# Was Dan Quayle worse than Dick Cheney? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 4, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811 "2007-02-04T19:34:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/1 "2007-02-04T19:34:24Z")
Two of the worst Vice Presidents are Dick Cheney and Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle is an idiot who was the deserved butt of jokes by late night tv hosts. However, Dick Cheney is an immoral man with a lust for power and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Quayle added nothing to George H. W. Bush’s presidency while Cheney is largely believed to shape Bush’s policy. Quayle was busy ridiculing tv mothers while Cheney was busy releasing the names of CIA agents and having secret meetings with energy companies. Still, President Quayle would have been an absolute nightmare for this country. We already have a de facto President Cheney. ---
**Author:** ![komb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4da419/32.png) [@komb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komb)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/2 "2007-02-05T00:37:55Z")
Dan Quayle was George HW Bush’s other son, the one they gave away when they were teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/3 "2007-02-05T03:03:34Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] Two of the worst Vice Presidents are Dick Cheney and Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle is an idiot who was the deserved butt of jokes by late night tv hosts. However, Dick Cheney is an immoral man with a lust for power and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Quayle added nothing to George H. W. Bush’s presidency while Cheney is largely believed to shape Bush’s policy. Quayle was busy ridiculing tv mothers while Cheney was busy releasing the names of CIA agents and having secret meetings with energy companies. Still, President Quayle would have been an absolute nightmare for this country. We already have a de facto President Cheney. [/QUOTE] For all his ineptitude at speaking and presenting himself, Quayle was a reasonable and fairly innocuous man. A Quayle Presidency would likely have been brief, uneventful, and forgettable. He would have pretty much made whatever political decision seemed safest, played the political winds, and been quietly shuffled out of office in a Bill Clinton landslide. You’d remember him exactly the way people remember Gerald Ford except without the smelly pardon thing. Cheney’s administration has been a disaster, and would have been worse if he’d actually been President as opposed to just influencing Bush. Cheney will leave his country isolated and mired in an unwinnable war, with billions of its taxpayers’ dollars stolen by himself and his cronies. He’s been a hundred times worse than Quayle could ever have been. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/4 "2007-02-05T03:31:31Z")
You forgot Spiro Agnew. Took bribes while sitting in the white house. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/5 "2007-02-05T03:36:40Z")
Quayle was a doofus and a bumbler, but meant well. Cheney is a vicious warmongerer who exploits his position to give power to large corporations and to expand empire while waging war on the middle class. Seems clear to me. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/6 "2007-02-05T03:40:42Z")
No, Agnew resigned in the WH because of bribes he took while governor of MD. This crap happened fifteen years before I was born and I still know it. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/7 "2007-02-05T03:48:34Z")
Ah, Spiro Agnew. Notable chiefly for the fact that his name is an anagram for Grow A Penis. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/8 "2007-02-05T03:53:09Z")
Say all you want about Cheney, except that he is a bad VP. He has pushed the White House agenda very effectively for 6 years. You may disagree with that agenda but he has been instrumental in getting the American to buy it with his selective appearences on Sunday news shows. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/9 "2007-02-05T04:36:16Z")
Oh my, no Cheney/Quale-quail shooting jokes. Surely y’all can give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/10 "2007-02-05T05:12:18Z")
I’ve never seen a Vice President so willing to tell such blatant lies even when presented with irrefutable evidence of his own words. I think he has to have some sort of personality disorder that would allow him to do that. Very unethical man. Dan Quayle was a fairly harmless doofus. Spiro Agnew was corrupt, but neither as bright nor as sick as Cheney. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/11 "2007-02-05T05:12:44Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] No, Agnew resigned in the WH because of bribes he took while governor of MD. This crap happened fifteen years before I was born and I still know it. [/QUOTE] There is [strong speculation](http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/agnew.htm) that he also took bribes while VP. The reported reasons for resigning were part of a nolo contendre plea bargain. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/12 "2007-02-05T11:54:57Z")
I dunno, I never thought Quayle was especially dumb; he was just a particularly inept public speaker with an unfortunate tendency to get linked with pointless issues that encouraged Republic chest-beating, like Murphy Brown’s child. He was mostly harmless. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/13 "2007-02-05T12:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] There is [strong speculation](http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/agnew.htm) that he also took bribes while VP. The reported reasons for resigning were part of a nolo contendre plea bargain. [/QUOTE] Oh, ok. Cool. (In the ‘really uncool but I’m glad I know this now’ sense.) ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/14 "2007-02-05T14:25:56Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Say all you want about Cheney, except that he is a bad VP. [/QUOTE] Why should we not say that? When people discuss whether a politician is good or bad, they are usually referring to the effect on the realm, not how effective he is in pushing his agenda. Cheney is _hideously_ effective, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/15 "2007-02-05T15:37:46Z")
Cheney may be effective, but I don’t think it’s his job to develop his own agenda and ram it through the president and congress. I want my veeps in the loop so they can take over in the event of the president’s death, they can be part of the team, but they shouldn’t be pushing their own agenda. I think Quayle was nowhere near as dumb as he was portrayed. He seemed to me to be a good and decent person, perhaps he would have been a somewhat timid president but he certainly didn’t do the country any harm while in office. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/16 "2007-02-05T16:02:00Z")
My personal Top 10 list of Quaylisms: 1. I stand by all the misstatements that I’ve made 2. We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur. 3. Time for the human race to enter the solar system! 4. We don’t want to go back to tomorrow, we want to go forward. 5. I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican. 6. We’re going to have the best-educated American people in the world. 7. 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. 8. I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix. 9. I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future. 10. Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/17 "2007-02-05T19:23:11Z")
Other great Quayleisms: “I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change.” and “The future will be better tomorrow”. Quayle is perceived as harmless because he did not have a forceful role in the Administration and because he was a hilarious verbal bumbler. What’s forgotten is his far-right beliefs that led to his being selected as a veep candidate to appease more extreme elements of the party. The thought of him becoming president is horrific. It’s part of the mantra of the Left that Cheney is the real power in Washington and leading Bush around by the nose. I’m sure that Bush has benefited greatly from being underestimated in this way. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/18 "2007-02-05T19:31:01Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] My personal Top 10 list of Quaylisms: 1. I stand by all the misstatements that I’ve made 2. We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur. 3. Time for the human race to enter the solar system! 4. We don’t want to go back to tomorrow, we want to go forward. 5. I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican. 6. We’re going to have the best-educated American people in the world. 7. 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. 8. I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix. 9. I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future. 10. Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child. [/QUOTE] Can’t forget these, courtesy of [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/quotes/quayle.htm): > [@](#): > > # “What a waste it is to lose one’s mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.” > > # “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.” > > # “I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/19 "2007-02-05T19:40:16Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] It’s part of the mantra of the Left that Cheney is the real power in Washington and leading Bush around by the nose. I’m sure that Bush has benefited greatly from being underestimated in this way. [/QUOTE] Or maybe Cheney has benefited from being [overlooked](http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/012263.php) that way. Given that Cheney’s office has been [promulgating the theory that the OVP is a fourth branch of government](http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/2004/p226_appendix5.pdf), not subject to the normal oversight mechanisms, and refusing to say even who is employed by the OVP, it’s all getting rather interesting over there: > [@](#): > > The Vice Presidency is a unique office that is neither a part of the executive branch nor a part of the legislative branch, but is attached by the Constitution to the latter. The Vice Presidency performs functions in both the legislative branch (see article I, section 3 of the Constitution) and in the executive branch (see article II, and amendments XII and XXV, of the Constitution, and section 106 of title 3 of the United States Code). ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811/20 "2007-02-05T19:41:22Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Say all you want about Cheney, except that he is a bad VP. He has pushed the White House agenda very effectively for 6 years. You may disagree with that agenda but he has been instrumental in getting the American to buy it with his selective appearences on Sunday news shows. Horse shit. If the agenda is bad, the guy effecting it is bad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-dan-quayle-worse-than-dick-cheney/390811.md?page=2)