The Man Who Would be President: Dan Quayle - Hardcover

Overshadowed by jokes and negative press, the real Dan Quayle finally emerges in this reprint of a January 1992 seven-part Washington Post series of articles by Broder, the dean of political columnists, and investigative reporter Woodward, author of The Commanders ( LJ 8/91). (Librarians should note that the publisher reverses the co-authors on the book jacket.) Though he lacks intellectual depth, Quayle is presented as a decent politician (and parent), who is able to get along with others and who is adept at promoting himself. In this regard he resembles William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding. In fact, even their wives shared similar temperaments: they were all talented, ambitious, and frustrated. This is likely to become the definitive work on the Quayle vice presidency. It confirms Richard F. Fenno's account of Quayle's legislative career ( Making of a Senator , Congressional Quarterly, 1989) and adds balance to the media's negative view of Quayle during the 1988 campaign (see Jules Witcover's Crapshoot , 12/91).
- William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Readers will find little here to change perception of Vice President J. Danforth Quayle as a lightweight with a short attention span, a confused sense of history and lacking in "the vision thing." In a reprint of a controversial seven-part series that appeared in the Washington Post , journalists Woodward and Broder describe Quayle's 1976 entry into politics, his contributions as a senator, his aggressive campaign to be picked by George Bush as his 1988 running mate, his ordeal-by-ridicule throughout that campaign and his accomplishments as vice-president. There's an entire chapter on Quayle's golf obsession ("I can't get enough of it!") in which the authors aver that the game is a major part of his life, essential to his psychic balance and a key to understanding him. We're shown that another key is his formidable wife Marilyn, and Woodward and Broder do a fine job describing her role in her husband's career. She comes off as having more substance than he. And she is more interesting to read about in this short but informative book. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.