Sarah Palin was a name you simply couldn’t avoid if you tuned into the news during John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008.
The former Governor of Alaska was plucked from obscurity to be McCain’s running mate, and despite losing to Barack Obama, Palin was described as a “force of nature” in Republican politics.
Although Palin, 58, is still politically involved in the Republican party, headlines in recent years have been centered more around her private life.
In 2020, after three decades of marriage, Palin announced that she and her husband were divorcing. Details of the breakup were quite shocking, but now the former Republican vice presidential nominee has shed more light on her high-profile split.
Sarah Palin and Todd
Sarah Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1964, but moved to Alaska with her family when she was only a couple of months old. She grew up in the small town of Wasilla, about 40 miles north of Anchorage.
As a basketball star at Wasilla High School, Palin was a natural-born leader, and became a famous face in the corridors.
“I know this sounds hokey, but basketball was a life-changing experience for me. It’s all about setting a goal, about discipline, teamwork, and then success,” she once said.
Sarah would also meet her future husband, Todd Palin, in high school, at a basketball game. In August 1988, she eloped with her high school sweetheart as they slipped away to the local courthouse.
There, though, Sarah and Todd learned that they had to have witnesses. After convincing two people from the pioneers’ home across the street, the young lovebirds could finally tie the knot.
According to Sarah, they eloped because both she and her boyfriend were poor at the time. They didn’t want their parents to pay the bill for a wedding, the ex-Alaska governor told Anchorage Daily News in 2008.
Palin has five children together with Todd; Track Charles James (1989), Bristol Sheeran Marie (1990), Willow Bianca Faye (born 1994), Piper Indy Grace (2001), Trig Paxson Van (2008), who suffers from Downs Syndrome.
Palin’s great interest in sports is reflected in her children’s names; Her daughter Willow is named after the legendary female sports journalist, Willow Bay, who covered the NBA. Bristol, her eldest daughter, is named after the town where ESPN is based.