUR |
QUAYLE |
|
Delivered
West Point commencement address in 1933 |
Delivered
West Point commencement address in 1989 |
|
“Handsome
as a prince he was” – a West Point classmate |
“He
was incredibly good-looking” – a Huntington High
classmate |
|
Was
said to be “affianced to eight girls at the same time” at West
Point |
“Chased
broads like his old man” at DePauw, says his
father |
|
Name
of family doctor and spinal-defect corrector: Franz
Pfister |
Name
of family friend and congressional campaign worker: Ann
Pfister |
|
Thought
of himself as defender, with the pope, of Christian values in the
world |
Thought
of himself as defender, with law student Frank Pope, of conservative
values at Indiana University |
|
Used
influence of the National Guard to gain entrance into the
Philippines |
Used
influence of Major General Philippi to gain entrance into the National
Guard |
|
“[He
was a] soaring intellect. [He] often quoted Plato’s Republic” –
Manchester |
“[He
is a] smart man. [He] tries to read Plato’s Republic every year” –
Marilyn Quayle |
|
Said,
“In war there is no substitute for victory,” in
1951 |
Said,
“There is nothing that a good defense cannot beat a better offense,” in
1988 |
-- Martin
Kihn