Howard and Judy Dean Discuss Anger Issue

Jan. 22 -- At a critical point in his presidential campaign, Howard Dean and his wife, Judy Steinberg Dean, spoke to ABCNEWS' Primetime's Diane Sawyer about the future of his campaign, their relationship, and his often-discussed anger.

Asked about the guttural shout he gave during his concession speech at the Iowa caucuses on Monday, Dean said: "I did it. I own it. Maybe it was over the top.

"I was trying to pump up 3,500 kids who gave me three weeks of their lives, and I'm not a perfect person," he said. "But, my attitude is, that's done. And, now we gotta get back to running for president.

It was the first time in Dean's long political career that his wife, Dr. Judy Steinberg Dean, spoke on television. Judy Dean said she only heard the now-infamous sound bite on Wednesday, and had not heard much of the reaction to it. But she said she understood what happened.

"I think he had already told me where he was, and what he was doing," Judy Dean said. "I heard him say he had a lot of kids working for him, who had worked really, really hard for him, and the outcome wasn't what they had hoped for, and he wanted to pump them up. I mean, maybe he did a little too much, but that's what he wanted to do."

The Angry Candidate?

Sawyer asked the couple about the common perception that Howard Dean is the candidate most driven by anger.

"We've been married 23 years, and he is very easy to get along with," Judy Dean said. "I can't remember the last time [he lost his temper]."

The former Vermont governor said the image of him as an angry candidate began last March because of the passion of his campaign. Recently a story has been circulating about how the police were called at a hockey game his son attended in the mid-1990s, but Dean said "a lot of this stuff is urban legend."

There was "no fighting," Dean said. "It was nothing of that sort."

He said his record in public service should attest to his even temperament. "Have I ever blown up? Yes. Did I blow up once at a staff member in 12 years? Not ever."

However, he conceded that his speech on Monday was not presidential. "Not for a moment," he said.