Although the woman standing next to presidential candidate John McCain at many campaign stops is famous for her stylish, well-primmed appearance, Cindy McCain is also dedicated to her husband and loaded with energy -- and the money -- to help the less fortunate.

When asked how she constantly maintains her freshly pampered appearance, she told the New York Times, "I don't do anything special. I just love being with my husband."

Her lack of interest in politics allows her to spend most of her time in humanitarian work, where she has made a name for herself -- extending beyond the label of John McCain's wife as a philanthropic woman with big dreams.

The Early Years

Cindy Hensley McCain, the only child of James and Marguerite Hensley, was born May 20, 1954.

As the daughter of multimillionaire James Hensley, the founder of Hensley & Co, the third-largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributor in the country, she was raised in a wealthy household in Phoenix.

Cindy attended Central High School and was named Rodeo Queen in 1968. After high school in 1972, she attended the University of Southern California, where she majored in education and spent the rest of time as a cheerleader and a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

She continued her education and received her Master of Arts degree in special education at USC.

Finding True Love

In 1979, at the age of 24, Cindy met John McCain, the naval liaison to the U.S. Senate and 18 years her senior, at a Navy reception in Hawaii.

Despite lying about their ages -- John said he was younger than 42 and Cindy said she was older than 24 -- John McCain said they "fell in love at first sight," wrote U.S. News & World Report.

"I couldn't imagine [McCain] would be remotely interested in me because I was so young," Cindy told the Chicago Tribune.

Only when they applied for a marriage license did they both learn the vastness of their age gap. However, the couple married a year later in 1980, a month after John's divorce was finalized with Carol Shepp.

'That's Just Not Her Thing'

While her husband devoted his time to political affairs, Cindy McCain generally stayed clear of his work.

"They're cut out of two different molds," Betsy Bayless, a former Arizona secretary of state who traveled with Cindy McCain during the 2000 campaign, told the Chicago Tribune. "You know what he's like, and she's just not that way. She respects and admires his interest in talking to all these reporters and all these people, but that's just not her thing."

Instead, Cindy put most of her energy into volunteering to help the less fortunate.

In 1988, she was vacationing at Truk Lagoon in Micronesia when her friend was cut in an accident and had to go to the small island hospital.

Cindy was given a tour while she waited and was shocked at the conditions, where "there were two cats and a whole bunch of rats climbing out of the sterile supplies," she told the Chicago Tribune. This incident inspired her to start American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT), which provides emergency medical and surgical care to impoverished children around the world.

Cindy led 55 missions to Third World and war-torn countries over the next seven years to places such as Kuwait, Nicaragua and Rwanda, according to johnmccain.com.

On one mission to Bangladesh in 1991, Cindy visited Mother Teresa's orphanage and decided to bring two babies back to the United States to receive further medical care. The New York Times reported that, on the plane ride, she decided to adopt one of them, Bridget, and told John at the airport, "Meet your daughter."

Bridget became the fourth child in the McCain household, with older siblings Meghan, John IV "Jack," and James "Jimmy."

Drug Addiction

In the late 1980s, Cindy endured two back surgeries and emotional pressure of a mounting scandal.

In 1989, John McCain was one of five U.S. senators accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, a scandal that became known as the Keating Five scandal.

Cindy became personally involved when, after keeping some records for her husband, she could not find the receipts showing that the McCains had reimbursed Keating for flying on his corporate jet.

In the wake of her health problems and the scandal, Cindy became addicted to the painkillers Percocet and Vicodin in 1989. It remained a secret for the next three years.

The addiction led her to steal pills from her own charity, AVMT, according to the Arizona Republic.

In 1992, Cindy's parents noticed her addiction. But her husband did not know until almost a year later when federal authorities began publicly investigating the stolen drugs from AVMT, reported the New York Times.

Cindy was hesitant to tell her husband for fear of causing disappointment.

She told the Chicago Tribune, "Because I only saw him on the weekends and I didn't want him to come home to this woman who couldn't do anything," she said, "I completely masked it and completely kept myself somewhat pain-free and [with] the ability to function and do everything he wanted."

Cindy attended a drug treatment center, began outpatient sessions, and in 1994, she went public with her struggle with drugs.

"If what I say can help just one person to face the problem, it's worthwhile," she said. "They should know it's OK to be scared. It's OK to talk about it. And there's nothing wrong with staying home, carpooling and potty-training a 3-year-old."

Charity Work

After recovering, Cindy continued to put forth her time and energy to many charities including Operation Smile, CARE and HALO.

Operation Smile, a nonprofit organization with a mission to repair facial deformities for children around the world, sent McCain on many volunteer missions, including trips to Morocco, India and Vietnam, according to johnmccain.com.

She is also on the board of directors of CARE, a group working to fight global poverty particularly among women, and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the HALO trust, a nonprofit organization dedicated to landmine removal and weapons destruction in war-torn countries. She has traveled to Cambodia several times, along with Sri Lanka and Mozambique, to see the results of the organization firsthand.

In 1995, Cindy founded the Hensley Family Foundation, which donates money toward children's programs in Arizona and nationally.

Standing By Her Husband

Although she generally distances herself from her husband's work, Cindy played an instrumental part in her husband's run for presidency in 2000 and continues to help in his current race.

In his first presidential campaign, Cindy was chosen to represent the state of Arizona at the 2000 Republican National Convention as the chairwoman of the Arizona delegation. During the campaign, she traveled extensively, speaking to groups across the country about Sen. McCain and her passion for volunteering to help the less fortunate, according to johnmccain.com.

The same year, she became chairwoman of the now $300 million-a-year Hensley & Co. following her father's death. Her humanitarian work and political assistance were put on pause, however, when Cindy suffered from a stroke in 2004 that left her with leg and arm limitations, some short-term memory loss and difficulties in writing.

After recovering in her Californian home, Cindy grabbed the attention of the media again through her charity work and her surprisingly active position in John's 2008 run for president.

However, if he wins, she does not plan on changing her involvement in charity work or politics.

"No. No, no, no. I've never been a political person. I would not attend cabinet meetings; I would not be a part of that process. That's my husband's job," she told San Diego Magazine. "But what I do is just as important. It's just different."