CINDY MCCAIN: OVERCOMING DRUGS, FINDING SHE LOVES CAMPAIGN

PHOENIX (AP) -- Six years ago, Cindy McCain admitted there was more to
her life than being a political wife, a mother and a philanthropist.
She was also addicted to painkillers -- which she had stolen from the
medical charity she founded.

Now that her husband, Sen. John McCain, is a contender for the GOP
presidential nomination, Mrs. McCain is reliving it all in the
national spotlight.

"The hardest part for me was the first time I had to admit to myself
I'd made a mistake and that I was addicted," Mrs. McCain, 45, said
recently. She also had to admit it to her husband, who spent his
weekdays in Washington and didn't know about his wife's struggle.

Mrs. McCain selected a group of Arizona reporters and revealed her
story in 1994, saying she had stopped taking the drugs in 1992.
Newspaper headlines followed, but the manner in which she addressed
the issue helped defuse the issue.

"There's a courage there and a toughness," says Sharon Harper, Mrs.
McCain's close friend and neighbor.

"She's a leader not afraid to step up to bat and slug a few out of the
park," adds Marla Scheiner, who first met her when they were high
school teachers together in 1978.

Mrs. McCain, the millionaire daughter of an Arizona beer magnate,
taught special education. She continues to be an advocate for
children's health care issues and adoption.

The McCains have their own adopted child, Bridget, 8, whom Mrs. McCain
brought back from a Bangladesh orphanage.

A nanny stays with Meghan, 15; Jack, 13; Jimmy, 11, and Bridget when
the McCains are traveling. Mrs. McCain's parents also live on the same
street.

John McCain has three children from his first marriage, ages 33-40,
two of whom were adopted.

The couple, who will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in May,
met during a political reception in Hawaii.

She was a 25-year-old teacher on spring break, he was a 42-year-old
Navy liaison officer to the Senate.

"He was really cute in his dress white uniform," Mrs. McCain said. "I
couldn't turn him down."

Mrs. McCain's addiction to Percocet and Vicodin began in 1989 when she
was suffering severe back pain that none of her doctors could treat
successfully. It ended with her quitting cold turkey in 1992.

She was leading emergency medical missions to impoverished countries
around the world with the American Volunteer Medical Team, which she
headed. She left her Arizona home for tents in war-torn countries,
held abandoned children in Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh.

"She doesn't put on a show; she works. ... No child suffered because
of the dependency she has revealed, no child who needed it did without
her comforting," Dr. William McCabe wrote to the Arizona Republic in
1994. He worked with Mrs. McCain during two of AMVT's international
missions.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated her actions, which
involved doubling the amount of medication needed for AMVT's missions
and keeping a portion for herself.

She cooperated with the U.S. attorney and agreed to community service,
said her lawyer, John Dowd.

She continues to deal with the fallout.

Mrs. McCain said that, first lady or not, she'll keep attending weekly
Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

Myra Gutin, professor of communication at Rider University in
Lawrenceville, N.J., who studies and has written about first ladies,
said Mrs. McCain's openness shows she has character.

"I think that says she'll be forthright and honest about a lot of
things," Gutin said. "I think it'll be a very positive indication of
her as a first lady."

Mrs. McCain, who first describes herself as a wife and mother, is
working on her political role as well.

"The one surprise in all of this for me is that I expected to hate
campaigning and hate doing all this. But I've enjoyed every minute of
it," she said.

Friends and campaign aides say they've seen Mrs. McCain blossom from a
reserved woman into a deft speaker whose sincerity draws listeners
in.

"She's enchanted everybody we've met," said Arizona Secretary of State
Betsey Bayless, a friend who traveled with Mrs. McCain on recent trips
through New Hampshire and South Carolina.

"She knows who she is, has confidence in herself and confidence in her
husband," Bayless said.