Phantom-II development story

Here's an interesting tidbit that I got while reading Airtime's book
about the Phantom (looks great so far). Apparantly, during the preliminary
design stage, McDonnell and an aide went around talking to naval aviators to
see what they wanted. Then, they talked to the aviators' wives about what
their husbands told them that they wanted in a fighter. Apparantly, when
alone, the pilots generally talked about wanting a hot-rod, single-engine
fighter. But, when with their wives, they mentioned a preference for the
safety of a twin-engined fighter. So, Mr. Mac built the F-4H prototype to
have two engines.
Does anyone know if this story is true? Is there currently a strong
preference for two engines (e.g., comparing the F-18E to the JSF). Cheers,

Tony