First Lady: Michele Obama Or Cindy McCain
By Harris R. Sherline
September 1, 2008
Accomplishment is not just about what we do in life. It's also about what we do with what we have. For example, Michele Obama and Cindy McCain are obviously both attractive, capable women, who are actively involved in their respective husband's quest for the highest office in the land. But, there are conflicting impressions of the wives of the two presidential nominees: An angry, hostile woman who had to fight her way to the top or an Ice Queen, daughter of privilege?
A brief look at their individual backgrounds gives us some sense of the differences between them and what they may ultimately be like as First Lady.
Cindy McCain:
Age: 53
Raised in Phoenix, heiress to Hensley & Co., one of the largest Anheuser-Busch Brewery distributors in the U.S., she was
Education: Master's degree in special education from the University of Southern California.
Occupation: Early years, high school teacher. Currently, Board chairwoman of Hensley & Co., Income: about $6 million in 2006. (Personal worth is estimated to be $100 million).
Family: Met and married John McCain when she was 25 years old (he was 42), they have four children - Meghan, 23, who is currently writing a blog on the campaign trail; Jack, 21, currently at the U.S. Naval Academy; Jimmy, 19, is in the Marines and recently returned from Iraq; and Bridget, 16, whom Cindy brought home from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh. Bridget had a severe cleft palate and has multiple surgeries.
Board memberships and charitable involvements:
>Chairwoman of Hensley & Co.
>Operation Smile (provides reconstructive surgery to children with facial deformities
around the world
>CARE (fights global poverty)
>Halo Trust (dedicated to land-mine removal)
>Founder of American Voluntary Medical Team, 1988-1995 (provided emergency
medical and surgical care to children in Third World Countries).
With the advantages of her upbringing as the only child in a wealthy family, she was a cheerleader and rodeo queen, later became a pilot, along with her many other accomplishments. She also loves to drive race cars, and her daughter Meghan says that "Mom spoils our dogs silly."
"The quiet force in McCain's campaign," by Jill Lawrence, in USA Today, commented that
Cindy McCain also overcame a stroke that damaged her speech, right arm and leg. "Eight months later she ran and walked a half-marathon. She had a knee replacement last fall (2007) and six weeks later campaigned in snowy New Hampshire."
In addition, Mrs. McCain had an addiction to painkillers that were prescribed "as a result of spinal problems that developed after a series of miscarriages and giving birth to three children...she underwent treatment and attended meetings of Narcotics Anonymous as part of a deal with prosecutors who dropped charges."
Michele Obama:
Age: 44
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, her father was a city water plant employee and her mother worked as a secretary at Spiegel's catalog store. She was raised in a conventional two-parent home on Chicago's South side, where the family convened around the dinner table nightly.
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