(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-22 10:10

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Cindy McCain did not hesitate as she stepped toward the microphone, taking her place in the history of political wives who stood by their men in the face of rumored or alleged marital infidelity.

Republican US presidential front-runner John McCain (L) speaks as his wife Cindy listens during a news conference in Toledo, Ohio, February 21, 2008. [Agencies]

"Well, obviously, I'm disappointed," she said, her voice low but clear and self-assured. "More importantly, my children and I not only trust my husband, but know that he would never do anything to not only disappoint our family, but disappoint the people of America. He's a man of great character."

She and her husband, likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain, emphatically denied suggestions in published reports that he had an affair with a lobbyist.

A coterie of wives has confronted the public pain of such an accusation. Smaller still is the band who, like Cindy McCain, have spoken out.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady who is battling Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, memorably insisted to CBS's "60 Minutes" during the 1992 campaign, "I'm not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette." She sat beside husband Bill.

And there was her cool demeanor, six years later, at the news conference where her husband declared of Monica Lewinsky: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

Mrs. Clinton made this barbed observation to the journalists who were present, "I'm pleased to see so many people in attendance who care about child care," a reference to the reason the news conference had been arranged.

Few political wives are considered strong women, said Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist at City University of New York.

"Hillary Clinton would certainly fit. Michelle Obama would certainly fit. Cindy McCain would certainly fit, from all indications," Renshon said. "You don't expect them to feel either shell-shocked or look like a deer caught in the headlights. It's not in their nature, because they're strong women."

Cindy McCain is certainly no shrinking violet. Just this week, she tweaked the wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama for seeming to suggest she didn't have much pride in the United States until Obama's campaign gained steam.

"I'm proud of my country," she said in Wisconsin on Tuesday. "I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier."

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