No Favors Asked, Quayle Tells VFW : In Major Bid to End Controversy, He Denies Using Influence to Join Guard

In a dramatic attempt to put a major controversy behind him, embattled Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. Dan Quayle told the Veterans of Foreign Wars Monday night that “absolutely no influence” was used to get him into the Indiana National Guard in 1969 as the Vietnam War was raging.

“My unit had vacancies before I applied, when I applied and after I applied. There was no influence whatsoever,” Quayle said. “You more than any other group of Americans need to know the facts.”

The 41-year-old senator received modest applause from the 2,500 veterans and their wives, who hours earlier had loudly cheered Vice President George Bush’s vigorous defense of his running mate. After Bush’s speech, arrangements were hastily made to fly Quayle here from Washington to address the VFW convention.

Dogged by Charges

Quayle, a member of a wealthy and influential Indiana family, has been dogged by charges that he was accorded special treatment, enabling him to enter the Guard and avoid the draft. A former Indiana National Guard major general, then a managing editor at one of Quayle’s family’s newspapers, said he made some phones calls to help Quayle enter the Guard.

Quayle on Monday denied that such assistance constituted undue aid and then in a reference to the controversy said: “My National Guard unit was never called up to active duty, but after the last 72 hours no one can say I never faced combat.”

Quayle’s staff also released a letter dated Friday and signed by two military officials which supported Quayle’s contention that he did not need help to enter the Guard.

“At the time of his enlistment, the Indiana Army National Guard was understrength in general,” noted the letter signed by John N. Owens, major general, U.S. Army retired, who was adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard from January, 1969, to 1972, and Robert G. Moorhead, also a retired major general and commander of the Army’s 38th infantry division from 1971 to 1976.

‘No Influence Exerted’

The retired generals said there were vacancies in Quayle’s unit. “To the best of our knowledge, no influence was exerted to enlist Sen. Quayle,” they said.

Quayle said that friends from his youth “lost their lives” in Vietnam and “my compassion for them is meaningful.”

Then he declared that the “real issue” in the 1988 election “is not what Dan Quayle did or did not do 20 years ago. The issue is what George Bush or Michael Dukakis will do for our great nation. Who will provide for the peace? Who will continue economic growth? There is a very stark difference,” between the two nominees, he said.

Democratic presidential nominee Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts had called the U.S. invasion of Grenada “an inappropriate use of military force,” Quayle said. But “my friends, it was an appropriate use of military force,” Quayle said to applause.

“For the first time, we changed a Communist government to a non-Communist government and that needs to happen more often,” Quayle declared.

The surprise trip was put together in the afternoon, with Illinois Republican Gov. James R. Thompson playing a key role, according to Wade W. La Due, the VFW’s director of public relations. La Due said that several key leaders of the organization were having lunch at the hotel after Bush spoke to the group here. At about 1:45 p.m., La Due said, Thompson came in and summoned Earl L. Stock, Jr., commander-in-chief of the VFW, and Cooper T. Holt, the group’s executive director, out of the room.

Shortly afterward, La Due said he was called into a meeting with the three men, who were on the phone to Quayle’s office in Washington, and logistics of the trip were arranged.

When he left the Hilton at 10 p.m. to return to Washington, a throng of reporters shouted a question to Quayle, asking him whether he thought the National Guard issue had been put to rest. He responded: “I hope so.”

Quayle Well-Received

Quayle’s explanation and appearance here were given favorable marks by a healthy majority of a random sampling of veterans interviewed at the dinner where the senator spoke. “I think everybody thinks he did a real good job,” said Ronald L. Hamm of Ocean City, Md., who served in the Navy during the Korean War. “For us, I think it’s great. We pulled our family behind him.”

Robert Elliot, 62, a World War II veteran from Batavia, Ill., said he thought Quayle “did great.”

But there were skeptics. Chaplin Price, a Vietnam veteran from Oak Park, Ill., called Quayle “a draft dodger.”

“We don’t need no kid telling us what he did or didn’t do,” said Jack Smoot, a Vietnam veteran who said he lost his right eye because of Agent Orange. Others said they were disturbed that Quayle had voted against creation of a Cabinet-level position on veterans affairs. In his speech, Quayle said that that vote had been a mistake.

Quayle’s appearance in Chicago was something of a surprise because on Sunday he had broken off campaigning and returned to Washington “to get his act together,” in Bush’s words. He spent the earlier part of the day holding meetings with campaign officials.

Quayle also sought on Monday to deal with a related charge: that his family may have pulled strings to help him enter law school.

In appearances on the morning news programs, Quayle described himself in college as “your proverbial C-plus student,” but denied breaking any rules to get into law school or the Guard.

“I’m sure every other young man and woman in this nation of ours, in time of important decisions, check at home and check with Mom and Dad,” Quayle said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “And that’s exactly what I have done.

Sees No Rules Violated

“And there has been nothing that has been substantiated that any rules were violated, that we did anything that was unfair, that everything was above board, everything was fair.

“And, by golly, I’m proud that Mom and Dad wanted to help me.”

Quayle’s description of his college record came in response to the disclosure Sunday by his father, Jim, in The Times and other publications that Quayle gained admittance to Indiana University Law School at Indianapolis only after appealing directly to the dean--and at about the same time that his grandfather, wealthy Indiana publisher Eugene C. Pulliam, also made “a significant contribution” to Indiana University.

Quayle had to appeal directly to the dean for admittance to law school, his father told The Times, because his grades were too low for the future senator to qualify him for regular admittance.

Quayle on Monday did not directly address how he came to gain admittance to law school, and he was not asked on television about any financial contribution by his grandfather.

School Refuses Comment

The Dean’s Office at the Indiana University Law School said the school had been “advised by counsel not to answer” whether it had received a contribution from Pulliam.

But associate dean for academic affairs Lawrence T. Wilkins issued a prepared statement saying: “Review of university records shows that (there is no reason to believe) any outside influence was a factor in the admission of Sen. Dan Quayle. The records show that procedures used in the admission process for Sen. Quayle were the same as those applied to all other applicants.”

The senior Quayle on Monday said he doubted that Pulliam contributions influenced Dan Quayle’s admittance to the law school.

“Mr. Pulliam was a great philanthropist and he gave money all the time to lots of schools in Indiana, as well as to zoos and hospitals,” Quayle said. “But I’d risk my arm on the fact he never gave money to the law school. His interest was in journalism and getting better journalists.”

In his earlier remarks to The Times about Pulliam’s philanthropy, the elder Quayle recalled that the contribution was to the University, but did not specify that it was the law school.

On the morning programs, Quayle also denied the suggestion by congressional leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), that he might be damaging the Republican ticket.

“No, I don’t (think so)” he said, “because once we get beyond this intense scrutiny that I have gone through for the last week, when we get on the campaign trail and start talking to America . . . then you will see a different type of campaign. Right now, I just sit there and answer questions.”

Sees Lingering Effect

Dole had told television interviewers Sunday that the controversy over Quayle will likely linger, in part, because “in my generation, you knew who was in the National Guard and who was in uniform fighting for their country. They’re very sensitive about it. They didn’t have anybody they could call. They couldn’t influence anyone.”

Meanwhile, Newsweek magazine reported that during his 1980 Senate campaign, Quayle referred to himself in political pamphlets as a “Vietnam-era veteran.” Quayle dropped the reference after objections by some Vietnam combat veterans. Although the reference was technically correct, Newsweek said that his National Guard duty was not the type of service implied in the leaflet.

Republican Party officials on Monday urged Bush to stick by Quayle but often in cautious terms.

“Everybody’s kind of waiting to see if there’s anything else out there,” said Michelle Davis, executive director of the Republican Governors Assn. She called the questions about Quayle’s military service and law school admission “mere ruffles” and said: “If this is all there is to be had, that ain’t bad.”

“This thing has to be over before Labor Day, one way or the other,” said Tommy Thomas, chairman of the Bush steering committee in Florida.

Thomas, who joined the Marines on his 17th birthday in World War II, said: “I think Quayle should assess and if he feels like he’s hurting the ticket, he ought to be man enough to step aside.”

At a photo opportunity in his Senate office, Quayle brushed aside questions about whether he will stay on the Republican ticket and told reporters: “I’m George Bush’s running mate.”

No Rules Broken, He Says

In defending his record, Quayle also argued in the television interviews that, “I think the critical question is: Were any rules broken? No. Did we ask any rules to be bent? No . . . it was all fair,” regarding both his entrance into law school and the National Guard.

Quayle argued that “somehow it is being portrayed that serving in the National Guard is something less than patriotic. That is simply not the case.”

ABC interviewer Morton Dean said the question was whether or not it was hypocritical for someone who claims to have supported the war not to fight in it.

“I don’t think its hypocritical. There are a lot of people that were in the National Guard in my National Guard unit that supported the goals of fighting Communism but were in the National Guard,” Quayle said.

Quayle’s wife, Marilyn, suggested that much of the media focus on the controversies dogging Quayle don’t fairly reflect the popular response her husband has encountered. “The people have been far more receptive than one would see in the news reports. We’ve had an awful lot of support.”

Quayle returned to Washington Monday night, and is scheduled to resume campaigning Wednesday. He was to attend legislative conferences in Cincinnati and Lexington, Ky., before traveling to St. Louis, where aides say he will deliver a major address to the Enlisted Assn. of the National Guard, composed of current and former enlisted personnel.

Meanwhile, federal employees who counsel Vietnam veterans were ordered to spurn media interviews on the furor surrounding Quayle’s Guard service, an official said Monday.

One angry counselor called the order a violation of his right to speak out. But Farrell Udell, associate regional manager of the Veterans Administration and the official who issued the directive in seven Western states said he was merely reinforcing a law that bars government employees from getting involved in politics.

Henry Weinstein reported from Chicago and Thomas B. Rosenstiel from Washington.