Before the boat docked, however, he confessed because he was contemplating running for president, he couldn't separate from his wife. I believed him when he told me he faced a difficult choice between pursuing personal happiness and his political destiny.

I've had to recover not only from a single well-publicized incident, but several years of press aftermath.

If pornographers can hook adolescents when their hormones are raging, they know they'll have an ongoing consumer base for life.

So on May 1, 1987, at Gary's invitation, I agreed to see him one last time - to confront him face-to-face about his sincerity and with the intention of ending our brief relationship.

Returning to South Carolina meant getting a normal job in a normal town with normal people and marrying a normal person. I wanted the glamour and opportunity of the world.

After graduating in the summer of 1980, I knew I wanted my life to count.

I was always an overachiever.