The 2000 presidential campaign of Dan Quayle, former vice president of the United States, began with an announcement on January 21, 1999 that he was forming an exploratory committee.

Dan Quayle had been an elected member of Congress since 1977, and he was George H. W. Bush's running mate in his successful 1988 presidential campaign, serving as vice president from 1989 to 1993, losing reelection in 1992.

Throughout his time in government, he was considered a staunch conservative who was especially popular among the Christian right, but several gaffes during his vice presidency had damaged his reputation among the general public.

However, Quayle continued to trail other Republican candidates in both fundraising and support, and by August, numerous news sources were reporting that a poor performance in the Iowa Straw Poll could be disastrous for his campaign.

[3] Despite his electoral successes at a young age (being elected as a representative at 29, a senator at 33, and vice president at 41), he lacked significant support from Republican leaders.

[3] In a 1999 article in The Washington Post, journalist David Von Drehle stated that Quayle "was never the darling of the party core".

[17] On December 30 of that year, Senator John McCain of Arizona became the first Republican to officially declare his candidacy when he filed to create an exploratory committee that day.

[2][12][19] The same night, he sent out a press release from the "Quayle 2000 Exploratory Committee" that outlined some of his policy proposals and attacked "liberal Republicans".

[2] Quayle stated that he would make a formal announcement on February 3,[12] by which time he would have filed an official statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

[26] In the proceeding weeks, he traveled to numerous spots around the country on a campaign tour,[26] including New Hampshire, which holds the first primaries in the nation.

[31] During the speech, he touted his 30 percent tax cut proposal and his executive experience while criticizing the "dishonest decade of Bill Clinton and Al Gore".

[35] On May 19, Quayle gave a speech at the Commonwealth Club of California where he spoke in favor of family values in light of violent events involving young Americans, such as the recent Columbine High School massacre.

[37] Quayle also continued to emphasize his experience in foreign policy, criticizing the Clinton administration's actions in the Yugoslav Wars and their interactions with China.

[43] That same month, Quayle appeared on CBS This Morning where he claimed that, despite Bush's lead, he expected to beat him in both the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries.

[44] Quayle would continue to attack Bush,[45] and in particular his "compassionate conservative" slogan, arguing instead for "real compassion" that his campaign offered.

[62] Following the straw poll, numerous news sources began to report that Quayle's campaign would be significantly hurt by the results, while Bush had solidified his frontrunner status.

"[67] However, Quayle remained in the race and continued to downplay the straw poll, stating in one interview that he participated "out of respect to the Iowa Republican Party".

[68] As late as September 9, journalist Adam Nagourney of The New York Times stated that Quayle receiving the Republican nomination remained "a realistic goal, if admittedly a difficult one".

[5] The following day, at a ballroom in the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Quayle announced an end to his candidacy, citing a lack of funds and support.

In 1999, the same year Bloomberg News reports that Quayle "left politics", he joined the private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.