Remember Dan Quayle?

[This is reprinted from NewsMax.com.]

No one is telling Dan Quayle jokes in corporate circles these days - the former vice president has been reincarnated as a globetrotting business leader winning high praise for his investment savvy.

Quayle, who left politics in 1999, is chairman of global investments for New York-based Cerberus Capital Management.

And thanks to his extensive connections from his days in politics, he's "the classic door-opener" who is "especially valuable when offshore politicians are involved," according to Business Week.

His first major task after joining the company in 2000 was calming Japanese officials concerned about his firm's bid for the former Nippon Credit Bank.

His longtime ties to Japan paid a dividend, and Cerberus went on to purchase a controlling interest in the bank, now known as Aozora Bank Ltd.

"Quayle has given a broad sense of credibility to Cerberus," said Yoshihiko Miyauchi, chief executive with a firm that also has a stake in Aozora.

More recently, Quayle met with then-Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this summer about Cerberus' interest in buying Israel's roughly one-quarter stake in Bank Leumi, Business Week reported.

Quayle has also impressed corporate insiders as a company director, beginning in 1993 when he joined the American Standard Cos. board.

"He surprised everybody in the most positive way with his insights, judgments and ability to net out the issues," said Joseph S. Schuchert Jr., a fellow director.

Quayle told Business Week he hasn't found the move from politics to business particularly hard.

"There are a lot of similarities. You've got people who have different agendas. It's basically getting people to agree, and I've been doing that all my life in politics."