Hillary, a likely candidate for the US Senate, talked about why she stood by her man and blamed the President's infidelity on childhood abuse, said The Sunday Times.

She said his two-timing ``weakness'' stemmed from a trauma caused by childhood abuse, the report said.

Quoting extracts from an interview due to be published this week in Talk, a news magazine edited by ex-New Yorker editor Tina Brown, the report quoted the First Lady blaming the President's childhood experiences for a chain reaction of philandering.

For many years, she believed his weakness was under control until the scandal of his sexualrelations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky erupted and at one stage threatened the Presidency. Hillary said in the report that the affair with Lewinsky took place after the death of the President's father and their friend Vincent Foster. ``He couldn't protect me, so he lied...This was a sin of weakness''. ``Yes, he has weaknesses. Yes, he needs to be more disciplined, but it is remarkable given his background that he turned out to be the kind of person he is, capable of such leadership,'' she was quoted saying. ``He was so young, barely four, when he was scarred by abuse.

There was terrible conflict between his mother and grandmother. A psychologist told me that being in the middle of a conflict between two women is the worst possible situation,'' she said.

She went on to describe her vigil for many years to monitor her husband's faithfulness.

``I thought he had conquered it. I thought he understood it, but he didn't go deep enough or work hard enough,'' she said.

Asked whether their marriagecould survive the strains of her embarking on a solo political career in the Senate, she said: ``He's responsible for his behaviour whether I'm There or 100miles away...It is their (the person's) responsibility whether it's gambling, drinking or women. Nobody can do it for you.''

Hillary is currently on a campaign-style tour in New York. If she decides to run for the Senate seat being vacated next year she will be the first President's wife ever to seek office.