``Today, I announce that I will seek and I will win the presidency of the United States,'' the 52-year-old Republican, who served as George Bush's gaffe-prone vice president from 1989 to 1993, told a crowd of enthusiastic supporters at a high school in his northern Indiana hometown.

Dismissing widespread scepticism by the national media about his chances, Quayle noted that every election campaign he had started in his hometown, which he called ``the heart of America,'' had resulted in victory.

He said the time had come ``to reset the moral compass'' of the nation after ``the dishonest decade of (President) Bill Clinton and (Vice President) Al Gore.''

He told the crowd at Huntington North High School that bedrock American values of faith, respect, responsibility, integrity and patriotism were ``under assaulttoday.''

But he will probably face stiff competition from a field of at least nine Republican White House hopefuls led by George W Bush, son and namesake of Quayle's former boss and Elizabeth Dole, wife of ex-senator and 1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole. But Quayle insists that he is better qualified for the job.

Arizona Senator John McCain was also to announce his candidacy on Wednesday, joining the lineup with former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander, conservative activist Gary Bauer, Senator Robert Smith, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan, multi-millionaire Steve Forbes and Representative John Kasich.

Bush has yet to formally announce his candidature.

The early frontrunner on the Democratic nomination is Vice President Al Gore, who thus far only faces competition former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley, who also was a professional basketball star.

Quayle is making a serious effort to erase the pictures of him gleefully waving an anatomically correct doll in Latin America andmisspelling potato in a nationally televised contest.

His long-shot status -- he trails in the polls behind Bush and Elizabeth Dole -- have some wondering if his run is simply an effort to recast his legacy so the potato debacle won't be the first line of his obituary.

Quayle, who backed out of the 1996 race citing health concerns, has taken to speaking without notes to project confidence and erase his reputation for embarrassing gaffes.

`Family values' have been a cornerstone of his politics and he has written two books: one on the American family and discipline -- he supports spanking -- and a memoir called Standing Strong

.

Quayle, who had called for Clinton's resignation over the president's affair with former intern Monica Lewinsky, is one of several White House hopefuls who have made public avowals of marital fidelity in the wake of the sex scandal.