(5 of 8)
Political wives find that theirs is the last cause to which their husbands devote themselves. California Representative Pete McCloskey, recently divorced from his wife, regretfully seconds a friend's assessment: "Pete's a great guy. He'll do anything for his country, his friends and his family, in that order —which is not very good for his family." Adds McCloskey: "You get so involved with the cause that you lose your sensitivity to people." Nancy Riegle, who is divorced from Michigan's Democratic Congressman Donald Riegle, acidly agrees, "The trouble is these guys think that what they're doing is so important they lose perspective. They think they're being unselfish worrying about the kids in Viet Nam and the poor in the ghettos, but that's a bunch of crap. All they want to do is see their name in print. It's all for their own aggrandizement. When it comes to being a daddy or a husband, there is no time."
Psychiatrist Davidson, who traveled with the McCarthy presidential campaign in 1968, argues that "politicians have overextended themselves physically and emotionally to the point where their judgment is impaired." Rather than lead the errant husband back to reality, the family tends to become overprotective for fear of letting him down. Through the best of intentions, they thus confirm him in his illusions. Barbara ("Bootsie") Mandel, whose husband of 32 years, the Democratic Governor of Maryland, deserted her last year in order to marry a younger woman, concurs. "A man like Marvin Mandel, he starts to believe what his staff tells him, and they only tell him what he wants to hear. Then he comes home, and his wife tells him the truth."
A constant stress on politicians' wives is the frequent absence of their busy husbands. "Those wives may talk about hating politics," says a Washington woman who has worked closely with the wives of two presidential candidates. "But what they really mean is that they hate being abandoned. It would be interesting to see statistics on how many political husbands haven't been at the hospital when their babies were born." When Abigail McCarthy was rushed to X ray after complications developed in giving birth, Gene left her to make a roll call on the Hill. The doctor was astounded but not Abigail.
After having her husband to herself for much of an idyllic summer, Happy Rockefeller frets about the separation that the vice presidency will bring. She greeted the appointment with distinct coolness. It is not that she is displeased says a family spokesman, but she is "less than enchanted with the idea, and her sons are having trouble getting used to it." Said a family friend: "She's not throwing her hat in the air about getting back into public life, but she is throwing her hat in the air because her husband is so happy."