“Following in Her Father’s Footsteps” and “Like Father, Like Daughter!” were a couple of the headlines touting the inauguration of Sarah Huckabee Sanders as Arkansas’ 47th governor in January.
And rightfully so, it was an unprecedented day of achievement for Sanders as the state’s first female governor, the first governing daughter of a former governor, and currently, the nation’s youngest governor.
The headlines were partially correct – her father and mother taught Sanders by example to be a leader of character and strength. Sanders, the only daughter of Gov. Mike and Janet Huckabee, and her two older brothers grew up in a Christian home where their family was the most important thing.
Cornerstone of parenting
In fact, when The Stand spoke with Janet Huckabee, she explained the cornerstone of their parenting strategy in the context of family traditions and, admittedly, some trials.
“First of all, parents have to live by example – obviously,” said Huckabee. “One of the things that Mike and I really tried to do was include our children in whatever we were doing. It’s so important to include them.”
Huckabee believes that when parents make children a part of their daily lives, it creates better understanding because teaching by example is the best way for kids to learn.
“We can talk all day long,” she added, “but most of us, kids included, not only like to hear things but also experience those things.”
Gov. Sanders and her husband Bryan are following Mom’s sage advice.
“That’s what Sarah is doing right now with her kids,” Huckabee explained, “and her education bill was a prime example. She was able to take her three children out of school for a short time that day, and they watched her sign that education bill, which is really their future.”
The day to which Huckabee referred was March 8, 2023, and sure enough, when Sanders signed the new Arkansas LEARNS Act, she was joined by some adoring fans – her daughter and two sons. But the widely-publicized scene of Scarlett, Huck, and George Sanders watching their mom sign landmark legislation into law was not only a photo op.
Impact of experience
It was a family tradition for the Sanders siblings, just one more day spent at work with their mom. According to the governor’s mother, that tradition was a direct result of the Huckabees’ intentional parenting strategy passed down from one generation to the next.
Asked how her daughter successfully handles the stress and pressure of being a wife and mother in such a high-profile professional position, Huckabee said it came from the fact that Sanders and her brothers grew up with that same type of pressure.
She laughingly added, “Unfortunately, Sarah is also tough like her mother. She got her smarts from her father, and again, her toughness from her mother.”
But as Huckabee shared a brief account of their lives as a family before and after politics, it became evident that what she disparagingly labeled as toughness might better be described as tenacity and strength of character.
Lifetime of commitment
“Mike and I actually have been together since we were in the same junior high. It was a very small town, so we had known each other and our families forever. But we didn’t start dating until our senior year of high school.
“Then, we got married shortly after our first year of college. So it just seems like we’ve been together forever. Next year, we will celebrate 50 years of marriage.”
During those five decades of marriage, life was not always easy. A year into their marriage, doctors found a cancerous tumor on her lower spine and gave the young couple a grim prognosis.
Even if the neurosurgeon went in and carefully scraped the tumor off the nerves attached to her spine, her surgery might still have ended in paralysis. He also warned Huckabee that the radiation needed afterward would probably leave her unable to have children.
“I credit that doctor for saving my life,” she said. “Of course, we prayed. And when he came out, he said he pulled on the mass, and the tumor just slipped off. He was amazed.
“It was 50 years ago, but I think that Mike told him, ‘You know you weren’t in there alone.’ The doctor said he absolutely knew that.”
Her recovery was touch and go for a long while though. But despite intense pain, she was able to learn to walk again. Amazingly, after six weeks of intense radiation on her lower abdomen, she was eventually able to have three children.
Huckabee declared: “I still have trouble with my legs, but I am very grateful that I’m upright. God let me have children, and I have seven grandchildren now. I’m very grateful. And as I said, I’m still upright most days. …Anyway, I’m a miracle.”
Miracle of (grand)motherhood
Motherhood was definitely a big part of her miracle, and like most mothers, Huckabee talked of her joy in parenting. But she openly credited God for managing to raise three productive and independent children.
“I can’t take credit for it, honestly,” Huckabee confessed. “Mike and I tried our best with raising the boys and Sarah in a Christ-centered home. We tried to teach them the values they should have.”
Their oldest son, John Mark, is unmarried and works for the state of Arkansas. In the middle, son David and his wife Lauren have four children, the youngest and oldest of the Huckabee grandchildren.
“They all teach their kids respect,” Huckabee remarked, “not just respect for people but people’s property as well. And really, they teach what Jesus is all about.
“They’re raising their children in church and in what I believe are Christ-centered homes. You can’t ask for anything better than that; you just can’t.”
Like any grandmother, Huckabee proudly shared a story about one grandson, the governor’s middle child. “Mike asked George, ‘What’s your favorite Bible verse?’ George rattled off a Bible verse that was just amazing – and not short. It wasn’t ‘Jesus wept.’”
Huckabee continued, “It brings a sense of pride to know that your kids are learning Scripture and applying that to their lives. As a mother and a grandmother, I was proud, not only of my daughter, but also of my grandson at that moment. Because it was kind of a full circle moment of what we’ve been doing our entire lives.”
For those who are standing on the outside and looking in, what Janet and Mike Huckabee have been doing throughout their life together as a family continues to greatly impact our nation.
And what they have been doing is simply parenting (and grandparenting) by example.
