McCain says record shows he's not a hothead

John McCain addressed his well-known temper and how that affects his fitness to be president, saying today that his record of bipartisan cooperation shows it's not a problem.

His temperament emerged as a bigger issue after a Boston Globe story in January in which a Senate colleague, who later endorsed McCain, worried aloud about it.

McCain was asked on CNN about his struggles with his temper, which he referenced during a speech today at his high school alma mater.

"Well, I say that everyone's life is a work in progress," he replied. "I have a better and more impressive record of bipartisanship and working across the aisle and legislative solutions and leadership than anybody that's running against me by far. And those leadership qualities required an even temper. And those abilities to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats for the good of my constituents and the country are clear indications that that's a very, very minor thing when it's compared to my record of accomplishment."

The presumptive Republican nominee did warn the American people that he'll still get upset about one thing: "If they don't expect me to get angry when I see corruption in Washington, when I see wasting needlessly of their tax dollars, when I see people behaving badly, they expect me to get angry and I will get angry because I won't stand for corruption and I won't stand for waste of your tax dollars and I will demand that people serve their country first and the special interests second."