Biden thanks Quayle for the pool

By Garance Franke-Ruta
Maybe it was that heat wave last week.

Vice President Biden, chatty as usual before a foreign leaders luncheon at his residence Monday, told the news media waiting there for the traveling dignitaries that he'd never have anything bad to say about Dan Quayle, his often-mocked predecessor, because Quayle was responsible for the pool at the vice presidential house.

"Gentlemen, I want to show you the Dan Quayle swimming pool," Biden later quipped after posing with the leaders.

The lunch at the residence was "the largest gathering of foreign leaders ever at the United States Naval Observatory," according to the White House, and was being held in advance of Monday night's opening of the Nuclear Security Summit, with the goal of discussing the administration's "commitment to a world without nuclear weapons and address[ing] the goals of the non-aligned movement."

The pool and its pool house were built with $130,000 in private funds donated to the nonprofit Vice President's Residence Foundation, according to the Center for Public Integrity.