Jenny Sanford Issues Statement
S.C. First Lady Jenny Sanford is speaking out this evening regarding the admission of infidelity made earlier today by her husband, S.C. Governor Mark Sanford.
In a statement released this evening, Mrs. Sanford confirms that she was aware of the governor’s extramarital affair, and says that she and her husband have been separated for the past two weeks – what she terms a “trial separation” aimed at “ultimately strengthening our marriage.”
Mrs. Sanford also leaves the door open for a possible future reconciliation with her husband.
Here, in its entirety, is the statement released this evening from First Lady Jenny Sanford’s office …
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.
Wow.
Jenny Sanford has always been a class act in our book, and she’s obviously handling this incredibly painful and embarrassing situation no differently.
Comments
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' on June 24th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
A class act of the highest order.
By Rylyn on June 24th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Just leave her and the boys alone
By sheeeeeet on June 24th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
“class act” took three quarters of the statement to tell everyone just how good and noble she is….
sheeeeeet………….
By lifelongsc on June 24th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
With all respect to the first family, this is part of today’s culture. Sorry Jenny, the mystic of Greenbo Alabama was just in the movie. Several things lead to a marriage going awry. I appreciate your dedication to the sanctity of marriage but this reads like you’re loading up to roll the gov. in the courtroom. Biblical references and respect the children is kind of calculated. Don’t know what the statistics are but lots of S.C. children less priviledged survive family struggles such as this. Your family has my best wishes but not my sympathy. I’ll save that for the families and their CHILDREN going through divorce on minimum wage.
By kc on June 24th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Minimum wage or not, infidelity costs the family and yeah grown up sons too. Just because she is rich, doesn’t mean you can be rude.
By Abe on June 24th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
It appears she has been the brains behind Sanford. With her out of the picture, Sandord seems to be lost.
By Statesman on June 24th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Had she been taking care of her “Home Work” would the Gov. need to go to Argentina?
By Emma on June 25th, 2009 at 12:01 am
Very nice, Mrs. Sanford. Your strength can teach way more to your sons than their father’s weakness will. There is an overabundance of the type of weakness form which your husband suffers. So much so, that it’s become acceptable, even encouraged. Websites such as this one, are even in their own way an example of the not so new anymore lax attitude about sex, about women, and about how the two mean nothing. We cannot contrbute to anohter generation of men who think like that, at least if we can help it. Your strength in forgiving your husband for his conduct is remarkable, but moving on so as not to sancion it in the eyes of those young men, is more so. I applaud your courage, and do not find it anyway mean spirited. In fact, I believe it would be the easier route to stay in the marriage. But either way, the best to you and yours!
By lifelongsc on June 25th, 2009 at 12:25 am
kc, not rude but reality. sorry this offended anyone but lots of people struggle with this same hardship daily. unfortunately, its part of life and just because the Sanfords lead a more prominent life, which has afforded them more comforts, they can’t be removed. that’s part of the pie you receive when you make the next step. i’m sure they can afford premium counseling that most SC citizens can’t budget for. most people are just worried about keeping a roof over their head or paying their utilities. these concerns unfortunately don’t receive similar attention
By Mike on June 25th, 2009 at 1:07 am
Roll the gov in the courtroom? Jenny Sanford doesn’t need a dime from hubby, if that’s what you meant. There’s a real undercurrent of class envy / class resentment anytime stuff like this hits prominent, wealthy families, which we don’t need. It’s sad enough on its own.
By Jarrett on June 25th, 2009 at 3:29 am
hey, lifelongsc, Jenny and the boys do have my sympathy, unlike those going through similar things on minimum wage, the difference is those family’s problems are not international news stories. Those families do not have to deal with racy emails being made public for all to read, they do not have to hide from the TV out of fear of hearing their family being dragged through the mud.
By Joe Bobby on June 25th, 2009 at 8:38 am
Those families also didn’t chose to put themselves in the public eye
By lou on June 25th, 2009 at 8:45 am
why did she cover for him saying he was writing something?
By Jarrett on June 25th, 2009 at 11:56 am
My point is those families don’t get put in the public eye, when things like this happen. If Mr. Joe Smith, minimum wage worker, cheats on his wife does The State print his love e-mails, do late-night comics make jokes, is the story carried on CNN, FNC, even the BBC? No! That is why I have sympathy for Jenny Sanford and the boys. Also, I don’t think she was just covering for him, she might have not lied, or misled, she might have just meant he was writing down what he would say to the press about his affair. Even if that isn’t the case, I don’t blame her for wanting to postpone this media firestorm.
By Gimme Whisky on June 25th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
As admitted by the Gov, Mrs. Sanford has basically know of the affair for five months. Gave him the boot two weeks ago under trial separation. That said, doesn’t look to me like the Gov was doing anything to reconcile, by his actions – going to Buenos Aries. If he were interested in reconciling, you’d think he would do the opposite, cut off all contact with his mistress. No reason to feel sorry for this guy, he made his own bed.
By eowyn on June 25th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
“Home work”, Statesman? You’re kidding me, right?
Spoken like a true chauvinist. If a man is treating his wife right, he gets all the “home work” he wants.
But oh, that’s right. It’s always the woman’s fault, isn’t it.
By Phil on June 25th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Jenny Sanford is a class act. A little crazy, but who wouldn’t be tolerating Marky! I pray the media leaves her and her children in peace.
By lifelongsc on June 25th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Get a grip people. Nobody said any of the parties involved are bad people, just bad decisions. We live in a world that’s to high speed and the higher up, the higher speed you deal with. That’s the cost. I do feel for the children but they will be fine, as long as they know their parents and family love them. Guilt and martyrdom don’t help the children deal with this, but they do help Jenny. No matter what, the boys will love each parent unless they get the “divorce” treatment. A friend once told me regarding the courtroom that criminal court is bad people in their best behavior and family court is good people in their worst behavior. Lets hope thats not the case for this family.
By bob oswalt on June 27th, 2009 at 11:18 am
For all you jerks that take a mean sprited view of this affair , get a life and leave these folks alone to heal their hearts and minds.