The Missouri governor indicted Thursday on charges stemming from alleged sexual misconduct and blackmail has a history of extolling his ethical leadership.
Eric Greitens, a Republican elected in 2016, admitted to an extramarital affair after investigation by St. Louis’s KMOV turned up audio recordings of the woman attesting to the affair and alleging Greitens had blackmailed her with explicit photographs.
In a recent statement following his indictment for felony privacy invasion, Greitens denies that he intentionally blackmailed his ex-lover with photos—but he owns up to the affair: “As I have said before, I made a personal mistake before I was Governor,” his statement reads. However, he maintains, “I did not commit a crime.”
And Greitens claims to know a thing or two about doing the right thing. In recent years, he has given multiple campus speeches on the virtues of ethical leadership.
In his 2012 commencement address to graduates of Tufts University, Greitens told of his work with refugees, his years as a Navy SEAL, and the worthy challenges of military training.
He extolled the virtues of service over self, which he’d already learned by the time he was these graduates’ age. “What I also learned in college is that the more you ask the question ‘What kind of service can I provide? What kind of positive difference can I make in the lives of others?’” he said. “If you work every day to live an answer to that question, then you will be stronger.”
And in 2014, Greitens gave the Leadership Convocation at the Salisbury School, an all-boys prep school in Connecticut. His book The Heart and the Fist and his speech to Salisbury teach their students “leadership, team building, overcoming adversity, and the power of service,” according to Salisbury’s alumni magazine.
Back in 2007, Greitens addressed his alma mater Duke University, where he majored in ethics, philosophy, and public policy.
His lecture, titled “The Culture of Character: Building Strength through Service and Study,” reflected on the ways he was personally molded as a moral leader. He told his alumni mag, “My experiences in service have taught me that real commitment requires sacrifice and study, and that we have to act with both courage and understanding.” And he gave a preview of the advice he’d be giving students: “Take time to realize your own power and the power of each person you meet. It will make you stronger. Then, use that strength for good.”
According to the Duke alumni magazine, Greitens is a moral hero who owes his righteousness in part to those undergrad years in Durham:
Greitens, while indicted for felony invasion of privacy, remains committed as ever to a life of service.
In his recent statement, which lays blame on the “reckless liberal prosecutor” for Thursday’s indictment, Greitens maintains: “This will not for a moment deter me from doing the important work of the great people of Missouri.”
