From before sunrise to well into the evening Thursday, the Bush campaign tried to quell questions over Sen. Dan Quayle`s military service that threatened to overwhelm what was supposed to be the crowning moment of George Bush`s political career so far.
While Bush and his aides wanted to avoid a crisis over Quayle`s service record, there was little doubt that the questions and the rehash of Quayle`s life as the privileged scion of a wealthy Indiana family were threatening to tarnish the Republican presidential campaign that was just about to take off. ”Boy, this is going to be fun,” Quayle said as he tried to shush the wildly applauding convention crowd Thursday night when he accepted the Republican nomination for vice president.
The campaign was not so sanguine earlier in the day.
Bush`s senior campaign aides met from 1 until after 3 a.m. in a New Orleans Marriott Hotel room to explore how much damage had been done and what more might be revealed. A Bush campaign aide, Mark Gooden, described the predawn session as ”a fact-gathering meeting.”
”Not a single thought is being given to changing the ticket,” said Alixe Glen, Bush`s deputy press secretary. And by Thursday night, it was clear that the campaign had decided to rally around Quayle.
It was not so evident in the morning, as Republican political consultant Ed Rollins suggested that if Quayle had misled Bush`s campaign about his past, he might have to step aside. Bush`s press secretary, Sheila Tate, tried to quash that talk.
”We have chased down every single rumor,” she said. ”We haven`t been able to substantiate one single rumor.”
The questions quickly turned not only on the service issue, but on questions of privilege and influence. Even campaign manager James Baker suggested, ”I think what you`re going to find here, at the outside, he was assisted by his family in joining the National Guard some 20 years or so ago, when he was 22 years of age.”
Minutes before Quayle`s speech, Baker appeared on network television to support Quayle and say the controversy would not impede the fall campaign.
”I served in the National Guard . . . and I`m proud of that,” Quayle told the convention, prompting another round of applause.
Despite that partisan enthusiasm, a nagging question remained about whether Quayle`s family had greased his way into the National Guard. Quayle himself said Wednesday night that ”some calls were made” on his behalf.
A former major general in the Indiana National Guard, Wendell Phillippi, confirmed Thursday that he had talked to Guard officials on Quayle`s behalf in 1969. At the time, Phillippi was managing editor of the Indianapolis News, which was owned by members of Quayle`s family.
”The question was, I believe, Was there any pull or some influence in some way for him to get into the National Guard,” Robert Teeter, Bush`s pollster, recalled of the Bush campaign`s discussions with Quayle. ”My impression is the answer is absolutely not. He at some point said, `I simply applied, like anyone else.` ”
Campaign aides suggested at one point that they might release a written statement explaining how Quayle missed being drafted during the Vietnam War and, instead, served in the Indiana National Guard from 1969 to 1975. But that plan was scrapped.
”It`s the vice president`s night,” Tate said. ”Senator Quayle will continue to answer questions if they arise.”
The topic was discussed in detail by television commentators and political analysts all day. By nightfall, Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, who was severely wounded in World War II, and others went on a media offensive, defending Quayle to the convention delegates. In the hall, one placard read:
”National Guardsmen for Quayle.”
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Both candidates were taunted with questions. When Quayle toured the Superdome convention site in midafternoon, he was besieged by shouted questions, but he would say only ”Tune in tonight” for his acceptance speech.
Bush waved off repeated questions about Quayle while mentioning him in glowing terms in three public appearances before his own acceptance speech.
”I don`t think I could have selected anybody that`ll do more to help in the election than Dan Quayle,” Bush told a brunch honoring his wife, Barbara. ”He is going to be outstanding on this ticket.”
But the focus on Quayle`s past was taking a toll-absorbing energy, it seemed, that Bush had wanted directed toward his speech. He alluded to how he felt early Thursday morning when he spoke to a warm and clamorous delegation from Texas and quoted his friend, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach:
”Never let the other side know you`re tired,” said Bush, who did look sallow and a bit wan. ”I`m not going to let the other side know I`m tired, because I`m not. I`m upbeat.”
”He`s going to make a tremendous impression across this country,” Bush said gamely as he talked about Quayle. ”Texans will like this man. They`ll like his position on defense. They`ll like his position on job retraining. . . . He`s going to be a great vice president.”
Bush`s eldest son, George Jr., took a different tack in defending Quayle, one that other Republican leaders would repeat in one form or another during the day.
”I`m not worried about it at all,” said the younger Bush. ”The thing that`s important, I want you all to remember, is that he didn`t go to Canada.”
When asked if that was the bottom line in judging a young man who would be ”a heartbeat away” from the presidency, Bush`s son replied: ”That`s my point. Remember, in `68 Canada was an option. He didn`t go. Let`s keep it in a generational perspective.”
Convention delegates were aware of the controversy-a headline in the New Orleans Times-Picayune referred to ”draft-dodging questions”-but Republican delegates applauded the appearance of their new campaign ticket at two public events, the brunch in honor of Barbara Bush and a fundraiser that brought in more than $4 million.
At the fundraiser, the Bushes and the Quayles rode in a gleaming red and chrome fire engine down the middle of the cavernous convention center while 4,000 supporters waved flags in tribute.
There was almost excruciating irony for the campaign because, while Quayle sat quietly beside Bush, the vice president received a lengthy introduction by his old tailgunner, with whom he had flown 56 missions in a carrier-based torpedo bomber during World War II.
”A lot of our friends didn`t make it back,” said Leo Nadeau, referring to the time Bush`s plane was shot down, a day that Nadeau missed by chance.
”Sick, hurt and alone floating in his Mae West (life preserver), George Bush`s future at the ripe old age of 20 did not look very bright.”
If the current crisis was less life-threatening, it brought out some political unity. Even rivals for the vice-presidential slot loyally trooped out to defend Quayle.
”He`s going to answer all the questions,” said Rep. Jack Kemp of New York. ”I`ll campaign for a Bush-Quayle ticket.”
”We`d have loved to have seen a crisp answer yesterday about his finances and about the other questions,” said former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont. ”I thought he was a little better on the issues than on the personal questions.”
”I think that what`s happening to Dan is that he`s being tested by the media,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who was sitting at the Republican gala with former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. ”And these next few weeks are going to be tough weeks. He`s going to come through. He`s a tough little guy, and he does a good job.”
There is nothing wrong with making phone calls to get in the National Guard, insisted Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.
”Unless there`s some evidence that he used it to avoid active duty and being sent to Vietnam, then I think it`s very unfair to him,” Thurmond said. At the Republican fundraiser, Bush embraced Nadeau and then began his own speech.
”We had a mission,” Bush said, weaving his war record in with his ambition to be president. ”We knew that we had to finish the missions we were assigned. . . . I know that I have a mission, a new mission, and my mission is to finish the job that the President so capably started. . . . I am ready for the challenge.”
With applause echoing in the hall, Bush left the fundraiser and Quayle was introduced.
”I can say as just one humble person from the great Midwest, the great Midwestern small town, speaking before the Republican Party, which I am convinced is the party of the great middle class, that listening to George Bush speak and listening to George Bush talk about his America, I can only say that I am darn proud to have George Bush as our presidential nominee,” Quayle said.
”And I can tell you that I can`t wait to get out there on the campaign trail,” he added, his strong voice dropping half an octave and getting heavier. ”And I can`t wait to take this campaign to the American people. . . . Let`s go get `em.”