This was just okay for me. I read it pretty quickly because it was interesting enough, and I agree with her that our leaders should be of a trustworthy and even more so, of moral character. Most all the leaders she spoke of were of cheaters on their wives and lied about it. It makes us think why do their wives continue to trust them, but even more, why do the American people continue to? But I don’t believe we will ever know the whole story of these leaders. I know most all these leaders that cheated on their wives did during their serving in their office, meaning to me, that they must not have cared about the office they were filling and serving in nor cared at all for their wives either., or the people they were serving. The only leader that didn’t cheat on his wife once or repeatedly, during his service of our country was Donald Trump. Didn’t happen during his presidency. So, for me, that tells me a lot. But I know this doesn’t matter to some and I understand that to a certain degree. When you’re unsure, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I believe the author did a good job explaining why they stay, even though I believe her descriptions of why some stayed were off. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publishers, Ogunquit-NY Press, for opportunity to read and review #WhyTheyStay with my honest thoughts.

Over the years, I often wondered how these wives were able to forgive their high-profile spouses & elect to stay in their marriage after public scandals & affairs. But at the same time, these wives don’t owe any of us an explanation. That being said, I was fascinated to dive right into Why They Stay: Sex Scandals, Deals, and Hidden Agendas of Eight Political Wives!!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Why They Stay: Sex Scandals, Deals and Hidden Agendas of Eight Political Wives. I started reading this book mainly focused on Hillary Clinton & how much she endured publicly related to her marriage. I was intrigued to learn more about the calculation of why she stayed with Bill. But I got so much more from this book. Anne Michaud methodically laid out the details for each couple & their reasoning. Michaud did so in such an informative & engaging manner. In addition to the dynamics with the spouses, she also touched on the children of these marriages as well. In the coming years, it will be interesting to see how the children fared from their parents’ transgressions. Once I started reading, I could not put this book down. I enjoyed reading the encounters for all of the couples but I was particularly intrigued with Wendy & David Vitter (maybe because they’re from the neighboring state of Louisiana) & Huma Abedin & Anthony Weiner.

All in all, this is a fascinating read & I would recommend it!

It was interesting to read the analysis of the marriages mentioned in the book and how the scandals affected the people involved in these. Even if the book is mostly about the wives and why they stayed, I liked that it analysed what impact it had over the kids as well.

I admit it, I’m somewhat fascinated by the weirdly dramatic episodes that have played out in “political marriages” over the past thirty years or so. When I was growing up, we had Presidents who were philanderers (the Kennedys) and criminals (Nixon). But there wasn’t a 24-hour news dump with details about the sex lives, scandals, etc. — seriously, the press didn’t even show us FDR’s LEGS, let alone tell us about the relationship between him and Eleanor. Maybe it just got really sleazy when the Clintons were in the White House — I kept thinking TMI! TMI! as we learned more and more about private behavior (calling it a “relationship” is a stretch) and speculation about why people stay married, and what the real story is. (Often none of our business, except that it becomes our business when a leader is subject to blackmail or somehow the relentless gossip impacts everything in a politician’s life.)

I was fascinated by the premise of Anne Michaud’s book Why They Stay: Sex Scandals, Deals, and Hidden Agendas of Eight Political Wives, so was pleased to get a copy from Ogunquit/New York Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Arranged chronologically, having just watched the series “Atlantic Crossing” featuring FDR’s relationship with the Crown Princess of Norway, I dove right in to the first chapter on Franklin and Eleanor. I knew that he was openly involved with others, and that Eleanor created her own life. Reading this, I once again felt sad for her — “By staying in the marriage, Eleanor believed she was doing the right thing for their five children and her husband.” But what about HER? <sigh>

I wasn’t terribly interested in Marion Stein and Jeremy Thorpe, and I admit I stopped reading about David and Wendy Vitter once I got to the diaper part (!!). Two very strong women who clearly could have made their own way in the world (without being half a marriage that I consider horrible), Silda Wall (Elliot Spitzer) and Huma Abedin (Anthony Weiner) both remain puzzling to me. And then there is Melania. I had less than zero respect for her before I read this, and yet I liked her even LESS after reading it.

For most of the women, I felt like I did about Carmela Soprano: she KNEW and still she chose to stay and enjoy the money/fame/power that came with her marriage. In any case, interesting tidbits throughout that will entertain political junkies as well as voyeurs. Four stars.

I loved the way Michaud presented these stories by using the White Queen Quotient. The White Queen Quotient looks at five reasons and/or characteristics of relationships that lead to a woman staying with a man who has been unfaithful to her. It opened my eyes to some of the reasons, other than just pure loyalty and desire for power, that women while stand by their men after public sex scandals. I also thought it was very interesting that Michaud wove together the childhood experiences of both people in the relationships and tied in how those upbringings seemed to at times have ties to how these relationships played out.

Wow this book was wildly entertaining. Sometimes you definitely question why they stay but this book logically lays out exactly why they do. This would be awesome as a audio book.

This book was a fast and fun read. Unfortunately, it only further disillusioned me on the types of people we have governing us. It was only a 4-star book, but because of the honesty it expressed I am giving it an extra star.