JENNY SANFORD STATEMENT: Wife Says She Told Him To Leave "To Maintain My Dignity"

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's wife, Jenny, issued a statement in which she says that she told him to leave their home two weeks ago "to maintain my dignity, self-respect and my basic sense of right and wrong."

Read the statement:

I would like to start by saying I love my husband and I believe I have put forth every effort possible to be the best wife I can be during our almost twenty years of marriage. As well, for the last fifteen years my husband has been fully engaged in public service to the citizens and taxpayers of this state and I have faithfully supported him in those efforts to the best of my ability. I have been and remain proud of his accomplishments and his service to this state.

I personally believe that the greatest legacy I will leave behind in this world is not the job I held on Wall Street, or the campaigns I managed for Mark, or the work I have done as First Lady or even the philanthropic activities in which I have been routinely engaged. Instead, the greatest legacy I will leave in this world is the character of the children I, or we, leave behind. It is for that reason that I deeply regret the recent actions of my husband Mark, and their potential damage to our children.

I believe wholeheartedly in the sanctity, dignity and importance of the institution of marriage. I believe that has been consistently reflected in my actions. When I found out about my husband's infidelity I worked immediately to first seek reconciliation through forgiveness, and then to work diligently to repair our marriage. 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. I therefore asked my husband to leave two weeks ago.

This trial separation was agreed to with the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage. During this short separation it was agreed that Mark would not contact us. I kept this separation quiet out of respect of his public office and reputation, and in hopes of keeping our children from just this type of public exposure. Because of this separation, I did not know where he was in the past week.

I believe enduring love is primarily a commitment and an act of will, and for a marriage to be successful, that commitment must be reciprocal. I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage.

Psalm 127 states that sons are a gift from the Lord and children a reward from Him. I will continue to pour my energy into raising our sons to be honorable young men. I remain willing to forgive Mark completely for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time, if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance.

This is a very painful time for us and I would humbly request now that members of the media respect the privacy of my boys and me as we struggle together to continue on with our lives and as I seek the wisdom of Solomon, the strength and patience of Job and the grace of God in helping to heal my family.

Comments

[swingerofbirches]

Hold on I am not a biblical scholar, but she is seeking the wisdom of....Solomon? Wasn't he the guy with 700 wives and 300 concubines? If Solomon is the model then Sanford has some catching up to do!

[DeSwiss]

SOLOMON????

HONEY, U R DOIN' IT RONG

:-D

[tryandgetsomecommonsense]

cut her some slack please -- you missed her whole point.

[jt1980]

Solomon was known for wisdom in many things, but sexual virtue he was not (the story of Queen Sheba was one famous episode.) That's the whole irony. It'd have been much better if Jenny Sanford just used the example of Job in her last paragraph.

[relevancematters]

Well, he sure doesn't deserve her!

[liarsclub75]

Sorry Jenny, your husband does not love you anymore. Your imaginary sky daddy can't help you there.

[DeSwiss]

It was the imaginary sky-daddy what started this mess, init???? :-)

[treadway123]

I feel bad for her, but with a lover on fathers day, and an she thinks he earne a forgivenes­s/chance?H­ow?

[Know-some-secrets]

Ask Hillary.

[placpje]

How would Hillary know about the Sanford's relationship.

Unlike you, she doesn't pretend to know the dynamics of the marriages of strangers.

[loria]

Was Bill gone on Father's Day? I'm confused.

[tryandgetsomecommonsense]

it depends on if he went there to end the affair.....

[thepoliticalcat]

I KNOW I didn't just fall off the turnip truck, honey, so let me point out that you don't need to travel a couple hundred miles to the bedroom of someone to whom you write steamy emails to "end the affair." That you can do by mail, email, telegram, or phone call.

[FatherKindly]

I hope that she found writing this statement therapeutic, no matter how others may regard it.

[Tommygun264]

Cheating is just like physical abuse: if you let a man get away with it once, he's going to do it again. I certainly hope Ms. Sanford wises up before he hurts her and her sons again. The myth that growing up with two parents is always better than growing up with only one has screwed up countless lives.

[USA1776]

Her Christian family drivel is making me choke. I am sure she is a nice lady but man she lays it on thick.

[Tommygun264]

"the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of Job"

Lady, take a cue from Job's wife and get the hell out of there while you still can.

[DeSwiss]

Guvernor Mark should count his lucky stars Jenny hasn't taken her cues from Jael, (Judges 4:21)

:-)

[tryandgetsomecommonsense]

did it ever occur to you what Job's wife got for that? (or are you thinking of Lot's wife - who turned in to a pillar of salt for being disobedient)?

[thepoliticalcat]

Or take a cue from all 1,000 of Solomon's wives and let Mr. HappyPants go.

[loria]

With a statement like that she might just replace Palin as a GOP frontrunner for the 2012 nomination!

[One more Thing]

Isn't she that runner up for mis America?

[Know-some-secrets]

exactly, Hillary sure launched a career on being the victimized wife.

[AmHope]

Don't mean to be a cynic but it's interesting when and how people use God, religion and Bible quotes.

[dutch163]

oh..how I feel for her
and admire what she has said
I give her credit for trying to reconcile
but sometimes the sinner cannot be saved

[darker]

The wife's feelings are hers along, and not our job to "make them up".
Making them up as we go along is crazy.
ASSUMPTION is not a good thing.
Assumers fall flat on their faces.

There is nothing that is "perfect" in life.
It is silly to assume public figures are "supposed to be PERFECT".
Ain't.

[Know-some-secrets]

"resposible" does not mean perfect

[Jethro13]

Very well said. I fully believe in forgiveness but part of me wants her to kick his butt to the curbs and move on.

[Mscharizmaa]

Don't mean to kick a woman when she's down, but she thinks he's earned the chance to resurrect their marriage?

He was with his lover and the only reason he came home is because of the media storm his disappearance was causing.

[Know-some-secrets]

was there a dress and dna evidence?

[placpje]

Don't think so, but there is an e-mail record.

[Know-some-secrets]

What a contrast to Hillary. Jenny Sanford seems to have made her decision based on self respect, high standards, andgenuine concern for her family, not dishonest political opportunism.

[placpje]

Too bad you haven't the slightest clue as to why either of them did what they did.

[tryandgetsomecommonsense]

neither do you.....

[darker]

Oh just SHUT UP.
We're sick of your HOLIER THAN THOU comparisons!
And your tired-arsed NASTY political opportunism.

[Know-some-secrets]

do I assume you disagree?

[peacegurl48]

And you know this how?

[Know-some-secrets]

It's my opinion, that why I said "seems".... but it "seems" obvious that HIllary stayed with Bill to protect her investment and cash in for career and fortune.

[triplbee]

We should leave this woman alone. She is pained and dignified and deserves more respect than she's getting from her husband and from the salivating hordes in the press.

[everyoneshistorian]

OMG!! ROFLMAO! Are you really serious? It is NOT in a "man's nature" to be a cheater. This is just a sorry, contrived lame-@ss excuse to legitimize this type of horrible behavior. If that were the case than the same would be applicable to women and the world would just be one big orgy all the time. Unless, of course, you also subscribe to the wrong-headed notion that women are just "instinctively" kind, submissive, vulnerable and dependent. Puh-lease! Cheaters--male and female--just need to grow up, grow a conscious and set of principles, and realize that they can't have their cake and eat it, too. As far as the wife in this case, I feel for her but I also think she's an idiot for staying with this man who just tromped all over her and her children's feeling for someone with intersting "tan lines," as he wrote.

[IndependentMeans]

You are wrong here. Every man wants to have sex with a woman he is attracted to, and it is the multi-partner aspect of the male that propagates the species. That being said, my husband and I are very open about this, and he does not cheat because A) He gets all he needs whenever he needs it, willingly, from me and B) He has too much self-respect to stoop so low. He would walk away first, not to mention his respect for me. No man was made to have one partner, they just choose to do so. The trouble with parents is not explaining this to their daughters. Wished mine had.

[Know-some-secrets]

there are big differences in male and female brain wiring and chemistry, and overall physiology. Its a fact. And to suggest those physical diferences dont influence DIFFERENCES in instinctive behavior is absurd.

[triplbee]

What the hell are you rambling on about? She just kicked him out of the house.

[everyoneshistorian]

LOL again--sorry, I replied to the wrong post, this was directed towards Swing Voter. I guess the steam coming out of my ears clouded my vision!! ;)

[Laurie66]

The only thing swingvoter got right is it is not the wife's fault. Some people cheat, of both sexes. Most people are tempted at some time or another. It is a function of a lack of moral character, not biology as to whether they go through with it. Marriages are complicated things, and only the wife knows her reasons for reconciling or divorcing. I feel for her to have public humiliation added to what must be devastating feelings of betrayal. However, he and the "other woman" deserve ALL the public humiliation they get and the ruined careers.

[everyoneshistorian]

I couldn't agree with you more, Laurie--definitely nothing inherently gendered about cheating. Frankly, I really don't care about which poltician is cheating with who or whatever I am just burned by the hypocrisy of someone who bears the mantle of "family values" and blah-blah-blah then turns around and cheats on his wife. Whatever.

[treadway123]

Like they left Mrs. Edwards alone or Hillary Clinton perhaps?

[tryandgetsomecommonsense]

wouldn't it be nice if our media actually honored her request for privacy at this difficult time?

[SwingVoter]

First of all, this is sad and I can't say I fully understand the betrayal she feels. I would like to add however that a man cheating has nothing to do with the wife. It has nothing to do with whether you were a good wife or not. He loves you and would give up his own life for you, believe me.

Why do men cheat then? It's simple; men "cheat" because it is the nature of man. A man was never created or designed to be with just one woman. The desire for a man to be with more than one woman is physical and is as natural as breathing or eating when you are hungry. Monogamy in concept is flawed, especially when talking about šèxüâl monogamy--it is impractical and unrealistic.

Let us look at the Bible for a second (if you believe; I do), nowhere does it state a man had to be with just one woman. Abram later named as Abraham, who gave birth to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam was considered by all account, a “man of God.” Yes, you guessed it; he had more than one woman. Take a look at King David, a man who served God like no other; not only did he have more than one wife, he also had concubines.

I would elaborate more, but I am short on time. I am just giving the facts of life…

[audadvnc]

Agreed. I love my G/F; but I still wanna do almost every woman I see.

[dididangerlove]

News flash, women want to have it off with more than one man all the time. It's human nature.

[Know-some-secrets]

I don't think you can necesarily take the Old Testament verbatum as a guide for living. Do you advocate capital punishment by stoning for adulterers?

[SwingVoter]

No, I am against capital punishment.