By now, we are accustomed to politicians and sex scandals. Like hot dogs, apple pie, and firecrackers on the 4th of July, these liaisons have become part of the American landscape.
As I await the September issue of Vogue (long my favorite! All those fall clothes!), I read excerpts from an exclusive interview with Jenny Sanford, wife of South Carolina Gov. caught up in an illicit romance with Maria Belen Chapur of Argentina. Back in June, Mark Sanford went MIA for several days, on getaway with his South American mistress. Jenny Sanford was the epitome of cool and collected when responding to press inquiries at the time. She replied that she hadn't heard from her husband in several days, including Father's Day.
This magna cum laude Georgetown grad with a reported IQ of 170 left a successful career as VP of Lazard Freres and Co. for marriage and motherhood. Mrs. Sanford has been the backbone of her husband's political career. When her husband told her of his Congressional bid back in '94, she was in the hospital recovering from the birth of her second child. Apparently, she took this all in stride, running his campaign, in which she "oversaw staff, drafted speeches, set policy, and raised money," all the while baking oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for reporters and other visitors. Clearly, she is a woman who can do it all.
In fact, one of her friends has commented, “So often when a woman is business minded, they’re not good at being a cookie baking soccer mom, but that’s the thing about Jenny. You cannot stereotype her that way. She can be either one of those things and do it effortlessly.”
By now, Jenny may seem like a Stepford Wife, but that's politics.
According to Mrs. Sanford, she and her husband weren't exactly hot and heavy when they met.
“We weren’t madly in love, but we were compatible and good friends. I like to think we balance each other out. I’m a conservative at heart, but I’m not passionate like he is. I’m better at making the trains run on time ... At heart, I’m an old-fashioned woman. If the Lord blessed me with children and family, I knew that would be my calling.”
While Mark Sanford never had a rep for flirting at parties, apparently this changed when he met his paramour. He became quite a lothario, with his romantic e-mails. Buenos Aires is the land of the Tango. Maybe he was inspired?
In an e-mail to Maria, he gushes to his mistress,“Two, mutual feelings - You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. 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 - but hey, that would be going into sexual details.”
Meanwhile, Mrs. Sanford continues her spin. Comparing Mark's relationship to an "addiction like pornography or alcohol" (aka The Devil Made Me Do It!), she underwent pastoral and marriage counseling when it became clear "he was just obsessed with going to see this woman." She admits being somewhat surprised that a man as upstanding as her husband would "do something like that." Boys will be boys.
Mrs. Sanford admits to googling the competition. " What woman wouldn't want to know what her husband's mistress looks like?" a friend of Jenny's asks in September's Vogue. "She's pretty," was her opinion. And furthermore, she can understand the appeal of a long distance lover. "Everybody would like to escape sometimes. I'd like someone 5,o00 miles away I could E-mail. It's not exclusive to men but it isn't realistic."
A good Christian, Mrs. Sanford feels sorry for the other woman. "I am sure she is a fine person. It can't be fun for her, though I do sometimes question her judgement...All I can do is pray for her because she made some poor choices."
To keep us up to date, Mrs. Sanford remains in the family beachfront home with her four sons while the Governor resides in the Governor's Mansion. She told Vogue, "I am not in charge of revenge. That's not up to me. That's for the Lord to decide and it's important for me to teach that to my boys....Now I think it's up to my husband to do the soul searching to see if he wants to stay married. The ball is in his court."
The lesson for political wives seems to be stand by your man, sprinkle your interviews with references to God, country, and family, and pray for the best. Who knows, you might even get a profile story in Vogue!
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