Indiana congressman Mark Souder's admission of adultery shows how a marriage can fall apart, while other lawmakers struggle to keep theirs together | Emily Belz
Stephen McGee/Genesis Photos for World
Last month a broken man announced his resignation from Congress after confessing to adultery. At an Indiana press conference Mark Souder, 59, said he had "sinned against God, my wife, and my family." He committed to "repairing my marriage, earning back the trust of my family and my community, and renewing my walk with my Lord."
Since then, in more than a dozen emails to WORLD, he has offered an extraordinary look into the thinking and feeling of a principled legislator who violated his principles. "Politicians and any top professionals are skilled manipulators and smooth with words," he acknowledged: "Holding us accountable is hard." His emails reveal the agony of failure: "My sin, while forgiven, is greater in that God put me in a position of public trust, so I deserve whatever criticism I receive."
'It's only getting harder'
Time in Congress saps many marriages, almost like a military deployment. Many congressional families, in choosing whether to move together to Washington, weigh their finances, personal concerns such as where their children are in school or whether they have to care for a grandmother, and how a move would come off to constituents.
The choice can lead to personal and political success—or a train wreck. One trend is clear: The daily congressional obligations that compete with family obligations aren't lessening. Until the 1970s, Congress technically adjourned for the year at the end of July in an effort to avoid Washington's smothering summers—though legislative business often carried past that date. Air conditioning has not only moved political power southward but expanded the legislative calendar: Over the last decade, lawmakers had to be present for votes an average of 252 days a year, and the last session (2007-2008) jumped to 272 days.
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COVER STORY |
Issue: 
No pious baloney
