Jenny Sanford Exclusive: Husband Refused to Be Faithful in Wedding Vows

[RamboLiberal]

South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford recalls how she made the "leap of faith" to marry husband Gov. Mark Sanford even though the groom refused to promise to be faithful, insisting that the clause be removed from their wedding vows.

"It bothered me to some extent, but ... we were very young, we were in love," she said in an exclusive interview with Barbara Walters to air on "20/20" Friday. "I questioned it, but I got past it ... along with other doubts that I had."

Sanford said her husband gave her less than romantic gifts for her birthday.

"He drew me a picture of a half a bike, and then for the next birthday or Christmas I got the picture of the other half a bike, and then he delivered the $25 used bike," she recalled.

For another birthday, Mark Sanford gave her a diamond necklace, which she adored, but then he took it back.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/jenny-sanford-south-carolina-gov-mark-sanford-refused/story?id=9727121

[lapfog_1]

1. How very "Republican" of him. - n/t

[rcrush]

2. I want to see a movie about this guys life.

I bet it would be fucking hilarious.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. Well, that should have been a big warning sign.

I don't think you can complain about your spouse being unfaithful when they pretty much said they were going to be unfaithful.

[JI7]

4. he gave the diamond necklace and other nice gifts to Maria

if they were in love why did he want the part about being faithful kept out in the wedding vows ? based on that and everything he did afterwards it's like he was begging her to reject him.

[Sanity Claws]

5. Strange marriage

No doubt that these things show Gov. Sanford to be cold, controlling, and narcissistic. However, they also reveal something about Jenny.
Jenny must have been terribly insecure to marry someone who refused to take a vow to be faithful. It takes two to make a bad marriage.

[Berry Cool]

25. Yeah, I was gonna say

sounds like a woman with severe self-esteem problems, if she was willing to allow him to excise faithfulness from the wedding vows and accept cheesy secondhand presents or taken-back presents when it wasn't like he was hurting for money.

She really sounds like a woman desperate to love and be loved, who took what she could get in the husband department rather than demanding someone really and truly value and care for her as much as she did him.

[jberryhill]

30. Not clear what his financial situation was

She, like Cindy McCain, was the money in that family.

[malaise]

6. Sounds like an awful life with a first rate

scumbag. :puke:

[JI7]

7. and what a contrast to the love letters he sent to Maria

i think he really does love MAria and never loved Jenny.

tne question is why did she marry him and stay with him after all those things.

[CTyankee]

8. So much for the repub. "He was a man in love!" meme.

This guy was a snake to begin with. He had NO intention of staying true to his vows.

I hope the repugs will quietly back away from this toad. They need him like they need another large hole in their collective head...

[hughee99]

13. He had no intention of staying true to his vows? What vow?

He didn't vow to be faithful. In fact, he made a point of NOT making that vow, according to the OP. As far as douchebags go, he sounds like he was somewhat up-front with his wife about the kind of a-hole he was.

[WolverineDG]

9. Okay, just how dumb is this woman to put up with this crap?

What was her first clue that this guy is an asshat? Because if my husband had announced to the world that he was just going to have to grin & bear it & learn to fall in love with me again, his crap would be in the middle of the front lawn on fire before that news conference ended.

dg

[Luciferous]

12. I think the first big glaring sign that he was an asshat was taking

the clause about being faithful out of their wedding vows. I think I would have dumped his ass then.

[WolverineDG]

21. Me too

just makes me wonder what took her so damn long to put 2 & 2 together.

dg

[anonymous171]

24. Some people like rich men. nt

[spooky3]

32. But she had more money than he did.

[Berry Cool]

27. It's not intelligence, it's a healthy ego.

You wouldn't have let someone treat you like crap. Obviously, this is a woman who thought she deserved no better than to be treated like crap. I bet if you look into her childhood, you will find one in which, for whatever reason, she always got the last, worst and tail-end of anything...IF she was lucky. She learned to be grateful for crumbs, rather than demanding a whole slice of bread.

[WolverineDG]

29. Makes you wonder where her friends & family were

because I know I'd never let a friend or family member enter into such a marriage without saying something.

dg

[inna]

10. What a scumbag!

<<"He drew me a picture of a half a bike, and then for the next birthday or Christmas I got the picture of the other half a bike, and then he delivered the $25 used bike," she recalled.

For another birthday, Mark Sanford gave her a diamond necklace, which she adored, but then he took it back.>>


:rofl:

That's just unbelievable!!

[varelse]

11. If her goal is to incinerate his political career and scatter the ashes in a latrine

I'd say she's about 2/3 of the way to the target now.

GO Jenny GO :applause:

[LiberalFighter]

14. I hope she scorches the guy.

And the stench of the scorch stays with him for the rest of his life.

And I hope she becomes a better person after all of this is over. She is doing the right thing in dumping this loser that has no respect for marriage.

[tanyev]

15. LOL! Headline for this at TPM: "Um, that's a red flag"

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

[DevonRex]

16. Sounds like mental abuse to me. I'm glad she's speaking out.

And I hope he goes down in flames.

[JBoy]

17. "That's a dealbreaker!"

[LiberalFighter]

18. If that is an indication of premeditated unfaithfulnes I don't know what is.

How many marriages have been performed where they didn't promise to be faithful?

Bet she wonders if he was really in love with her.

Their divorce settlement should require him to hand over his nuts.

She should draw a picture of the house and kids. And the comment "Not yours".

[Edweird]

19. Yeah, uh, if he wouldn't vow to be faithful, and she married him anyway, then.......

I wouldn't. No way. I take my commitments seriously and my partner will as well, or she will be my ex-partner with-the-fucking-quickness.

[The_Commonist]

20. Interesting...

So in other words, he laid it out on the line, and she decided to marry him anyway.

Hmmm... this is the first time that I can say that I have a tiny bit of respect for the man.
He was being true to himself, and he made sure that his future wife understood, at least to some degree, who and what he was. So he didn't just lie, like most men of his type, and say "yeah, baby, I'll be totally 100% faithful for the rest of my life." Good for him.

Of course, much of the rest of this stuff makes him sound like the schmuck we've come to know and despise...

[Sanity Claws]

22. His admission that he would be unfaithful

does not put him in a good light, at least for me. However, it does though make me question what was going on with Jenny. Why would she marry such a dog? Why did she stay with such a dog?

[Berry Cool]

28. I am sure that for some reason, she believed she deserved no better.

"You can't expect to get what you want. You'll just have to take what you can get--and like it" was probably the theme of her young life. In choosing a husband as much as anything else.

[spooky3]

35. and if she didn't consider that doggish, why did she get upset when he lived down to expectations?

[inna]

31. +1, actually.

[LanternWaste]

36. admitting one is a misogynist really doesn't diminish the offense

From where I sit, admitting one is a misogynist really doesn't diminish the offense of actually being a misogynist. I see no room for respect in that... but I imagine we all adhere to different standards.

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. What a jerk! picture of a bike? OMG

[inna]

33. Picture of *HALF A BIKE", on two consecutive Christmases!!!

And then he delivers her a $25 bike??

Isn't it just insane??


:rofl:


But honestly, I think it's too crazy to be true; I think she's probably just trying to make him look as bad as possible (not as if that would not be understandable... )

[Liberal_in_LA]

38. cheap ass gov

[arthritisR_US]

26. Jenny, Jenny, Jenny....playing with Narcissists is like playing with matches - you will always

get burned.

[guruoo]

34. Guess it's too late for the "Checkers" defense...

"Pat doesn't have a mink coat. But she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat."

"A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters
would like to have a dog. And, believe it or not, the day before we left on this
campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore saying they had a
package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little cocker
spaniel dog in a crate that he'd sent all the way from Texas. Black and white spotted.
And our little girl—Tricia, the 6-year-old—named it Checkers. And you know, the kids,
like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of
what they say about it, we're gonna keep it."

:cry:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech

[Mari333]

37. cheap bastard

[Corgigal]

39. I also enjoyed the part

about how she allowed Mark to go to NYC for two days to end the affair with his lover. I would have had a PI on his ass the whole time, and consulting an attorney while he was away. I mean how stupid do you have to be?