'The reality of our lives is if we live long enough, we’re going to fail at something,' Sanford said. Sanford: I never cheated taxpayers

Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford on Tuesday defended his decision to run for Congress because “one place I didn’t ever fail was with the taxpayers,” even while having an affair with the Argentinian woman.

“I have had conversations with a lot of friends back home,” Sanford said on NBC’s “Today.” “The reality of our lives is if we live long enough, we’re going to fail at something. I absolutely failed in my personal life and my marriage. The one place I didn’t ever fail was with the taxpayers. If you look at my 20 years in politics, what you would see is a fairly remarkable consistency in trying to watch out for the taxpayer. The ill that’s before us as a civilization, if we don’t get our financial house in order, there will be incredible consequences for the dollar, the American way of life, all of our savings and a whole lot more.”


Sanford, who previously served in Congress, was a popular, tea party-aligned governor in 2009 when he disappeared for several days, telling his staff he went hiking on the Appalachian Trail. But he eventually admitted he was in Argentina with a woman he later described as his soulmate.

While Sanford says the taxpayer was left unharmed, he did reimburse taxpayers for public funds used to carry him to Argentina for a trade conference in 2008, and his use of a state-owned plane was questioned. In 2010, he paid a record fine of $74,000 even while not admitting guilt.

Sanford also told “Today” he wouldn’t have run if his four sons with ex-wife Jenny Sanford asked him not to.

“I sat down with the boys,” he said. “We had a conversation. I said: ‘What do you want me to do? If you don’t want me to do it, I’m out.’ Their point is ‘No, dad, you’ve long cared about this stuff. You ought to do it.’”

Jenny Sanford was also a rumored candidate for the seat Sanford is now running for, which was vacated when GOP Rep. Tim Scott moved up to the Senate. In a Republican primary, Sanford will face Teddy Turner, son of the media mogul, and other candidates. Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert, is the likely Democratic candidate.

Correction : An earlier version of this story misstated the number of sons that Sanford has. It is four.