New Yorkers are not likely to shed any tears for the disgraced outgoing gov ernor – but one woman surely deserving of their sympathy and respect is his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer.
The humiliation to which her husband subjected her is almost unimaginable. Yet, there was Silda Spitzer standing by his side at the two torturous press conferences he held this week.
And displaying every ounce of dignity someone in her excruciating circumstances could possibly muster.
“She’s ridiculed and shamed in front of virtually the entire world,” Dina McGreevey, the wife of former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey (who proclaimed on national TV that he was a “gay American”), told CNN. “She’s not only dealing with her own personal pain, but trying to protect her daughters from this.”
But there she was – holding Eliot’s hand as they left one of the briefings.
No doubt devastated, she remained admirably composed.
Privately, of course, Silda well might have known – or at least suspected – something untoward about her husband’s behavior. That is between the two of them (and forever may it stay there).
But as the state’s highest-ranking official, Eliot Spitzer knew that he’d be constantly in the public eye.
As would his family.
Now, to cheat on his wife (and daughters) – with prostitutes, no less, and while potentially committing all sorts of crimes and misdemeanors in the process – is bad enough.
But to risk having all this come out in the open, as it did – casting Silda in the awkward role of the wife of an unfaithful man, and his daughters as children of such a man – is far more than any family should have to bear.
The Spitzer women deserved better.
Indeed, Silda sacrificed much for her husband over the years – as families of politicians often do.
She gave up a lucrative career in corporate law in 1994 when Eliot first ran for attorney general. And she’s worked in volunteer philanthropic positions ever since, including as the founder of a charity called Children for Children.
Whether Silda Spitzer decides to continue her life with the soon-to-be former governor is up to her.
Certainly, no one would blame her should she simply ditch him.
Should she decide to stay, it would no doubt reflect an enormous capacity for forgiveness, forbearance and tolerance.
How sad that she’s already been forced to demonstrate those remarkable traits.
We wish her well.