It is hard enough to have your marriage fall apart, but it is exponentially harder when the details are plastered across every headline because your husband is a politician. All of America now knows the names Mark and Jenny Sanford. The South Carolina governor and his wife became front page news last week when the Governor went MIA for a full week and was eventually found to be with his mistress in Argentina.
Born Jennifer Sullivan, the first lady grew up near Chicago. Her grandfather founded the Skil Corp., a power tool manufacturer. Jenny Sanford is a Georgetown-educated former Wall Street executive. After leaving her career she went on to successfully assisted in her husband’s. She managed his first political campaign for Congress in 1994. Mrs. Sanford also managed his winning gubernatorial campaign in 2002, assisted him daily at the Statehouse during his first term as governor, and co-managed his successful re-election in 2006. At the Governor’s Mansion, Jenny Sanford has completely reorganized operations, resulting in significant savings to the taxpayers.
Jenny is a firmly rooted Christian, which she has made clear throughout this ordeal. She first discovered her husband’s affair early this year after coming across a copy of a letter to the mistress in one of his files in the official governor’s mansion when he had asked her to find some financial information. She did not go into detail about the letter, but stated that there was enough in it to figure out an affair was going on. She was willing to work on their marriage even after her husband repeatedly asked for permission to visit his mistress. Her response when questioned by the press was, “I said absolutely not. It’s one thing to forgive adultery; it’s another thing to condone it.” In another statement, Jenny Sanford said: “We reached a point where I felt it was important to look my sons in the eyes and maintain my dignity, self-respect, and my basic sense of right and wrong. This trial separation was agreed to with the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage.”
The couple have four school-age sons. Close friends know Jenny as a warm, bubbly person with an infectious smile. But in political circles, she is seen as a powerful figure, not to be crossed.
What I find most commendable about Jenny Sanford is that she did not stand blindly by her husband’s side trying to sweep this under the rug in the interest of politics. Many first ladies are tempted to not rock the boat and make the scandal go away quickly and easily so that their husbands’ careers can advance. But unlike other political wives, even the formidable Hillary Clinton, who sort of submissively stood by and nodded their heads, Sanford is laying down conditions at the outset and being very specific and emphatic that he’s got to toe the line. She is not throwing any low blows but she is not pulling any punches either. She just puts the facts out there and approaches the situation like, it is what it is.
On Thursday June 25, Mrs. Sanford spent part of the day with her husband at their coastal home. Later, she left with some children in her car for dinner and a boat ride. Asked if she would be staying with her husband, she said: “It’s a goal.” She went on to say, “I’m going to do my best to work on my marriage.” As for her husband’s political future: “His career is not a concern of mine. He’ll have to worry about that. I’m going to worry about my family and the character of my children.”
Governor Sanford was rumored to be a front runner in the Republican party for the 2012 presidential election. No one is going on record, but odds are he has shot himself in the foot on that one. On the other hand; I would embrace seeing his wife, who has been said to have a strong political mind and to have been the mastermind behind Mark’s campaigns, take a run for it herself. At least we know she brings integrity to the table.
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