Eric Greitens

Eric Robert Greitens (born April 10, 1974) is an American former politician who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018 amid allegations of sexual Assault and campaign finance impropriety.

Greitens was born on April 10, 1974, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Becky and Rob Greitens.

Greitens's mother was a special education teacher and his father was an accountant for the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

His mother is Jewish and his father is Catholic, and Greitens was raised Jewish.

He grew up as a Democrat.

Greitens graduated from Parkway North High School in 1992.

After high school, Greitens majored in ethics, philosophy, and public policy at Duke University.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Greitens graduated from Duke University in 1996 and received a doctorate from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, as a Rhodes scholar in 2000.

During his four tours of duty as a U.S. Navy SEAL officer, he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander, commanded a unit targeting al-Qaeda, and was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

Later, after being a White House fellow, Greitens founded a nonprofit organization, The Mission Continues, to benefit veterans.

He graduated in 1996 with an A.B. summa cum laude.

Greitens won a Harry S. Truman Scholarship and was selected as a Rhodes scholar, which allowed him to pursue graduate studies at Oxford University.

He was a member of Lady Margaret Hall and studied development studies, receiving a M.Phil. in 1998 and a Ph.D., for research on humanitarian organization efforts on behalf of children in war-torn countries, in 2000.

Greitens matriculated at the United States Navy's Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, in January 2001, graduating in May of that year as an ensign in the United States Navy Reserve.

He then began Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL (BUD/S) training in Coronado, California, graduating with Class 237 in February 2002.

Greitens rose to be a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy Reserve.

During his active duty career, he was deployed four times, to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and Southeast Asia.

He was the commander of a joint special operations task unit, a Mark V Special Operations Craft detachment, and an al-Qaeda targeting cell.

In 2005, Greitens left full-time active duty to take a one-year White House fellowship.

Appointed by President George W. Bush, Greitens developed a program to get architecture and engineering students involved in rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

He remained a Navy reservist and led a program that recruited advisers for special military operations around the world.

As a White House fellow, he also worked in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

After his fellowship, he volunteered for a six-month tour in Iraq that began in October 2006.

In 2013, Time included him in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

A Democrat during his early life, Greitens announced in 2015 that he had become a Republican.

He ran for governor of Missouri as a Republican in 2016.

Greitens prevailed over three opponents in the Republican primary and then defeated Democratic Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster in the general election.

He was Missouri's first Jewish governor.

One of Greitens's signature accomplishments in office was signing Missouri's right-to-work law, which was later repealed by statewide referendum.

During his 2016 campaign for governor, Greitens said, "I have worked in Cambodia with kids who lost limbs to land mines and are survivors of polio. I've worked in Bolivia with children of the street. I've worked in one of Mother Teresa's homes for the destitute and dying."

For six weeks as a college student, Greitens worked at two refugee camps, the Puntizela camp outside Pula, Croatia, and the Gasinci camp outside Osijek, Croatia.

Both are described in his book.

Refugee camps in Croatia were temporary homes for Bosnians crossing the border.

Greitens also traveled to Rwanda and Zaire as a volunteer U.N. photographer.

In February 2018, Greitens was charged with felony invasion of privacy and later with campaign-related offenses.

He was indicted on felony charges of computer tampering in April 2018; all charges were dropped in May 2018.

Greitens resigned from office on June 1, 2018, after the Missouri General Assembly commenced a special session to consider impeachment.

In early 2018, Greitens's former hairdresser accused him of sexual Assault.

A bipartisan Special Investigative Committee in the Missouri state legislature found the woman "overall credible" and issued a report on the incident.

Greitens later unsuccessfully attempted a return to public office, running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring incumbent Roy Blunt in the 2022 election; he lost the Republican primary to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who won the general election.