The Sanford Surprise

Many people are surprised that disgraced Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina won a special election seat to congress.

Political comebacks remind me of Richard Nixon.

I was a White House correspondent when Richard Nixon became President. Even before Watergate, it was a turbulent presidency. There was the Vietnam war, the moratorium marches and Kent State.

Then came Watergate and the subsequent resignation of Nixon.

He went from the highest achievement and respect in his profession to the lowest. Over the years, after his resignation, he lived and worked in the New York area.

Occasionally I would meet Mr. Nixon at various events and in conversation he did not seem to hold onto past pain. He knew that time; reflection and attitude heal most hurts, even if the hurt was self-induced by past choices.

Mr. Nixon moved beyond the worry about what others say or think and in his prolific later years rested in what he called the "peace at the center."

Nixon knew that people would eventually invoke the endless power of forgiveness, for we see in another's failings, our own frailty.

Nixon also knew that full recovery of dignity and self-esteem could only start after we forgive ourselves.