Remember Mark Sanford? His wife, Jenny Sanford, filed for a divorce today on the grounds of his infidelity but, according to NYT, remains “dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful.” Refreshingly, the article portrays her as mature and dignified in the wake of her husband’s shame:
In recent months, Ms. Sanford has remained in the spotlight, though seldom with her husband at her side. She is writing a memoir, “Staying True,” to be released in April by Ballantine Books, about coping with his infidelity. She has endorsed a successor to him as governor, State Representative Nikki Haley, a Republican and the only woman in the race.
She appeared on Wednesday on a Barbara Walters special on ABC, in which Ms. Sanford, 47, said that she would not have stood by her husband at his televised confession, even if he had asked her to be there.
“It’s been a crazy year,” she told Ms. Walters. “Certainly his actions hurt me, and they caused consequences for me, but they don’t in any way take away my own self-esteem. They reflect poorly on him.”
The last two lines are great. Contrary to the headline of the article, which refers to her as merely “Sanford’s Wife,” she seems to understand that she does not have to be defined by him.
