In lengthy Facebook post, Mark Sanford announces split with fiancee

South Carolina politician Mark Sanford upended his personal and professional life in 2009 to pursue a legitimate relationship with this then-mistress from Argentina, Maria Belen Chapur. On Friday, however, the Repubilcan congressman said in a 2,346-word, personal message posted to Facebook that he ended his relationship with Chapur as a result of the ongoing child custody disputes with his ex-wife, Jenny Sanford.

"No relationship can stand forever this tension of being forced to pick between the one you love and your own son or daughter, and for this reason Belen and I have decided to call off the engagement," Sanford wrote. "Maybe there will be another chapter when waters calm with Jenny, but at this point the environment is not conducive to building anything given no one would want to be caught in the middle of what's now happening."

The congressman wrote that he felt he owed it to his constituents to share his family strife on Facebook.

"In as much as you sign my paycheck and you have elected me to represent you in Washington, I think I owe you my thinking on this personal, but now public matter," he wrote. "More than at any time in my life, I believe I am subject to not just the laws of God, but the authority of my fellow man."

In June 2009, while serving as governor of South Carolina, Sanford made national headlines after mysteriously disappearing for five days. His office gave a whopper of a lie, saying he was hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was, in fact, visiting his mistress in Argentina. Sanford ultimately told the truth, prompting calls for his resignation, spurring investigations into his behavior, and compelling his wife to file for divorce. Sanford left office at the end of his term, and it appeared his political career was over.

Yet in 2013, Sanford managed to win a special election for South Carolina's 1st congressional district.