He tried to set a good example for the rest of South Carolina, but in the end, Gov. Mark Sanford proved to be just another politician who was brought down by his desires.

Sanford admitted Wednesday that he had secretly flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he’d been having an affair. During a press conference, he apologized to his wife and four sons.

“What I did was wrong. Period.” he said.

During his three terms in Congress and his six years as governor, Sanford has tried to demonstrate fiscal responsibility. As a congressman, he slept in his office to save taxpayers’ money. As governor, he often battled over the budget with state legislators. Along the way, he alienated himself from many lawmakers in the Statehouse, especially after he brought a couple of pigs into the building to protest pork barrel spending.

Sanford made headlines recently by refusing to accept federal stimulus money for education. Instead, he asked permission to use the money to help pay off the state’s debt. The state supreme court, however, ordered him to take the money.

His actions brought praise from many conservatives and even sparked talk of a possible presidential bid in 2012.

But instead of spending Father’s Day with his wife and sons, he flew to Argentina to be with a woman he’s known for the past eight years. His staff members didn’t even know where he was — they told reporters he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

Any aspirations Sanford might have had on the national level are gone now, along with the last vestiges of trust among many of his supporters in the Palmetto State.

“I’ve let down a lot of people, that’s the bottom line,” he said Wednesday.

Sanford becomes the latest political disappointment from South Carolina, joining former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, whose career wound up on the trash heap after he admitted having an affair with a campaign worker during his unsuccessful bid for president last year.

At one time, both Sanford and Edwards were the shining stars of their political parties. But their downfall demonstrates that even the best and the brightest aren’t perfect.