Sarah Palin was impossible to miss in 2008, when John McCain plucked the little-known Alaska governor onto the national stage. Folksy yet fierce, she became a political phenomenon—then retreated to a private life that, in recent years, has been marked more by heartbreak than headlines. Born in Idaho and raised in Wasilla, Alaska, Palin was a high school basketball standout who eloped with her sweetheart, Todd, in 1988. They built a family of five—Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig—and a rugged life balancing fishing, parenting, and politics.
Palin rose from local office to become Alaska’s youngest and first female governor in 2006, while Todd, the “First Dude,” juggled oil-field work and racing snowmobiles in the Iron Dog. Their partnership seemed unshakable, even through the intense scrutiny of the 2008 campaign and Bristol’s very public teenage pregnancy.....
