As with every scandal that envelops a public figure, the revelation that Eric Greitens had an extramarital affair before he was elected Missouri governor in 2016 has repercussions both public and private. As to the latter, in a joint statement Wednesday night, Sheena Greitens and her husband said they have "dealt with this together honestly and privately."
Missourians, however, will need more time dealing with the public repercussions. This is no longer merely a sexual affair involving the state's top politician; St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is launching a criminal investigation. The governor denies a recorded allegation, made by his former hairstylist to her now ex-husband, that on March 21, 2015, Greitens photographed her, partially nude, blindfolded and taped to exercise rings in the basement of his Central West End home, and threatened to distribute the photo if she revealed their relationship. That's a lot to absorb.
One thing that's immediately clear is that the domain name EricGreitensforPresident.com, registered anonymously in 2009, may soon be available again.
It's also likely that the millions of dollars of anonymous "dark money" contributions that helped fund Greitens' campaign, paid for his inauguration and travel and filled the bank account of A New Missouri, a pro-Greitens dark-money nonprofit, are going to dry up. Even anonymous donors are unlikely to invest in a politician with a sex scandal on his resume.
Greitens, who was raised in Maryland Heights, has talked about becoming president since he was in kindergarten, his teacher, Anne Richardson, told Jeanette Cooperman of St. Louis Magazine in 2016. The driving ambition, ego and relentless will that drove Greitens may also have contributed to his downfall.
He won a scholarship to Duke University, followed by a Rhodes Scholarship. He earned an Oxford Ph.D. and endured Navy SEAL training at the relatively advanced age of 26, then served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He formed a nonprofit that gives veterans a chance to continue their service, published four books and is a subject of a fifth. And he got elected governor at age 42 with zero political experience, having scorned the press and fellow politicians. His explosive TV commercials drew national attention. For someone with that record, what couldn't he do?
Greitens' most recent book, "Resilience: Hard-won Wisdom for Living a Better Life," was published the same month that he allegedly took his hairdresser into his basement. It purports to be a series of letters Greitens wrote to a troubled former SEAL colleague, offering wisdom Greitens gleaned from the Bible and the Greek philosophers Greitens studied in college.
The quotations Greitens uses to counsel his colleague are sound and thoughtfully chosen, although in today's context, occasionally rich with irony. The Bible quote we have in mind for the governor to contemplate during his current predicament is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verse 52: "Live by the sword, die by the sword."
