South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is the latest member of the ever-growing club of politicians who have strayed from their wives, as well as the latest in the ever-growing list of politicians who were indignant over President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky and demanded he either resign or be impeached.
In 1998, Sanford was a Republican congressman from South Carolina when he demanded "moral clarity" from Clinton and called on him to resign. "Very damaging stuff. This one's pretty cut and dried," Sanford told The Post and Courier in September 1998. "I think it would be much better for the country and for him personally [to resign]." So far, Sanford has not indicated that he has any plans to resign as governor.
Sanford is not alone in having his actions contrast with his outrage over Clinton's actions.
Former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig
Craig on Clinton: Asked by the late Tim Russert on a Jan. 24, 1999, episode of "Meet the Press" whether he thought Clinton should resign, Craig, R-Idaho, did not hesitate to speak his mind. "He should resign. He should've resigned months ago, but he will never resign. He doesn't respect the presidency," said Craig.
In August 2007, Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct stemming from an arrest in a men's restroom at a Minneapolis-St. Paul airport for soliciting sex in June. He later held a news conference in August to say, "Let me be clear. I am not gay. I never have been gay." Craig never resigned his seat, but declined to seek re-election in 2008.
Former Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards
Edwards on Clinton: Edwards, a North Carolina Democratic congressman during the 1999 impeachment trial, said on the House floor that Clinton's affair with Lewinsky showed "a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen."
In an August 2008 interview with ABC News, Edwards admitted to repeatedly lying during the campaign for president about having an affair with Rielle Hunter, a video producer who worked for Edwards' campaign, while his wife was battling terminal cancer.
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