NAMES IN THE NEWS : Had Dukakis Won, Wife Says, She’d Have Gone Over the Edge

Kitty Dukakis says that if her husband had become President, the pressure of life in the White House would have sent her over the edge.

“I am certain the first crisis would have sent me out of control,” the wife of Gov. Michael S. Dukakis writes in her book, “Now You Know,” excerpted in the current issue of Good Housekeeping and reported in today’s Boston Globe.

“I am equally certain that, thrust into the smothering, protective confines of the White House, I would not have been able to seek proper help.”

Dukakis, who acknowledges her drug and alcohol addiction, says she panicked before the New Hampshire primary in 1988 when she realized her husband could win.

“Michael was good enough to be President, for sure, but was I worthy to be his partner? In my despair, I turned to alcohol,” she writes.

Dukakis tells of periods of heavy drinking during the campaign and after her husband’s loss to George Bush.

She says she began a typical day at 9 a.m. by canceling her appointments and downing three or four ounces of straight liquor.

“Then I’d go upstairs, shut the blinds, unplug the phone and read till I passed out--a process that usually took no more than 10 minutes. Two and a half hours later, I would wake up and repeat the process,” she said.