In the aftermath of Mark Sanford's repeated love for his Argentinian mistress, Jenny Sanford has emerged a cool, collected, prideful (yet not pompus) first lady.

And to that effect Vogue has put together a stellar piece on the woman and not only how she dealt with the scandal but who she is and how she got to be that way. A taste: 

Growing up one of five children in Winnetka, Illinois, Jenny Sullivan was the studious one, a self-described nerd who did well in school and loved to visit the family’s power-tool factory with her father. (Her grandfather and great-grandfather founded the Skil Corporation.) Had the family not sold the business when she was sixteen, Jenny would have liked nothing more than running that factory. ...

Some marriages begin in fire; the Sanfords’ was more of a slow burn. “We weren’t madly in love, but we were compatible and good friends,” she says. “I like to think we balance each other out. I am a conservative at heart, but I’m not passionate about ideas like he is. I am better at making the trains run on time.” When Sanford asked Jenny to get married and move to South Carolina, she didn’t blink. “At heart, I am an old-fashioned woman. If the Lord blessed me with children and family, I knew that would be my calling.”  

It's a hefty read -- 3,000 words -- but a good one; hop on over to Vogue.com to get the whole thing.