Quayle Fields Questions on Qualifications, Wealth

Sen. Dan Quayle, the conservative baby boomer who will be George Bush’s running mate, today defended his qualifications to be “a heartbeat away” from the presidency and said there was “nothing to” a weekend that he and other congressmen spent with a Washington lobbyist.

The Indiana Republican also said it was a “cheap shot” for anyone to criticize his entering the National Guard during the Vietnam War.

And the 41-year-old senator, named by Bush on Tuesday to be his running mate, said he is not as wealthy as some reports have suggested. One story that put his net worth at $200 million has “caused me a lot of problems at home because my wife is asking about that,” he joked.

In a joint news conference at which Bush vowed the two will campaign like “a couple of pit bulls,” Quayle--a relative unknown on the national political horizon--faced a barrage of questions as he began the process of introducing himself to American voters.

Questioned on Qualifications

Bush insisted Quayle is the best candidate to be his vice presidential choice, but Quayle was pressed on his presidential qualifications.

“I have spent 12 years in the Congress,” Quayle said. “I know perhaps as much about national security as anybody with few exceptions. . . . The Senate Armed Services Committee and my national security background gives me a very important background,” he said.

Should an accident befall the President, Quayle said he would know “what needs to be done to preserve the freedoms and opportunity in this country.”

He added that he worked in executive positions in state government before going to Congress, including one as the chief inheritance tax officer for Indiana.

“I was known as the chief grave robber of the state,” he said.

Quayle gave terse answers to questions about his relationship with Paula Parkinson, a Washington lobbyist who was on a golfing trip in 1980 with Quayle and two other congressmen. Quayle has previously denied any sexual relationship with Parkinson, a statement he would not expand on.

‘There Is Nothing to It’

“That has been covered and there is nothing to it,” he said.

Asked if he had ever seen Parkinson on other occasions, Quayle said, “No.”

Quayle objected to suggestions that he had ducked military service in Vietnam by joining the National Guard in 1969.

“I do perceive that as being a cheap shot. I have a deep affection for those men and women who sacrificed their lives in Vietnam. For anybody to imply anything differently is just not true,” he said.

Quayle also denied stories painting him as a wealthy man. His relatives and a family trust own newspapers in Indiana and Arizona.

Asked if Quayle is worth $200 million, Bush cut in to joke: “Why do you think I chose him?”

Quayle tried to also give a light answer to the question:

“That figure is not correct. Believe me, you have caused me a lot of problems at home because my wife is asking about that.”

Both men said they will disclose their finances fully.