Wife says S.C. governor skipped fidelity vow

February 04, 2010|Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Jenny Sanford says her wedding was a leap of faith because Governor Mark Sanford, who famously cheated on her with a woman he described as his soul mate, did not want to include a vow of fidelity in their ceremony.

Jenny Sanford also tells ABC’s Barbara Walters in an interview airing tomorrow on “20/20’’ that the final blow was the publication of racy e-mails between Sanford and his mistress.

The show released excerpts of Sanford’s interview with Walters, which coincides with publication tomorrow of her memoir, “Staying True.’’

Not having a vow of faithfulness “bothered me to some extent, but . . . we were very young, we were in love,’’ Sanford tells Walters. “I questioned it, but I got past it.’’

In her memoir, a copy of which the Associated Press obtained Tuesday, Sanford writes that her groom was worried “in some nagging way’’ that he might not be able to remain true.

“With the benefit of the knowledge I have about Mark now, I could point to this moment as a clear sign of things to come,’’ she writes. But at the time, she found his honesty “brave and sweet’’ and thought he just had cold feet.

In an AP interview, Mark Sanford admitted “crossing the line’’ with other women while married.

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