Gov. Sanford Admits Extramarital Affair

(AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

Updated 6:46 p.m. ET

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, whose mysterious disappearance last Thursday prompted national headlines, acknowledged Wednesday afternoon that he had an extramarital affair.

"I've been unfaithful to my wife, and I developed a relationship with what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina," he said, breaking down in tears.

Sanford returned from a trip to Buenos Aires Wednesday morning. He told reporters he was "obviously not" alone there.

Asked if he was separated from his wife, Sanford said, "I guess in a formal sense we're not."

But Jenny Sanford put out a statement following the press conference saying she asked her husband to leave two weeks ago as part of a "trial separation" in order to "maintain my dignity, self-respect, and my basic sense of right and wrong."

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"During this short separation it was agreed that Mark would not contact us," she said. "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." (Read more of Jenny Sanford's statement>.)

The governor, who was first elected in 2002 and is now in his second term, said that he would resign as chair of the Republican Governors Association. The RGA announced that Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi will replace Sanford as chair, effective immediately.

Sanford said he and his wife were trying to "work through" the situation, and that his wife has known about the affair for about five months.

"I've let down a lot of people," Sanford added. "That's the bottom line."

"Sanford's tearful admission of an extramarital affair comes on the heels of Sen. John Ensign's admission last week, and he is the second potential 2012 presidential candidate to announce such a revelation," said CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris. "As in the case of Ensign, it's safe to say that Sanford's future as a presidential candidate is all but over."

(AP)

"If there's a concern for the Republican Party, it's not that these admissions will have an effect on the various races that will take place this year and in next year's midterm elections," he added. "It's that they're losing some of their fresh faces as potential national voices. Both the 49-year-old Sanford and the 51-year-old Ensign's admissions come at a time when the GOP is struggling to find the next generation of voices to combat a Democratic president and Congress. And losing those voices is never helpful when a party is trying to turn the page on a disastrous election like 2008." (Read Chaggaris' full analysis here>.)

Sanford's office initially explained Sanford's disappearance from the state by saying the governor was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

Upon arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this morning, the Republican governor acknowledged to The State newspaper that he had been in Buenos Aires.

The governor said in a statement following his remarks Wednesday that he "misled" his staff about his whereabouts, "and as a result the people of South Carolina believed something that wasn't true."

"I want to make absolutely clear that over the past two days at no time did anyone on my staff intentionally relay false information to other state officials or the public at large," he added. "What they've said over the past two days they believed to be true, and I'm sorry to them for putting them in this position."

(CBS)

Sanford is the latest American politician to become embroiled in a sex scandal. Recent examples include Sens. John Ensign, John Edwards, David Vitter and Larry Craig and Govs. Jim McGreevey and Eliot Spitzer.

"Once again, Americans have another reason to throw their hands up and say, 'There's another politician who couldn't keep it in his pants, and who abused the public trust,'" said CBS News Chief Political Consultant Marc Ambinder. "Confidence in political institutions is as low as it was after Watergate, and the less confidence the public has in politicians, the less competitive elections will be; fewer good people decide to run for office, and the cycle perpetuates." (Read more from Ambinder on the political fallout from the affair>.)

The State newspaper Wednesday afternoon published emails between Sanford and the woman with whom he had the affair. One of Sanford's missives reads, in part: "You have a level of sophistication that so fitting with your beauty. I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light." (Read more on the emails here>.)

Sanford, who is 49 years old and has four sons, asked Wednesday afternoon for a "zone of privacy" around himself and his family.

He said the extramarital relationship began innocently and that he had initially counseled the woman involved, who had been separated when she met Sanford, to get back together with her husband.

(AP)

The governor told reporters he had known the woman for eight years. He said their relationship began while Sanford was visiting Argentina on an economic development trip more than a year ago, and that he had seen her three times since then.
Sanford was not joined by his wife (pictured at left) in making the announcement Wednesday.

The governor has been one of the most prominent Republican voices opposing President Obama's federal stimulus package, and has won praise from conservatives for his position. He unsuccessfully fought in court to turn down a portion of the money allocated to his state.

In her statement, Jenny Sanford said her husband "has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage."

"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," she said.

Photo Essay: Political Sex Scandals

[natchezms]

The following is the personification of a Southern Christian Conservative, is this what Americans want? I am horrified by the blatant racism and bigotry continuously seen in this newspaper, the lack of respect for our POTUS. The right wing religious pomposity and hypocrisy here in the South is shameful.
http://natchezdemocrat.com/news/2009/jul/12/exercises-futility-continue/

Posted by destiny July 12, 2009 at 10:08 a.m.
Tim, it's truly America gone bad. They threw God out of our schools only to let dopeheaded, child molesters and sinful adulterers takeover. Now they have elected a heathen to preside over America. What can anyone expect but chaos at the most extreem. Here we go, repeating history again. Does anyone remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Do Americans actually think that God is going to stand for this wastefull and sinfulness. I feel like Lot. I want to save everyone, but it seems like everyone is intent on destroying themselves.

[natchezms]

The following is the personification of a Southern Christian Conservative, is this what Americans want? I am horrified by the blatant racism and bigotry continuously seen in this newspaper, the lack of respect for our POTUS. The right wing religious pomposity and hypocrisy here in the South is shameful.
http://natchezdemocrat.com/news/2009/jul/12/exercises-futility-continue/

Posted by destiny July 12, 2009 at 10:08 a.m.
Tim, it's truly America gone bad. They threw God out of our schools only to let dopeheaded, child molesters and sinful adulterers takeover. Now they have elected a heathen to preside over America. What can anyone expect but chaos at the most extreem. Here we go, repeating history again. Does anyone remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Do Americans actually think that God is going to stand for this wastefull and sinfulness. I feel like Lot. I want to save everyone, but it seems like everyone is intent on destroying themselves.

[scwife]

This is not a Republican or Democrate issue...it is a MAN issue. Before you send me. "well women cheat too", I know we do. Leave the politics out of this and put the blame where it belongs...in Mr. Sanfords pants!

[ladypirate2]

You are right! It IS a man issue! Just as many Democrats cheat as do Republicans, too, and some of them claim to be Christians too! Not all Christians are Republicans. There are some in the Democrat and Independent parties too. It's also clear that Sanford was not thinking with his brain! He either didn't consider or care what this will do to his family and he obviously didn't care about his job as governor. It didn't matter if he had a job when he got back or not. Nothing mattered to him but seeing his girlfriend in Argentina and he obviously didn't want to be interrupted, not even in case of emergency! He left no word about where he was going, when he'd be back, or how he could be contacted. There could have been a death in his family or a disaster could have hit his state and he would have been needed desperately at home and no one would have been able to find him. He didn't care. All he cared about was seeing his girlfriend.

[ladypirate2]

by skyk-2009 June 25, 2009 4:11 AM PDT
ladypirate, can you give us ONE, just ONE, Organized Crime figure the President has been connected too? I have reviewed the record top to bottom and I find NO LEGAL record from ANY OFFICIAL linking him to any such person. I'm so tired of losers like you and people who aren't smart enough to figure you out. YOU hate this nation and our system because YOU can not dictate to us how we will govern ourselves and who we can pick to do the job. IF you hate us, those who do not agree with you, so much, if you hate our system so much, why not leave? You are old, disgusting and without a soul... someone who will say or do ANYTHING to think you have control over others lives. That is something you nor any other member of the American Taliban can EVER hide.


There is something else that I want to remind you of since you've obviously forgotten. That is the FACT that Barack Obama listened to the teachings of his radical and racist pastor Jeremiah Wright every Sunday for over 20 years! There is no way on earth that anyone, including Barack Obama, can listen to someone for 20 years and not be influenced by them! I didn't believe him when he said that he didn't hear any of Rev. Wright's radical sermons and I still don't believe him! No reasonable person would!

[ladypirate2]

by ladypirate2 June 26, 2009 2:38 PM PDT
Bush may have done a lot of things and may not have been as perfect but as far as anyone knows cheating on his wife was not one of them!

I must have been tired when I wrote this. People might not agree with what I have to say but I do, usually, write sentences that make sense!

What I meant to say was Bush may not have been perfect, and he may have done a lot of things, but as far as anyone knows, cheating on his wife was not one of them!

[ladypirate2]

by skyk-2009 June 25, 2009 4:11 AM PDT
ladypirate, can you give us ONE, just ONE, Organized Crime figure the President has been connected too? I have reviewed the record top to bottom and I find NO LEGAL record from ANY OFFICIAL linking him to any such person. I'm so tired of losers like you and people who aren't smart enough to figure you out. YOU hate this nation and our system because YOU can not dictate to us how we will govern ourselves and who we can pick to do the job. IF you hate us, those who do not agree with you, so much, if you hate our system so much, why not leave? You are old, disgusting and without a soul... someone who will say or do ANYTHING to think you have control over others lives. That is something you nor any other member of the American Taliban can EVER hide.


I don't have to give you just one! I can give you a whole group of them! They are called the Chicago political machine! It is infested with organized crime bosses from top to bottom! Evidently you've never heard of it!

Also his association with terrorist Bill Ayers is well known. You also obviously don't know about Obama's reading of Marxist authors in college and his grandfather's friend in Hawaii, and Obama's mentor, "Frank". This "Frank" is thought to have been Frank Marshall Davis who was reportedly a Communist who worked on behalf of the Soviet Union!

I am not saying that Barack Obama is involved in organized crime or that he's a terrorist or a Communist or a Marxist. I am saying that if you associated with organized crime bosses you will be influenced by them. It is the same if you associate with a terrorist, a Communist, and a Marxist, and all other radicals. If you associate with them long enough and often enough they will influence your thinking!

Also you might be tired of me but you might as well get used to me because I'm not going anywhere! In spite of what YOU say, I love this country! What I hate is the atheistic, Godless country it's fast becoming! The United States of today is not the country that my ancestors fought and died for!

My ancestors emmigrated to America between 1695 - 1740. They were here over 100 years before the emmigration station on Ellis Island was even built. They fought in the French and Indian Wars, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and now I have two cousins who are veterans of the war in Iraq of today. Among my ancestors are Lutherans, Presbyterian ministers, Baptists, and Pentecostals. They fought to give me the right to live in this great land and they fought that this country would always remain free and as it says in our Pledge of Allegiance, "under God"!

They also fought to give me the right to be a Christian, a conservative, and a republican, and the right to speak out against Barack Obama and not be called un-American or "old, disgusting, without a soul" because of it!

Incidentally I am not that old and most people that know me actually like me and call me their friend. They don't think of me as disgusting. I have many friends that I have known since before I was even school age. Most of them are Christian conservatives, too.

And one more thing, just because you don't like me or agree with anything that I stand for does not mean that I don't have a soul! It just not like yours!

[ladypirate2]

by gravyboat3000 June 24, 2009 3:11 PM PDT
Didn't the Romans shag their little boys? Why would you take marital advice from them?


Gravyboat the book of Romans is a book in the Holy Bible, in the New Testament. It was written by the apostle Paul to the Romans, not by them! Paul was a Jew, not a Roman!

[boomernaut]

I've read this seed off of Newsvine.com, Rush is at it again and making an ass of himself again. The republican party doesn't need his Rush's help. Regardless...here are thoughts I fervently concur with:

Disgraced Republican Stanford...

So Rush Limpball is stating that this Repubelichen was too much of a ***** to handle a Democrat? Wow, how pathetic would he have been against an ACTUAL bad guy like Kim Jong Il, or Amadickinajar?

Posted by CranialRectalLoopback
June 25, 2009 8:11 PM

[DoubleHappiness88]

Such hypocrisy has become so common; perhaps it is time to put a name to it. How does THE GINGRICH/SANFORD SYNDROME sound?

Perhaps both sexual preferences should be demonstrated by calling it
THE GINGRICH/CRAIG SYNDROME. What do you think? Suggestions?

[rmm26a]

The moral of the story seems to be if you have dreams of becoming president it is best to wait until you are elected president to have an affair (ala Bill Clinton). B/c there are no consequences after becoming president but it will ruin your chances of being elected president.

It's a pretty messed up world...