Eric Greitens

Eric Robert Greitens (/ˈɡraɪtənz/ GRY-tənz; 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.

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 One of Greitens's signature accomplishments in office was signing Missouri's right-to-work law, which was later repealed by statewide referendum.

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.