Maria Shriver Blazes Her Own Trail

Published on July 20th, 2011
Written by Public Record Finder Staff

It's an all-too-common image: the disgraced politician stands at a podium, making a public apology for his indiscretions while his faithful, although battered, wife stands behind him with quiet support. Diana McGreevey did it when she stood beside former New Jersey governor James McGreevey as he admitted to his homosexuality, and his gay lover whom he had placed on his staff. Silda Spitzer did it in a red, white and blue neckerchief, an allusion to the American flag behind her as her husband Eliot, then Governor of New York, admitted to being a client in a high-end prostitution ring. In 2003, Maria Shriver played the part as her then husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, defended himself against accusations that he had groped a dozen women.

But now Maria Shriver is breaking the trend of the subdued, submissive political wife. Since the scandal of her husband's lovechild broke in the news, Shriver has done something unusual for the wives in high-visibility political marriages -- she sought a divorce. This appears to be only the beginning for Shriver.

Maria was never the kind of political wife to stand in the background. Independently wealthy because of her time as a TV journalist and author, and with a the legacy of the Kennedy family behind her, Shriver allegedly maintained her own separate bank account throughout her 25 years of marriage. She has also developed her own political and social profile with her involvement in humanitarian causes and women's issues. Now Shriver could stand to earn $15 million for a memoir detailing her life and her marriage with the philandering former Governor of California, which has the nation excited and poring over public records in an attempt to predict what new material and what new controversies her book might detail.

And Shriver is not the only one -- she marks the forefront of a new trend. Veronica Lario, wife of the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, sought a divorce in 2009 after growing tired of her husband's "infatuation with young women." While Huma Abedin, wife of disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner, hasn't left her husband or filed for divorce, she certainly didn't stand by his side as he publically confessed his misdeeds and has allegedly "made it clear she thought what [he] did was very dumb" as the Congressman has stated.

Though these are only a few examples, many experts hope that they mark the beginning of a new era for political wives in which they command more power and respect, instead of laying down their dignity and their right to be angry for their husband's political careers.