The last time a young senator from the Midwest was selected as the Vice Presidential nominee for a major party, all eyes were on Dan Quayle, and WISH-TV was at the Republican National Convention to cover the story.    

In late July 1988, Indiana senator Dan Quayle found himself staring at a stack of forms and legal documents delivered to him by a Washington, D.C. attorney. The forms asked questions about his financial status, inquired about his ethical and moral standing, and sought information to probe into his background. 

Quayle had been selected by current Vice President George H.W. Bush to be included on a list of over a dozen other senators and governors who were in consideration to be Bush’s running mate in the 1988 presidential election. 

After completing the forms and sending them back to attorney Robert Kimmel in Washington, Quayle had nothing to do but wait. Vice President Bush told the public he would not announce his decision on a running mate until the Republican National Convention in New Orleans in mid-August. 

For the next several weeks, speculation on a selection for a vice presidential nominee waxed and waned between several candidates. Many thought Bush’s Republican primary rival, Bob Dole, was a lock for the pick. Others thought Bush would try to unite the party’s conservative evangelical and moderate wings by selecting TV preacher Pat Robertson.  

With only two weeks to go until the convention, many party leaders were doing their best to position Quayle as a frontrunner to the media. New York congressman and chairman of the House Republican Conference, Jack Kemp, told reporters, “I think Dan Quayle would make a great vice president.”

While still relatively young, only 41 years old at the time, Quayle was nearing the end of his seventh year as a United States Senator. Well known for his foreign policy expertise, Quayle had counseled Vice President Bush several times on political and campaign issues. The two knew each other fairly well. 

Meanwhile, before heading down to New Orleans to cover the Republican National Convention for WISH-TV, Jim Shella, a political reporter, and Jim Hester, a photojournalist, were finalizing their plan for the week. Knowing Quayle could be a hot topic, the pair created a “pitch tape.” The tape contained about 10 minutes of footage of Dan Quayle in meetings, walking around the halls of Congress, etc. With a fresh pitch reel, a camera, and a little luck in their back pocket, the pair set off for the Big Easy.     

By the morning of Saturday, August 13, the New York Times reported that Vice President Bush and his team had cut their short list of running mates down to six, and Dan Quayle was still in consideration. Even if he didn’t get the nomination, many considered this to be the start of a long career in the spotlight for a rising star in the Republican party. 

On Monday, August 15, at the start of the convention, Shella and Hester sat down with Quayle for an on-camera interview. Aside from the standard talking points, Quayle said he was happy to be a national candidate, and while he was a bit leery of the increased public scrutiny that might come his way, it was an honor to be considered for the job.      

As that Monday came to a close, there was still no word from Vice President Bush. The pair of Shella and Hester approached the next day, August 16, the same as the previous: an interview with Quayle. However, after the afternoon meetings came to a close without an announcement from Bush, a producer from WISH-TV called Shella and Hester and told them to focus on something else.   

Before leaving their interview, Shella asked Quayle if it would be possible to record the eventual phone call from Vice President Bush informing him of his acceptance or rejection as the nominee. After a stern look and loud protest of “Absolutely not!” from his wife, Marilyn, Quayle informed the pair that it would not be possible.   

Defeated, Shella and Hester set off to find another story to cover at the convention. But that Tuesday evening, Vice President Bush approached a microphone in front of supporters and announced, “I have made a choice.” 

Senator Dan Quayle was about to be catapulted into the national spotlight. “At that point, things just got crazy,” Shella says. Unable to make the official announcement and thus having no footage of the historic moment, Shella and Hester remembered that pitch tape they created before leaving for New Orleans.

The pair made copies and traded with other news outlets in exchange for footage of the announcement and subsequent convention events that week that featured Dan Quayle. Their quick thinking made it possible for Central Indiana viewers to get a first-hand account of how their senator was now months away from becoming vice president.