George H.W. Bush: “Look, let me say something about that. I was there for 8 years. You say it's a powerful springboard, but do you remember…”

“Look, let me say something about that. I was there for 8 years. You say it's a powerful springboard, but do you remember the flak I got that no Vice President since Martin Van Buren had ever ascended to the Presidency in his own right? It was called the Martin Van Buren syndrome. And I used to go around saying Marty is going to be proved wrong, or proved right. And sure enough, it worked out that way. My view on Dan Quayle is he's done a good job. He is getting the most unfair rap from his critics of anybody that's been in this job. And you're talking to ``the wimp.'' You're talking to the guy that had a cover of a national magazine that I'll never forgive that put that label on me. And now some that saw that we can react when the going gets tough maybe have withdrawn that allegation. But it wasn't pleasant. The job doesn't lend itself to high profile and decisionmaking. It lends itself to loyally supporting the President of the United States, giving him your best judgment, and then when the President makes a decision, supporting it. And Dan Quayle has been superb. May I give you an example? He just came back from Eastern Europe. I don't remember any front-page stories or spelling out the great success of that trip. And it was successful. He's over there reassuring the Eastern Europeans that we are interested in their recovery. All you read about is the Soviet Union in that regard. He did a fantastic job there. He's done it in South America. He's done it in Asia. He's done it domestically, supporting my domestic agenda that we don't read too much about. And so, he's doing a first-class job. And I'll let the system work on the politics, but I'm glad to have this opportunity to defend him fully. You're not going to get me into 1992 politics as it relates to the Vice President or this one except to say he's going to be on the ticket if I run again.”