Q: How did Mr. Sanford elude his own security detail to make the trip?
A: Rande Matteson, a professor of criminal justice at Florida's St. Leo University and a former federal law enforcement agent, said lawmakers can and do occasionally dismiss the officers charged with overseeing their safety.
"The governor can do what he wants," Mr. Matteson said. "If the governor says, 'See you later, don't follow me,' that's their boss. They have to follow what the governor wants to do."
Q: But why mislead his staff, then change his story?
A: Mr. Sanford said he told his staff he thought he would be hiking on the Appalachian Trail and never corrected that impression.
Neil Thigpen, a political science professor at South Carolina's Francis Marion University, said that judging from Mr. Sanford's behavior, the governor wanted to be caught.
"I almost feel like he did this whole thing with the intention that it would all come out," Mr. Thigpen said. "Even with rudimentary scrutiny, he should have known something would bring it to a head."
Q: How are Mr. Sanford's political opponents reacting?
A: By leaving the country without formally transferring power, critics said, he neglected his gubernatorial authority and put the state at risk.
At least one state lawmaker, Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, called for his resignation.
Even so, the governor's candor and willingness to answer direct and often intimate questions about his transgression stunned and softened even some of his bitterest enemies. GOP state Sen. Jake Knotts, who railed against Mr. Sanford's "lies" Wednesday morning, went on TV after the news conference to sing his praises.
"Life has problems, and you have to work with people to help them with their problems," Mr. Knotts told CNN. "Personal problems are worse than any political problems."
Q: What's next for the governor? Will he resign?
A: While Mr. Sanford apologized to his wife and four sons, friends and voters across the state, his transgressions almost certainly killed any presidential hopes he may have harbored and could force him to step down as governor.
"I don't think he can survive," said David Woodard, a political scientist at Clemson University. "If he and Jenny could reconcile and go on a tour and ask for support, they could survive. His friends are in the electorate, and for them to embrace him, he has to have contrition. Absent that, I think he has to leave."
TIMELINE
THURSDAY: Mr. Sanford leaves his security detail, driving off in a State Law Enforcement Division SUV. A mobile phone tower picks up his last known location near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.
FRIDAY: Law enforcement officials get no response to phone and text messages.
SATURDAY: The governor's office reports to police that there is no reason for concern.
SUNDAY: Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer learns Mr. Sanford's whereabouts are unknown.
MONDAY, 2:30 P.M.: State Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, issues a statement raising questions about Mr. Sanford's absence, asking who is in charge of the executive branch.
2:50 P.M.: The governor's office says he is taking a break after losing the stimulus battle.
3 P.M.: Jenny Sanford, vacationing in Sullivan's Island, S.C., with the couple's four sons, says she has not spoken with her husband for days.
10:05 P.M.: The governor's office says he is on the Appalachian Trail.
TUESDAY: The governor's office says staffers have spoken with Mr. Sanford and he will return to work Wednesday.
WEDNESDAY MORNING: Mr. Sanford arrives at the Atlanta airport. He tells The State newspaper in Columbia that he was in Argentina.
2 P.M.: In a news conference at the Statehouse, Mr. Sanford admits he has been having an affair with a woman in Argentina.
Sources: The State, Associated Press
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