Sarah Palin was everywhere in the news during John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.
She was the Governor of Alaska and was suddenly picked to be McCain’s running mate. Even though they lost to Barack Obama, Palin was still seen as a major influence in Republican politics.
Sarah Palin, 58, is still active in the Republican party, but lately, the news has focused more on her personal life.
In 2020, after being married for nearly 30 years, Palin announced her divorce from her husband. The details were surprising, and recently, Palin has shared more about the breakup.
Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1964, but her family moved to Alaska when she was just a few months old. She grew up in Wasilla, a small town about 40 miles north of Anchorage.
In high school, Palin was a basketball star and a natural leader, becoming well-known in her school
“Basketball was a life-changing experience for me. It taught me about setting goals, discipline, teamwork, and success,” Sarah Palin once said.
Sarah met her future husband, Todd Palin, in high school at a basketball game. In August 1988, she eloped with her high school sweetheart. They went to the local courthouse to get married but found out they needed witnesses. They convinced two people from the pioneers’ home across the street to help, and finally, they were able to get married.
According to Sarah Palin, she and Todd eloped because they were both poor at the time and didn’t want their parents to pay for a wedding. She shared this with the Anchorage Daily News in 2008.
Sarah and Todd have five children together: Track Charles James (born in 1989), Bristol Sheeran Marie (born in 1990), Willow Bianca Faye (born in 1994), Piper Indy Grace (born in 2001), and Trig Paxson Van (born in 2008), who has Down Syndrome.
Sarah’s love for sports is reflected in her children’s names. Her daughter Willow is named after the famous female sports journalist, Willow Bay, who covered the NBA. Bristol, her eldest daughter, is named after the town where ESPN is based.
Sarah Palin, who has been a registered Republican since 1982, worked as a journalist and helped run Todd’s family’s commercial fishing business before entering politics in 1992.
With her down-to-earth personality, she charmed many people and gained a lot of support. In 2006, she made history as the first woman and youngest governor of Alaska.
Her husband Todd, who liked to call himself the “First Dude” while Sarah was governor, always supported her. However, according to family friends, Todd didn’t like to brag about Sarah and her administration.
“He was almost embarrassed about it or shy, I guess,” said Scott Davis, one of Todd’s closest friends, in an interview with the New York Times. “It never changed him one bit. It took him a little while to adjust to the attention.”
Todd Palin, who is part Yup’ik Eskimo, has always been very busy. He worked in oil production and was a member of Alaska’s Independence Party from 1995 to 2002. He’s also a four-time champion of the world’s longest snowmobile race, called “Iron Dog.”
The Palin family lived in a large two-story house, about 3,450 square feet, near Lake Lucille in Wasilla. For many years, Sarah and Todd’s marriage was seen as a model relationship. When John McCain chose Sarah as his running mate in 2008, Todd was very supportive and took on more responsibilities with their children.
Sarah Palin described herself as “just your average hockey mom.” However, like all mothers, she had her worries about her children.
Just three days into the Republican presidential campaign, Sarah revealed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant. This was a big shock for the deeply Christian Palin family.
“Trig was a 16-week-old baby at the time. Bristol in high school, teenage and pregnant. We were just a microcosm of America. We were up there on stage and I just thought ‘Oh man…who’da thunk?’” Sarah Palin said in an interview with DailyMail in 2018.
According to Bristol’s ex-boyfriend, Levi Johnston, Sarah wanted to keep Bristol’s pregnancy a secret and even suggested adopting the baby. “Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret – nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant,” he told Vanity Fair magazine in 2009.
After the news became public, Sarah and Todd released a statement saying they were “proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents.”
Now, Bristol is 31 years old, a mother of three, and runs a real estate company in Texas. She has definitely succeeded in life.
