Missouri first lady Sheena Greitens makes a graceful exit from public life

Sheena Greitens, who will become Missouri’s former first lady at 5 p.m. on Friday, exits the public stage with a dignity that says even the most difficult circumstances needn’t define us. “It has been an honor & privilege to serve as First Lady of my adopted state,” she tweeted. “I’m grateful to have had the chance to work w/so many who came together to protect & care for our kids, & for time in this wonderful home for our boys. May God bless the people of Missouri.” May God bless you too, Professor.

The daughter of two doctors from Washington State, the former Sheena Chestnut is a Stanford grad who was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford and earned a Ph.D in government from Harvard. Now the mother of two sons and an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, she’s advocated for adoption and foster care and has spent the last academic year researching a book on refugees from North Korea.

She recently took exception to a story about her by an old friend, and disputed the retro assumption that her politics mirror those of Eric Greitens. We don’t know whether that means she’s not the conservative he’s said he was for the last few years, and that’s none of our concern now. Welcome back to private life.

This story was originally published June 1, 2018 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Missouri first lady Sheena Greitens makes a graceful exit from public life."