Say this for Mark Sanford when the time comes to apologize, he puts his heart into it. After vanishing from his state for six days, the South Carolina governor reappeared on June 24 and confessed that he had not been away hiking the Appalachian Trail, as his staff originally claimed, but instead visiting an Argentine lover with whom he had been conducting an affair for more than a year. In a meandering, 20-minute press conference broadcast live on national cable networks, the married father of four reminisced about boyhood hiking expeditions and college trips overseas before getting to his point "I've been unfaithful to my wife" and tearfully asking for forgiveness. The months since have not been kind to Sanford. Embarrassing e-mails with his paramour surfaced, his wife moved out, and his approval ratings tanked. His estranged wife Jenny has managed to fare somewhat better. As the New York Times recently detailed, she has applied to trademark her name to sell home goods, is writing a memoir and will appear in December on a Barbara Walters TV special. Some even envision her as her husband's replacement in the governor's mansion. Meanwhile, it appears the governor's operatic apology didn't impress state officials: he's been slapped with 37 ethics charges, and lawmakers are considering impeachment.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists