Mary C. Curtis

Contributor

Jenny Sanford Memoir to Be Published Ahead of Schedule

Posted:

01/6/10

Filed Under:Republicans, Scandal, Woman Up, Culture, Governors

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Jenny Sanford's memoir -- "Staying True" -- will be released Feb. 5, well before the planned May publication date. The first lady of South Carolina is nothing if not efficient and, as usual, a few steps ahead of her soon-to-be-ex-husband, S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford. It is expected that the two will be in divorce court when the book is published.

"In this candid and compelling memoir, the first lady of South Carolina reveals the private ordeal behind her very public betrayal -- and offers inspiration for anyone struggling to keep faith during life's most trying times," according to the statement from the book's publisher, Ballantine Books, a division of Random House.

When her husband confessed an affair after leaving the state for five days in June 2009 for a rendezvous with his Argentine mistress, Jenny Sanford became known and was hailed for what she didn't do. Unlike wronged wives before her -- and the list is long -- she did not stand by the governor offering support and a stricken look. Though she was feeling "shock and anguish," as the book's publicity puts it, "that he had not ended the affair when she believed he had," she packed up with the couple's four sons and moved out of the governor's mansion to Sullivan's Island.

A former Wall Street investment banker, the Georgetown-educated Jenny Sanford was involved in her husband's political campaigns as he eventually rose to governor and was touted as a candidate for a 2012 presidential run. After his term as governor is up after this year, Mark Sanford's political career -- barring a miracle -- is over.

Jenny Sanford, in contrast, is just getting started. She has earned pop culture credibility with an appearance in Vogue and a spot on Barbara Walters' list of "10 Most Fascinating People of 2009." While she waits for word on her effort to trademark her name, she can tell her story at jennysanford.com.

While she has ruled out running for office, Sanford has endorsed Republican state Rep. Nikki Haley in the race to replace her husband in 2010. And as S.C. first lady, she even presided over a holiday open house last month at the governor's mansion, where she greeted guests a few feet from the husband she had just taken steps to divorce while he was hoping for a reconciliation.

Most of all, as the book publicity emphasizes, she tried to privately raise her children "to be men of character, even in the face of the lies their father has told."

With other stories rapidly feeding the public appetite for scandal, is there still interest in Jenny Sanford's tale before, during and after a South American trip made her famous? We'll see on Feb. 5.

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Mary C. Curtis

Mary C. Curtis, an NPR contributor based in Charlotte, N.C., was previously a writer and editor for The New York Times and the Charlotte Observer... more

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Comments (14)

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Tawny Jones

1:28PM Jan 6th 2010

Looking at the photo of Jenny Sanford above, it's easy to understand why Mark preferred Argentina...

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(-17)

masanddjs

7:15AM Jan 7th 2010

No doubt, you're a real beauty yourself. Shame on you for your comment.

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(10)

Gretchen

9:42AM Jan 7th 2010

What do Jenny's looks have to do with anything ??? You are just showing your ignorance. Jenny Sanford is to be praised for standing up for herself.

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(5)

Robert Smith

5:13PM Jan 6th 2010

I wonder if the Republican Party and Neo-Con administrators are going to give this book the same endorsement and glowing treatment as Palin's. Can you say...'No way?"
Before the year is out, Sanford's 'C' Street buddies and the Republican Party will be ripping into Jenny, the kids and her entire family to 'Preserve, Protect and Defend' their own. That's what the 'New, Cleansed and Pure' Republican Party stands for. And, there are no lies, deceit, divisiveness, contempt, arrogance that they shamelessly will not stoop to the level of, to defame Jenny.

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(2)

doug

7:53PM Jan 6th 2010

Correct, Robert. If Sanford standing before the TV cameras and blubbering about his "soul mate" wasn't the most cringe-worthy moment of the year, then I don't know what. And I still think his lie about "hiking the Appalachian Trail" tops Sarahs' "death panels" lie, as he managed to get his staff to repeat the lie to his constituents. What a putz.

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(5)

Billie

6:21AM Jan 7th 2010

Doug, I meant to give you all 5 stars, but my mouse slipped! So sorry - and I can't fix it. (a metaphor for what I'm about to say, actually) As a woman left by someone who found his "soulmate," it made me feel a bit vindicated to hear someone say, "cringe worthy moment" in regard to Governor Sanford's declaration of finding his soulmate. Too bad he couldn't find his children and wife as such.

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(12)

doug

6:04PM Jan 7th 2010

Hey Billie - hang in there. There are plenty of guys who don't run around and make damned fools of themselves.

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(1)

piebyme

6:37AM Jan 7th 2010

I'll read Jenny over Sarah any day. I never thought I would see a Republican woman capable of emotion and honesty in my lifetime.

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(2)

don Mitchell

6:41AM Jan 7th 2010

Thank you for the positive side of this story. Best of luck to Jenny

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(12)

DJ

6:55AM Jan 7th 2010

I hope she says lots of shameful things about this man for all the world to read. He deserves everything she dishes out, and more! Hopefully, she bad mouths the "mistress", as well. She deserves it just as much as him.

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(8)

svfanatic

7:13AM Jan 7th 2010

"For the first time in my life, I feel truly loved." That's what my wife, a radio DJ, said on the air after I found out about her affair. My response, "Don't ever publicly compare me to him again." That's what was so painful for Jenny Sanford, the public comparison.

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(7)

Debby

7:40AM Jan 7th 2010

Mark Sanford is a sniveling idiot. He seemed to somehow expect people to see his adultery as a tragic love story instead of the sleaze that it was. If you have to lie and cheat and hurt other people , it is anything but love. For the poster who commented on Mrs Sanford's physical appearance, look at her husband and shame on anyone who thinks adultery is justifiable.

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(9)

paul fiquet

8:02AM Jan 7th 2010

Sanford the great governor makes South Carolina proud..

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(-6)

daisyohdaisy

8:10AM Jan 7th 2010

WHAT IS GENUINELY WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE THAT TURN THIS IN TO SOMETHING ABOUT HOW EVERYTHING SHE IS GOING THROUGH CAN BE FIXED WITH SEX FROM SOMEONE ELSE OR EVEN YOURSELVES AS YOU SO IGNORANTLY OFFER? SAD SITUATION MADE SADDER BY IGNORANT PEOPLE.

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