Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens prepares to take part in a training exercise during a visit to the St. Louis City Fire Academy. Photo: Jeff Roberson / AP
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R), has rappelled into a bull-riding rodeo, crawled through dirt in an obstacle course and entered a burning building with firefighters, AP's Summer Ballentine and Margaret Stafford report:
"The 43-year-old Greitens — the nation's second-youngest state executive [New Hampshire's Chris Sununu is 7 months younger] — revels in the attention, posting videos of his action adventures on Facebook."
More on Greitens' exploits:
- "In one feat of strength, Greitens visited an indoor rock climbing business and easily scaled two walls as media cameras rolled. Greitens was at the veteran-owned business to announce an initiative to eliminate all start-up business fees for veterans in Missouri."
- "Other exploits include leading runs with military members [and] climbing 110 flights of stairs in memory of 9/11."
- "He was a boxer in college and has a black belt in Taekwondo. A former Navy SEAL officer, he was once chlorine-gassed in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq. He returned to service three days later."
- "Greitens was elected in 2016 with no prior experience in public office. He typically wakes up between 5 and 6 a.m. to run on local trails or do strength training at the Missouri State Highway Patrol gym."
Go deeper: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Greitens has cultivated a hard-charging persona in office, but his policy record is a mixed bag."