LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger says his wife, Maria
Shriver, was told to "snap out of it" by her mother for her attempts to
persuade him against running for California governor in 2003, a
conversation that ultimately opened the door to his successful
candidacy.
Eunice Shriver told her daughter that her husband would
be "angry for the rest of his life" if she stopped his ambitions,
Schwarzenegger writes in his new autobiography, "Total Recall: My
Unbelievably True Life Story."
The former governor says in the
book that he had decided against running to recall Gov. Gray Davis after
his wife implored him not to for the sake of their family. Maria
Shriver announced his decision to their four children.
But he
writes that when Maria Shriver told her mother about her efforts to
thwart Schwarzenegger's political ambitions, Eunice told her daughter
that women in their family "always support the men when they want to do
something." Schwarzenegger says he didn't know about the conversation at
the time, but learned of it later.
Maria Shriver then softened
her stance, paving the way for Schwarzenegger to announce his candidacy
on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," where he says he felt most
comfortable.
The announcement came after a week of wavering.
Schwarzenegger says before he headed to the TV appearance, his wife
handed him two pieces of paper with talking points she had written: one
in case he decided to run, another in case he decided not to.
He writes that Shriver went on to become a key ally and adviser to his campaign and eventual governorship.
Schwarzenegger
has often said that Maria's mother and her father, Sargent Shriver,
were essential to his eventual decision to seek public office, and the
most "extraordinary human beings I've ever met." But he also writes in
the book that he often teased his wife that the close-knit Democratic
Kennedy clan was "like a bunch of clones" because there was such
conformity among them.
A spokesman for Shriver, Matthew DiGirolamo, declined to comment on the contents of the book.
"Total Recall" will officially be published next week. The Associated Press purchased an early copy.
Schwarzenegger
also writes he had a "hot affair" with actress Brigitte Nielsen at a
time he and Maria Shriver were dating and already living together.
Schwarzenegger
and Nielsen co-starred in the 1985 film "Red Sonja." Nielsen wrote in a
memoir published last year that she and Schwarzenegger had an
"outrageous affair" while making the movie and that she didn't know
until later that he was involved with Shriver.
In "Total Recall,"
Schwarzenegger writes that he knew the fling with Nielsen wouldn't last
and in fact it only made him realize that he wanted to marry Shriver.
The
book is part of an effort by the onetime "Mr. Universe" and Hollywood
action star to rebrand himself after leaving office with a mixed record
and subsequent embarrassing revelations about a fling he had with the
family's housekeeper. Schwarzenegger, who fathered a son with the
housekeeper, says he also let the boy down.
Schwarzenegger, 65,
said he avoided telling his wife for years about the boy, who is now a
teenager, even when Shriver asked him, partly because of his longtime
penchant for secrecy, and his fear that the news would become public and
undermine his political career. He told his wife in January 2011, when
she confronted him the day after he left office.
In an interview
with "60 Minutes" scheduled to air Sunday, Schwarzenegger said having
sex with his housekeeper was "the stupidest thing" he ever did to his
now-estranged wife and caused great pain to her and their four children.
CBS aired excerpts of the interview Friday.
"I think it was the
stupidest thing I've done in the whole relationship. It was terrible. I
inflicted tremendous pain on Maria and unbelievable pain on the kids,"
Schwarzenegger tells "60 Minutes."
Schwarzenegger says he also let down the son he fathered with the housekeeper.
Shriver filed for divorce in July.
In
his book, the usually ebullient Schwarzenegger admits to some
loneliness, even though he packed his schedule with speeches, projects
and movie-making after Shriver and the children moved out of the house.
He said his career had been fun for 30 years because he shared it with
Maria.
They had done everything together, he writes.
The
former GOP governor also writes about a 2003 White House meeting with
Karl Rove in which the top GOP strategist told him the recall would not
happen and instead introduced the actor to then-national security
adviser Condoleezza Rice as his pick to run for California governor in
2006.
Schwarzenegger felt snubbed.
He asks, "How could Rove have been so wrong?"
Rove's office said he was traveling Friday and could not be reached for comment.
Rice's chief of staff at Stanford University, Georgia Godfrey, said Rice cannot recall "any conversation on this subject."
"She
has stated many times in the past that she has no desire to run for
public office and those sentiments have still not changed," Godfrey said
in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.
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