A freezing January morning at Logan Airport caused the alighting passengers on Air Force Two to wince a well they might do anyway, in anticipation of a visit to Democratic Boston in the company of J. Danforth Quayle, Deputy Leader of the Free World. The Vice President was spending one of his increasingly adventurous "days out," and with little to keep me in Washington-Congress recessed, the President and his OMB director huddling to scheme how not to cut the defense budget, I'd requested permission(granted late and with reluctance) to accompany the man who wants to be and, more important, could be the next president of the United States.

As Quayle was borne away from the tarmac on a tie of handlers and Secret Service men, I noticed how his pointless good looks and uncheckable grin already seemed familiar to me and this after only a short flight in his company...