Marilyn Quayle had serious image problems of her own when she became Second Lady in 1989. While her husband fought a losing battle to get taken seriously as a vice presidential candidate, she came off as the real-life Church Lady: pious, aloof and perhaps a touch resentful of her spouse’s improbable rise. The 1950s flip perm, the weird Inauguration Day hat–one columnist likened it to a dog-food dish–and her family’s involvement with fundamentalist preacher Col. Robert Thieme all seemed to make her a target. But in two years, Marilyn Quayle has pulled off a surprising reversal of fortune. Her turnabout has been so striking that it raises an important political question: can she help her husband do the same?
Her make-over began almost by accident. At a 1989 Dallas luncheon to raise money for breast-cancer research, the normally stoic Quayle wept as she recounted the death of her 56-year-old mother from the ravaging disease. The public display of emotion stunned even her closest friends. But many women in the audience, also moved to tears, rushed to her side after the speech and volunteered to help in cancer fund raising. Friends and aides urged her to give the speech again. It carried the same punch everywhere she went, winning support for her crusade against the disease.
The Dallas speech gave her a cause–and the foundation of which she could build a new public personality. Next month she’ll host the second annual Race for the Cure, a five-kilometer jog through WAshington that is expected to raise $700,000 for breast-cancer research. She continues to volunteer for federal disaster-relief efforts but has also become involved in aid for the hearing impaired. Next spring she’ll become a published novelist. She and her older sister, Nancy Northcott, have written “The Rage of the Lamb,” a spy thriller about the fictional death of Fidel Castro. Quayle has also bolstered her staff, bringing on Marguerite Hoxie Sullivan, a former journalist and public-relations expert, as a top aide.
The woman who had labor induced so she wouldn’t miss her Indiana bar exam has not abandoned her legal career. Last week she joined the bar of the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. A real practice remains a problem, however. She considered working for a Washington firm after the election but realized that as Second Lady she would be perpetually vulnerable to interest-conflict questions.
Quayle still devotes much of her energy to her two teenage sons and 12-year-old daughter. But she finds time for herself as well. She’s even been spotted cruising the vice presidential driveway in roller blades. Associates say she retains a prankish sense of humor. When a friend was worried about her looks after a recent face-lift, Quayle and her best friend, Hallmark vice president Rae Evans, wrapped their heads in bandages and showed up at her home.
The emerging picture is one of a potent political asset: lawyer, mother and crusader. But so far she’s an untapped asset. Joint appearances with her husband are infrequent. While advisers are well aware that she counsels Quayle in private, they fear that putting Marilyn out front with the veep could throw his liabilities into even sharper relief. Bush staffers notice the paranoia. “He would benefit if the public saw her more involved in his work and him involved in hers. But they are too scared,” gripes a senior aide. Perhaps Quayle aides fear a reprise of 1988, when Marilyn was tagged as a behind-the-scenes manipulator, tugging at Quayle’s elbow to cut off interviews. But that was then. Packaged in tandem now, they might be able to play to one of Quayle’s strengths–as a good family man. Playing the Marilyn card more effectively could help Quayle. But ultimately, he will have to solve his own problems.
