First lady Jenny Sanford is playing an active role in running the governor's office, sitting in on some of Gov. Mark Sanford's staff meetings and helping with administrative duties.

It's something of a historic departure from the traditional role of the first lady.

Jenny Sanford said her main job will be to help "be the bridge" between outgoing chief of staff Fred Carter and his yet-to-be-named successor.

Sanford, 40, will not have an official title, and she won't be paid for what is planned as a temporary post. She will help with whatever the Republican governor asks, sitting in on meetings on his behalf or acting as go-between for him and his executive staff.

The Sanfords are adamant that she will not be acting as chief of staff.

"This is a great interim thing that will serve the administration well and serve her husband well," Mark Sanford said.

S.C. House Democratic Leader James Smith said the situation reminds him of the partnership between President Clinton and his wife.

"People challenged Hillary Rodham Clinton and said, 'Nobody elected you to anything; how do you get to have a say?'" Smith said.

"But his office needs help in governing. He needs some strong leadership and some strong direction. If she can provide that, that's wonderful."

Jenny Sanford's heightened involvement marks a continued evolution in the role of first ladies, said Helen Milliken, a Columbia historian and author of "Behind the Scenes: Sketches of South Carolina First Ladies."

"What she's doing is very brave," Milliken said. "The days of white gloves and mansion teas are a thing of the past.

"As long as she's capable, it'd be wrong not to let her help him."

Jenny Sanford is used to being involved in her husband's political life. The former investment banking executive has run eight successful political campaigns for her husband - for Congress in the 1990s and for governor in the primary, runoff and general election last year.

Campaign workers characterized her management style as "candid" and "tough."

Mark Sanford describes their marriage as a partnership in every aspect, with his wife as the other half of his brain. So it's only natural, he said, to have her in his office.

"I married a gal that's been a helpmate throughout," he said.

Wives have been increasingly involved in their husbands' campaigns, Milliken said. The challenge will be making her administrative role clear.

"It will be her responsibility to make it totally clear to them that she's not working as the wife, but part of the staff, and to be treated like that," Milliken said. "If she doesn't, I think they would probably be 'yes' people to her, afraid to speak their opinions just because of who she is."

Jenny Sanford's role will be temporary, the governor said - about 30 or 60 days. Carter leaves in December to resume the presidency of Francis Marion University. He is working four days a week now and will be working three days a week starting in October.

The governor has been looking for a new chief of staff for months, but has not hired anyone.

Jenny Sanford and Carter will train the new chief of staff. Carter will drill the new person about the administration during his tenure as chief of staff.

And Jenny Sanford will train the new person on her husband's priorities, as articulated on the campaign trail.

"She ran more of the day-to-day operational element (of the campaign), which is the chief of staff function," Mark Sanford said. "I was out and about, and she was in the office. All that piece of institutional memory needs to be downloaded as well."

Jenny Sanford sees her new role as natural. She left her banking career to start a family.

She has spent the first eight months of her husband's term helping their four sons make the adjustment from life on the beach on Sullivan's Island to life in the Governor's Mansion.

"Life is real simple for me as long as I'm in this stage of my life, in this season of my life, if you want to be biblical about it," she said. "My role is to be the best wife and mother I can be."

The change delays her taking on a social cause with vigor.

That is in contrast to former First Lady Rachel Hodges, who created the "Reading with Rachel" literacy program three months after Jim Hodges' inauguration.

Jenny Sanford expects to begin work more gradually on her own issue - cancer prevention and preventative health.

"How involved I get in it will depend on how involved I get in my husband's office."

Jenny Sanford has stayed out of the limelight so far. She has spent much of her time with her children, and with running the Governor's Mansion complex.

She said at the time of the January inauguration that there was not enough money to run the complex through the end of the fiscal year in June.

So she raised $120,000 privately to keep the mansion running. She also streamlined the kitchen staff and began charging for some functions, such as teas, that the mansion had once hosted.

With those changes and with state budget cuts, the mansion is operating on $414,993 this fiscal year, a third less than allocated two years ago.

Jenny Sanford will continue to run the mansion and a busy family schedule - including a birthday party for son Landon tonight at the family's Coosaw Plantation near Beaufort; the USC football season opener Saturday; the NASCAR race at Darlington on Sunday; and Chapin's Labor Day parade on Monday.

Mark Sanford said his wife's helping in the office is consistent with how they live their lives.

"To say, 'Wow, this is unusual,' is at complete odds with the way that we've spent every weekend as a family, with some degree of political involvement, and pretty much every day."

Reach Bauerlein at (803) 771-8485 or vbauerlein@thestate.com